Cocktail Identities

As the Millennials take over, the differentiation between the real and virtual disappears as who you are ceases to be defined by a singular identity and we each manage a multiple “cocktail identity” portfolio

As the world becomes increasingly “always on” and “always connected” a growing number of us manage our lives by developing “multiple identities” which are variously used across our work and social lives.   It is quite common today for one individual to have several emails – one for work and another for homes and other means of contact tied into one or more social networks, not to mention a couple of phone numbers and several profiles on social networking sights. Looking forward, as more forms of who we are and what groups we may belong to become prominent we can expect things to get even more complex. While some see a single universal persona existing across multiple platforms and social interactions, others see a far more fragmented approach being taken.  Whatever the case, the growing challenge is in understanding which or who is the real you. Read more

Popularity: 1% [?]

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% [?]

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% [?]

Richer Poorer

Widening differences in wealth generation between and within urban and rural communities extends the gap between rich and poor, and the have and have-nots – but they need each other

According to the UN, in recent years the gap between richer and poorer households has widened in most areas of the world despite strong economic growth that has created millions of jobs. This has applied not only in the gaps between some rich countries and some poor ones, but also within many nations: The rich / poor gap in the US has increased just as it has in Brazil. This has been driven by a number of factors, many of which are increasing rather than decreasing going forward. Urbanisation is perhaps the most significant issue. The ways in which governments use taxation and spending on social activities to redistribute wealth show little sign of changing; nor do the effects of access to education as a catalyst for greater differentiation of opportunity. Over the next decade, many experts across the world see that the gap between the haves and the have-nots will grow, even though there will be ever more inter-dependency, in some areas, between wealth-generation across the social spectrum. Read more

Popularity: 2% [?]

Switching Off

Being disconnected in an always connected world is a growing desire met by virtual cocoons at home but, in an increasingly crowded world real physical solitude becomes an option only for the rich

In one workshop it was highlighted that in an ever-present always-connected world, people will sometimes want to disconnect, to switch off and be, for a time, not available. In another it was mentioned that for many professionals today, rather than talk to their spouse, the last thing they do at night and the first thing they do in the morning is check their mobile for messages. While some find this lifestyle attractive and in many ways addictive, for others it has become apparent that it is not healthy and there must be an alternative. 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% [?]

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% [?]

Chinese Trains

China, the pacesetter for change in inter-urban transport, is investing over $1 trillion expanding its rail network to 120,000km by 2020 – the second largest public works program in history

In a world where city to city, inter-urban transportation is increasingly seen as the major growth area for mobility, competition is rife between air, road and rail. Around the globe, cities, countries and regions have been talking about the key issues of speed, efficiency and convenience of the relative options and are variously placing some big bets. While low cost airlines continue to grow in many markets and car ownership is rising steadily, many governments are investing heavily in rail as the future of inter-urban transport. Having been proven in Europe and ignored in the US and elsewhere, China is now considered by many to be the pacesetter for change. Read more

Popularity: 3% [?]

Muslim Europe

With increasing economic migration into the EU, by 2020 the total Muslim population of Europe will be equivalent in size to that of Germany and a rising cultural and political influence.

Migration has been a contentious subject for a number of years and, as politicians continue to avoid the heart of the issue and media misrepresents many of the arguments, the real implications are misunderstood. Yet, in terms of impacts on other issues, migration is perhaps the archetypal cross-cutting issue. In his initial perspective on the future of migration, Professor Richard Black stated that “immigrant integration and increasing diversity in Europe and the North are significant questions for today’s societies.” From the varied discussions around the topic it is clear that in Europe there is a mounting population challenge that will lead to a shift in society. “Europe’s low white birth rate, coupled with faster multiplying migrants, will change fundamentally what we take to mean by European culture and society” is one pertinent view. Many increasingly see that, to sustain competitive growth in the face of declining fertility, Europe will support increased migration – and this will largely come from North Africa and the Near East. Although raw data is highly sensitive and hard to come by, leading commentators see that by 2020 economic migration will have started to change the multicultural balance in a new direction. Europe will become increasingly Muslim and if current trends continue over 10% of European nationals will be Muslim by the end of the decade. Read more

Popularity: 8% [?]

Future of the Village – Part One

Much of what has been discussed in the Future Programme so far has focused on many of the macro drivers of change and their impact within large centres of population. Given trends such as imbalanced population growth, increasing urbanisation and pervasive connectivity, it is worth asking what the key changes will be outside the cities? To address this question, three workshops are taking place in villages around the world to bring together a different perspective on the emerging future – one in Ghana, one in India and one in the UK. The first of these took place on Saturday in the Red Lion pub in Brightwell-cum-Sotwell – a typical Oxfordshire village around an hour from London. Using a number of key topics from the initial perspectives as stimulus, we discussed the probable impacts and implications of the changes the next decade will bring. Read more

Popularity: 11% [?]

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