Uploaded January 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Urbanist, researcher and writer Johanna Hoffman joins us to talk about speculative futures -- a set of design tools that can reorient urban development to help us dream and build more resilient, equitable cities.
Navigating modern change depends on imagining futures we’ve never seen. Urban planning and design should be well positioned to spearhead that work, but calculated rationale often results in urban spaces crafted to mitigate threats rather than navigate the unexpected, leaving cities increasingly vulnerable to the uncertainties of 21st century change. Long used in art, film, fiction, architecture, and industrial design, speculative futures offers powerful ways to counter this trend by moving us beyond what currently exists into the realms of what could be. Far from an indulgent creative exercise, speculative futures is a means of creating the resilient cities we urgently need.
Johanna Hoffman is an urbanist, researcher, and writer working in the space between design, planning, fiction, and futures. Hoffman holds an MLA in landscape architecture and environmental planning from UC Berkeley and has worked for urban design firms on award-winning projects around the world. Her first book, Speculative Futures: Design Approaches to Navigate Change, Foster Resilience, and Co-Create the Cities We Need (02022), is distributed by Penguin Random House.
“Speculative Futures: Design Approaches to Foster Resilience and Co-create the Cities We Need” was given on October 12, 02022 as part of The Long Now Foundation's Seminar series. The series was started in 02003 to build a compelling body of ideas about long-term thinking from some of the world's leading thinkers. The Seminars take place in San Francisco and are curated and hosted by Stewart Brand. To follow the talks, you can:
Subscribe to our podcasts: longnow.org/seminars/podcast
Explore the full series: longnow.org/talks
Read more ideas on long-term thinking: longnow.org/ideas
The Long Now Foundation is a non-profit dedicated to fostering long-term thinking and responsibility. Our projects include a 10,000 Year Clock, endangered language preservation, thousand year+ data storage, and Long Bets, an arena for accountable predictions.
Become a Long Now member to support this series, join our community, and connect with our ongoing work to explore and deepen long-term thinking: longnow.org/membership
Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/longnow
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/longnow
Subscribe to our channel: youtube.com/longnow
Urbanist, researcher and writer Johanna Hoffman joins us to talk about speculative futures -- a set of design tools that can reorient urban development to help us dream and build more resilient, equitable cities.
Navigating modern change depends on imagining futures we’ve never seen. Urban planning and design should be well positioned to spearhead that work, but calculated rationale often results in urban spaces crafted to mitigate threats rather than navigate the unexpected, leaving cities increasingly vulnerable to the uncertainties of 21st century change. Long used in art, film, fiction, architecture, and industrial design, speculative futures offers powerful ways to counter this trend by moving us beyond what currently exists into the realms of what could be. Far from an indulgent creative exercise, speculative futures is a means of creating the resilient cities we urgently need.
Johanna Hoffman is an urbanist, researcher, and writer working in the space between design, planning, fiction, and futures. Hoffman holds an MLA in landscape architecture and environmental planning from UC Berkeley and has worked for urban design firms on award-winning projects around the world. Her first book, Speculative Futures: Design Approaches to Navigate Change, Foster Resilience, and Co-Create the Cities We Need (02022), is distributed by Penguin Random House.
“Speculative Futures: Design Approaches to Foster Resilience and Co-create the Cities We Need” was given on October 12, 02022 as part of The Long Now Foundation's Seminar series. The series was started in 02003 to build a compelling body of ideas about long-term thinking from some of the world's leading thinkers. The Seminars take place in San Francisco and are curated and hosted by Stewart Brand. To follow the talks, you can:
Subscribe to our podcasts: longnow.org/seminars/podcast
Explore the full series: longnow.org/talks
Read more ideas on long-term thinking: longnow.org/ideas
The Long Now Foundation is a non-profit dedicated to fostering long-term thinking and responsibility. Our projects include a 10,000 Year Clock, endangered language preservation, thousand year+ data storage, and Long Bets, an arena for accountable predictions.
Become a Long Now member to support this series, join our community, and connect with our ongoing work to explore and deepen long-term thinking: longnow.org/membership
Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/longnow
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/longnow
Subscribe to our channel: youtube.com/longnow
