How Planning Can Shape the Cities of the Future
Introduction
The arrangement and plan of cities of the future highly depend on the decisions we make today. According to the World Bank, the United Nations estimates that 75% of people will be in the global cities, which are the hubs of economy and innovation that today provide approximately 80% of the global GDP (Carmona, 2014). How these cities of the future will look, feel, and operate will have significant influence on the local, national, and international economies of the future (Batty, et al., 2012). For this reason, it is critical that we boldly understand what we need and want for the future cities; then put appropriate systems in place that support those future wants and needs in sustainable and integrated ways.
Content analysis
In the planning and development of new and existing cities, city officials,
As such, the planning of future cities is important in ensuring efficient social, political, and economic systems of the future.
The planning can be integrated in urban development through creation of new cities, expansion of existing cities or redevelopment within cities. In all these aspects of the development of cities, planning is greatly driven by social, political, and economic trends. This is evident in the current planning policy where the vitality of towns depends on the ability to make the towns resilient to future economics changes (Batty, et al., 2012). For this reason, this paper discusses how planning can help shape the cities of the future through the promotion of a balance in environmental, social, and economic welfare to meet the needs and wants of the future population. The discussions in the paper relate to the contexts of America and Britain. While the planning approaches in the two countries have some commonalities, the planning systems in both the countries are different to the extent that many feature of the two countries regarding planning do not match up (Halatsch, et al., 2009). These differences primarily result from the availability of land: While the British perceive land as scares, the Americans believe that land is abundantly available.
Challenges and opportunities available for future cities
To ensure that future cities meet the needs of the future population, planning of the cities needs to take into considerations the challenges and opportunities that the cities will be exposed to. The planning needs to maximize on opportunities and put in place strategies to mitigate the possible challenges in the cities (Lyons, 2014). In the contemporary developing world, cities face tough challenges. These situations are expected to worsen in future as the cities will face vast majority of urban growth, and experience greater degrees of changes, …
