Envisioning what the future of cities will look like

By Andrew Nusca | Nov 5, 2009 |

What will the future of cities look like?

For starters, a lot like a computer screen. As mobile technology better leverages the data around us to impact what we do immediately, on the go, we’ll be altering the world around us, connecting objects, people and places to a centralized system.

On your person, the smartphone will be the hub, syncing and updating and functioning as your mobile information terminal and key to a smart world, tracking the people you know and the places you go.

Static objects will get smarter. A park bench might warm in cold months and cool in warmer ones, improving quality of life. Trash cans will know and sort what’s being placed in them, improving waste management.

Your workspaces will get smarter. They won’t be tethered to power plugs, they’ll get better sunlight and they’ll sync with everything else.

Sound good? That’s what Infrastructure US magazine imagines in their latest infographic.

We’re getting closer, too.

Location-aware smartphones are already discovering where your friends and family are at each moment.

Wireless broadband Internet and wireless induction charging help us stay powered in a more natural way.

Heads-up displays and other types of augmented reality improve upon the world we live in.

Touchscreen PCs allow more natural interaction with computers.

What do you think is next?

 
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  •  
    1

    adornoe@...

    11/06/09 | Report as spam

    Next? The slow disappearance of cities.


    If technology continues advancing the way it has in the last 100 years, there won't be a need for large cities or even medium or smaller cities. Cities are a thing of the past when people needed to congregate in close proximity to everyone else in order to get access to services and products.

  •  
    2

    stilt21

    11/06/09 | Report as spam

    RE: Envisioning what the future of cities will look like

    no one has really successfully described the future---ever. but reading what us magazine has to say is silly. remember us magazine is for those whose attention spans are too short to understand and read people magazine. what crap.

  •  
    3

    jjjjofus

    11/08/09 | Report as spam

    RE: Envisioning what the future of cities will look like

    The smartphone will never be the hub (at least under the American cell phone companies) as long as they keep doubling the price and imposing arbitrary limits (like 1BG or 5GB) for tethering service. You can only get unlimited access through the smartphone interface without worrying about kilobyte-pinching.

  •  
    4

    wezhind@...

    12/14/09 | Report as spam

    RE: Envisioning what the future of cities will look like

    Completely agree with jjjjofus. It is commercial ideals which are now
    slowing the move towards the actualisation of the dream of having your
    own personal untethered, self-updating library, multimedia
    communication device and entertainment centre in your pocket.

  •  
    5

    Cokoodles@...

    01/12/10 | Report as spam

    matt

    Well I know this will happen I'm a scientist and I reserch technology like this in government cities and this is a reality alreay I say in 5 years this tech will be available to the public in one more year the internet will connect everything but computers will advance more in 2 years and everything else in the next 5 years.

  •  
    6

    Cokoodles@...

    01/12/10 | Report as spam

    Matt

    I work for the government in making these technologies a reality by 5 years from no so in 2017 this will be a reality. I make sure this tech works in "government cities". The internet will be smarter in 1 year and computers will be more intelligent than us in 2 years and the wireless tech will evolve in 4 years to cover an entire country. P.S 4g is just a sample of what you'll see in 4 years.

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Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and SmartPlanet as well as Editorial Director of ZDNet's sister site TechRepublic. He was most recently Executive Editor of News and Blogs at ZDNet. Prior to that he was executive news editor at eWeek and news editor at Baseline. He also served as the East Coast news editor and finance editor at CNET News.com. Larry has covered the technology and financial services industry since 1995, publishing articles in WallStreetWeek.com, Inter@ctive Week, The New York Times, and Financial Planning magazine. He's a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism and the University of Delaware.

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Larry Dignan has nothing to disclose. He doesn't hold investments in the technology companies he covers.

Andrew Nusca

Andrew J. Nusca is an associate editor for ZDNet and SmartPlanet. As a journalist based in New York City, he has written for Popular Mechanics and Men's Vogue and his byline has appeared in New York magazine, The Huffington Post, New York Daily News, Editor & Publisher, New York Press and many others. He also writes The Editorialiste, a media criticism blog.

He is a New York University graduate and former news editor and columnist of the Washington Square News. He is a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He has been named "Howard Kurtz, Jr." by film critic John Lichman despite having no relation to him. A native of Philadelphia, he lives in New York with his fiancée and his cat, Spats.

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Andrew Nusca

Andrew J. Nusca does not hold any investments in the technology companies he covers.
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