Mega City States

Increasing economic competition between cities over-rides regional and national priorities as city mayors lead bolder initiatives to place their cities at the front of the global stage

In the Judge Dredd comic book series, Mega-City One is a huge fictional city state covering much of the Eastern United States linking an urban corridor stretching from Atlanta to Quebec. With a population of over 400m it is one of around 30 mega-cities which dominate the world and outside which, in Cursed Earth, there is no law. It’s true that this is an extreme view of life in the 22^nd Century, but some would say that the growth and importance of mega-cities is very much a 21^st Century issue. Read more

Popularity: 1% [?]

Virtual Authenticity

Trusting in the exchange of our digital credentials allows us to participate confidently in open, transparent global transactions to gain access to what we want without the hassle

Proving what is real in an increasingly complex world is seen as a significant emerging challenge by many organisations. Although individual companies and even sectors have their own solutions to the problem of verifying what is the authentic, there isn’t a simple answer to this, nor is there likely to be. While this is a major challenge in the physical world with the counterfeiting of everything from aircraft parts and pharmaceuticals to clothes and DVDs all on the rise, in the virtual world the problem is even greater. In the varied discussions around this topic during the programme a number of alternative perspectives were shared and, a significant proportion of these aligned around the crux of the issue: “In a world where it’s ever easier to make copies, the significance of authenticity is increasing, and gaining ever-greater moral value.” Read more

Popularity: 2% [?]

Choosing God

The increasing fragmentation of society and looser connection between religion and the state in some regions sees more of us turning to God to help define who we are

There has always been a desire to counterbalance choice and individual responsibility with a sense of moral certainty.  This goes some way to explain the growing trend toward faith.  As John Micklethwait and Adrain Woolridge point out in their book, “God is Back”, “In a world of ever greater competition displacement and opportunity, faith has become a useful attribute for prosperous people.  But religion also fulfils a role lower down in society providing support for those who have lost out in global capitalism or feel bewildered by it.”  This probably explains why, across the globe, belief in god is on the increase. Read more

Popularity: 2% [?]

Local Foods

Increased transparency on resource availability, food security, land use and eco-literacy accelerate the shift towards mass consumption of locally grown and processed foods

After nearly a century of interest in global foods sourced from different countries, in some regions there has been a steadily growing middle class focus on returning to locally produced foods: The organic movement, seasonal produce and “locavores” have all come on to the food industry radar in many developed world countries over the past few years.  Across the globe, in the varied workshops and conversations undertaken over the past twelve months, we can see an alignment of multiple drivers of change around food from GM crops and improved irrigation through to concerns about national food security and an increase in urban farming. Together these are leading many of us towards a global solution to food supply that is increasingly focused on the local. Although the approaches differ from region to region and state to state, a world in 2020 where more people are better fed through more intelligent use of resources is, it appears, on the horizon. Read more

Popularity: 3% [?]

Credible Sources

With greater information overload we will shift our focus from simply accessing the data to also include the source of real insight to distinguish what we trust

As connectivity increases and the information being generated around the world rises, many of us will be faced with ever more data, insight and comment that we will have to try to make sense of. As was highlighted repeatedly in the programme, “the biggest challenge is simply to manage the huge amount of data out there.” Many see that we already have too much data, are too dependent on information and this prevents us making decisions: “Too much reliance on data to guide our views has meant that we have lost intuition. Going forward we need to rise above the mass of information so that once again we can make more focused decisions.” Read more

Popularity: 3% [?]

Dense Cities

As urban migration increases, efficient, densely populated cities are the blueprints for more sustainable places to live rather than distributed options like Houston and Mexico City

Historian Tristram Hunt commented early on via the Future Agenda programme blog that “we are currently living through one of the great eras of urbanisation with the great megalopolises of China, Africa, India and South America assuming the cultural and economic dominance which Berlin, Rome, Moscow and London used to enjoy in the 19th and 20th centuries.” He sees that “after a decade of unprecedented urbanisation and industrialisation, China’s cities now resemble the nightmare metropolises of mid-19th century Britain. Accounts of the pollution, ill-health, and overcrowding in Nanjing or Chengdu eerily recall the worst excesses of 1840s Manchester or Glasgow.” But at the same time, the same cities will offer the opportunity to meet the challenges of rapid urbanisation as “many of them also provide the seeds for solving our climate crisis. For the world’s developed cities are coming under increasing pressure from their informed, engaged citizenry to mitigate their environmental impact. And they also contain the technical and innovative capacity to address the problem. So, Berlin has managed to cuts its carbon emissions by 15% and Toronto by some 40% over the last fifteen years. In London, Ken Livingstone successfully developed a pioneering climate change strategy which led to a 19% drop in C02 emissions from traffic inside the congestion charge zone.” Read more

Popularity: 4% [?]

Corporate LEGO

With more free agents and outsourcing, non-core functions within organisations are increasingly interchangeable and so more easily rebuilt around the value creating units

Organisations have already started to be more permeable and flexible. Increasing use of consultants, free-lancers and other temporary staff has blurred the boundary between employee and contractor in many large companies. In addition, the outsourcing of such functions as IT, HR, finance and other so called ‘back-office’ jobs, often to different countries, has saved money but also increased the complexity of the organisational framework. While many companies today still see themselves as entities with employees in control of a wide range of value creating and support activities, by the end of the decade more and more organisations will be networks. Read more

Popularity: 3% [?]

Live Experiences

The role of live activities and experiences in an increasingly virtual and isolated world becomes more important to create moments for deeper, richer connections and social bonding between people

Being part of the moment has always been special. A major international event such as the moon landing or on a more personal level a family wedding have been times when people want to collectively come together as part of the live experience. There is arguably nothing new in this and, in many ways, being part of an event has been steadily growing in line with TV access for many years. However, as more of us live alone and many work alone, we are, on average, spending less time interacting with others. Moving forward as virtual connections become more common than real ones, the opportunities to be part of something and a moment in time will become increasingly important. Media companies are placing ever more focus on live events, music festivals and shows are enjoying increased popularity and informal gatherings in general are on the rise. By 2020, many see that live experiences will be increasingly valued and important to us as common touch points in our lives. Read more

Popularity: 2% [?]

Community Living

Whether in established rural areas or within urban environments, the “village” community is increasingly a prized goal for the middle classes as they seek to reconnect with “people like us”

In a number of events, the increasing, and not decreasing, desire for many of us to want to reconnect with others in deeper, closer and more localised communities came up as an issue for the future: In discussions about the future of cities in Europe, the desire for “village” communities within cities where local facilities, local identities and closer connections all exist were repeatedly highlighted as key ingredients for sustainable urban living – with examples from Greenwich Village to Hampstead to The Marais all cited as role models; in a similar discussion in a workshop held in an Oxfordshire village pub, the recognition of the need for a community to provide a common set of values and stability for people with increasingly complex lives was aired; in the US the rising popularity of gated communities often marketed as places for “people like us” was noted, not just in the fast growing sprawls of Las Vegas and Houston, but also in more established locations such as Washington and Chicago; and in India the segregation of groups of people on a building by building basis was seen as both notable and growing – not just by race but also by creed. All over the world it seems that people are looking to reconnect with like-minded, common valued or similar status others as part of a growth of community living. Read more

Popularity: 2% [?]

Future of Privacy

The Future of Privacy – a deep dive discussion into one of the emerging moderators of the future highlighted in the Future Agenda programme. Bringing together 16 experts in and around the privacy arena, this recent event highlighted a number of key issues for the future. Topics covered include more data, sharing information, the next generation, consumer focused data and systemic privacy. Read more

Popularity: 10% [?]

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