Tag: the-future-of-cities | ArchDaily

4 Design Days

Rene Submissions — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 09:05:00 +0000

4 Design Days 2026 is the jubilee 10th edition of one of the most important events for the architecture, design, and real estate sectors in Poland. On 22–23 January 2026, the International Congress Centre in Katowice will host architects, designers, investors, developers, manufacturers, representatives of local authorities, and experts who actively shape the directions of contemporary spatial development.

The event programme covers a broad spectrum of topics — from architecture and urban planning, through interior design and product design, to real estate market challenges and the future of cities. 4 Design Days is a platform for discussions on responsible design, spatial

Creating Cities for Tomorrow: The Future of Sustainable Construction

Miljan Gutovic — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 06:45:00 +0000

Rapid urbanization, driven by population growth, is among the powerful megatrends transforming how cities are built. The world is adding a city the size of Madrid every single week — and will do so for decades to come. To meet this demand sustainably, a collaborative, systems-thinking approach to construction is needed.

Building for Sustainability: 3 Main Themes Explored at the Time Space Existence Exhibition in Venice

Christele Harrouk — Fri, 14 Jul 2023 04:00:00 +0000

The European Cultural Centre (ECC), a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering cultural exchanges on an international scale, showcased its sixth edition of the Time Space Existence architecture exhibition alongside this year's Venice Architecture Biennale. The 2023 installment was centered on the theme of sustainability in its various forms, encompassing subjects related to migration, digital building technologies and material research, future urban developments, and housing, bringing together architects, designers, artists, academics, and photographers from 52 different countries.

Can Urban Design Find Success Through Grassroots Movements?

Kaley Overstreet — Sat, 17 Dec 2022 05:30:00 +0000

There are significant deficiencies in how our cities worldwide operate and serve the people who live in them. Bureaucracies, red tape, and other limiting processes that publicly drive our cities towards their futures are often the aspects that cause change to happen at such a slow pace that by the time an issue is addressed, five more have popped up in its place. Over time, society has come to accept that when the systems we have in place don’t do much to serve our needs, it forces us to turn to alternatives to advocate for change. Some urban issues have found the best solutions after initiating social movements and the formation of grassroots groups.

Envisaging the Future of Cities: UN-Habitat Launches the 2022 World Cities Report

Christele Harrouk — Wed, 10 Aug 2022 04:00:00 +0000

UN-Habitat has just released its annual World Cities Report during the eleventh session of the World Urban Forum, which took place in Katowice, Poland from June 27 until June 30, 2022. Titled “Envisaging the Future of Cities”, the 2022 release highlights insights on the future of the urban realm, based on “existing trends, challenges, and opportunities, as well as disruptive conditions, including the valuable lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic”. In fact, it seeks to present cities with ways to be prepared for future challenges and address current issues.

Is Metaverse Really the End of Barriers for Architects?

Sevince Bayrak — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 03:30:00 +0000

Everybody talks about Metaverse, but hardly anyone agrees on what it is. For the moment, it is still enigmatic, however, it seems like its ambiguity is its strength. Not a day goes by without a new article or a video on this subject, trying to convince people that Metaverse will inevitably become a part of our daily lives soon. Architects and designers are essential parties to the ongoing discussion as it is a spatial innovation that requires the Internet to be redesigned as a 3D environment.

How Does Global Inflation Impact the Design Profession?

Kaley Overstreet — Thu, 30 Jun 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Architecture, as a profession, is highly cyclical in nature. It ebbs and flows with the tides of economic conditions, and is especially hard hit during times of downturn. We’ve all heard stories or experienced it ourselves, or layoffs during the Great Financial Crisis in 2008, or even more recently the significant cutbacks architecture firms went through during the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. Projects went on hold and new business opportunities declined almost overnight. Now, two years later, firms are keeping a close watch on global supply chain issues and rising inflation rates, especially with increased pressure to meet the needs of a growing urban population. Will architecture be recession-proof as we enter a bear market?

