Future Of the City (intro)

The 'Sydney 2030 sustainable Plan' has given rise to renewed vigor regarding the debate over the future of the urban landscape. Architects and planners alike have dedicated their expertise and knowledge in the hope of not only determining the factors which create a self-sustainable cultural, social and economic utopia, but establishing some specific guidelines with which to achieve them.

I’m not going to go into detail about Sydney's 2030 vision, nor am I going to dwell on the specific convictions of different planners or architects, rather I will talk about the process inherent in planning for the future, in the hope of provoking further assumptions and assessment. Sydney's sustainable vision carries with it an enormous responsibility to the rest of the country. Being the country's largest and most populous city, it will be used as a model for future urban development.

Planning for the future of an urban space encompasses a rather large and problematic initial contradiction. In order to plan a successful future, we require the ability to foresee certain aspects of the current conditions of the city. This reveals a significant catch-22. Planning in order to direct and control the future requires a certain amount of knowledge and foresight regarding its uncontrolled direction. This brings to light the study of futurology. Futurology involves attempting to forecast alternative futures using research and insight. Futurologists monitor and map progress of new developments in certain fields and establish their social and technological implications. In our times it is much easier to establish realistic and credible foresight regarding proper urban principles. This is largely due to the fact that we are not required to delve too deep into the future (as the 2030 plan suggests, we are only 22 years away), transforming dystopic urban landscapes, such as those set in Blade Runner (set in the year 2019) from science fiction into fantasy. Another contributing factor is that of hindsight (and complacency) which has allowed architects and planners to watch the evolution of the city and recognise its true potentials and drawbacks rendering urban utopias such as Frank Lloyd Wright's 'Broadacre City' invalid.

In the last century the city has been left largely uncontrolled and has evolved into an entity which has, in the past, had the potential to recognise and than supply itself with the required social, cultural, economical and political sustenance. However, this spontaneous evolution is becoming increasingly difficult, and nearly impossible, as cities exponentially increase in density and size. The greatest new effect on the evolution of the city is technology, with the greatest of these technologies being the internet. The newest addition to city space is the realm of cyberspace. Physical places in the city are being represented digitally on the internet, having a profound effect on the development of the city. The natural process of the city's evolution has always entailed a response to new technologies. However, it can be assumed that humankind's recent technological leap is without precedent, and that the fundamental conditions of modern technology have given rise to, and still determine, all aspects of contemporary civilisation (Francastel, Versitility of The Object).

In light of this statement, and with the requirement to predict future conditions of the urban landscape, a simple exercise of determining the effects a piece of technology (whether significant or banal) will have on the city, can play an important role in forecasting urban projections.