Uploaded June 2017 | Updated September 2026, 41 minutes ago
Today’s cities are technical marvels, reflecting civilization’s enormous scientific strides. Human creativity has produced unimagined power and prosperity, although that prosperity has come at a price: it is poorly distributed, and it is fostering the next great extinction. By the end of the 21st century, 80% of the world’s human population will live in cities. If we are to address these problems, cities must be part of the solution. We must knit these threads—our technical, cognitive, and social potential and the generative power of nature—back together, toward a higher purpose for cities. And we can only achieve this if we recognize that we are all in it together. The issues of climate change and income inequality will touch every one of us in different ways, but we can only solve them as a civilization focused on collective goals. And the best place to start is with our cities.
Today’s cities are technical marvels, reflecting civilization’s enormous scientific strides. Human creativity has produced unimagined power and prosperity, although that prosperity has come at a price: it is poorly distributed, and it is fostering the next great extinction. By the end of the 21st century, 80% of the world’s human population will live in cities. If we are to address these problems, cities must be part of the solution. We must knit these threads—our technical, cognitive, and social potential and the generative power of nature—back together, toward a higher purpose for cities. And we can only achieve this if we recognize that we are all in it together. The issues of climate change and income inequality will touch every one of us in different ways, but we can only solve them as a civilization focused on collective goals. And the best place to start is with our cities.