What Can Metaverse Planners Learn from Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities

Chloe Sun — Wed, 01 Jun 2022 03:30:00 +0000

We are still at the dawn of the Metaverse, the next wave of the Internet. The current “mainstream” Metaverse platforms serve as experimental containers to host the wildest dreams of virtual worlds where we are supposed to unleash the imagination. However, from a spatial design perspective, they have so far been lame and ordinary. Without the constraints in the physical world, how do we draft the urban blueprints in the metaverse? I believe metaverse planners can find inspiration from Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, in which he revealed a poetic and mathematical approach to “urban planning” in the imaginary worlds.

When Paris Eliminates Cars, Will Other Cities Follow Suit?

Kaley Overstreet — Tue, 22 Mar 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Paris has been making headlines for years with its aggressive steps to anti-car, pro-pedestrian urban improvements. Faced with increasing issues around air pollution and an attempt to reclaim streets for alternate modes of transit, as outlined in their proposed plan for a 15-minute city, the French capital is seen as a leader in future-forward urbanist strategies. Recently, their department of transportation set a deadline for their lofty goals of eliminating traffic from its roads. In just two years from now, in time for the French capital to host the Olympics, Paris plans to ban non-essential traffic from its city center, effectively eliminating around 50% of vehicular mobility. What does this plan look like? And how might other cities use this strategy to eliminate their own urban issues?

Take Out, To-Go, and Delivery: The Innovative Rise of Ghost Kitchens in the Restaurant Industry

Kaley Overstreet — Mon, 27 Dec 2021 04:00:00 +0000

On a cold winter day, if you’re craving a fresh hot pizza, a stack of warm pancakes, or a juicy cheeseburger, it’s easy to turn to an app on your phone to quickly place an order and have it delivered right to your door. But if you’ve ever wondered how restaurants keep up with the demands of diners, those who take food-to-go, and those who order through delivery apps, especially over the last two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the solution might lie in the rapidly expanding new trend of Ghost Kitchens.

What is an "Up-And-Coming" City and How Do You Spot One?

Kaley Overstreet — Sun, 24 Oct 2021 07:30:00 +0000

It is projected that by 2025, the world’s population will reach over 8.1 billion people- and a large majority of those people will be heavily concentrated in cities. While much of the focus has been on preparing and reconfiguring our already hyper-dense urban to absorb even more people, in the peripheral, smaller cities and towns around the globe have experienced significant expansion, and have defined themselves as “up-and-coming”. Places that were perhaps once overlooked are putting themselves on the map for their rapid growth, economic vitality, and affordability, among other characteristics.

18 Months Later, We Revisit Our Predictions on the Built Environment in a COVID-19 World

Kaley Overstreet — Sun, 17 Oct 2021 07:30:00 +0000

Only 18 months ago, everyone around the globe had their life upended by the COVID-19 pandemic. Almost immediately, architects and designers began to speculate on how they could design for a better world that would be flexible, functional, and healthy. While the pandemic is far from over, with many scientific advancements and public health policies still needed to truly allow us to live out our “new normal”, perhaps its time to reflect on our predictions and examine what aspects of the pandemic were short-term reactions, and which aspects of life might be permanently reflected in how we think about the built environment.

Dutch Design Week x ArchDaily: Future Cities

Diego Hernández — Fri, 15 Oct 2021 02:30:00 +0000

Cities face enormous challenges: The energy transition, climate adaptation and, the enormous challenge to build houses for growing populations. As more and more people live in cities, we consider how architecture and landscape design can be adapted to their needs.

Will Abandoned Shopping Malls Soon Become Residential Buildings?

Kaley Overstreet — Fri, 09 Jul 2021 07:30:00 +0000

Shopping malls and retail centers are dead- or so they say. Although much of how we shop was put on pause by the COVID-19 pandemic, and we experienced the surge in e-commerce focused purchases, some of your favorite stores are faced with reimagining themselves in a new way. As the pressure for high-density housing continues to rise, and big-box centers and shopping malls are left empty, is there a way that the place where you once purchased a new outfit could be transformed into your next apartment?

What Will Happen to Cities if Everyone Keeps Working From Home?

Kaley Overstreet — Sun, 27 Jun 2021 07:30:00 +0000

Our lives in urban centers have been completely upended over the last 16 months. As we look into the near future, some of us begin to experience the call back into our workplaces and experience the awakening of a long slumber of cities, it’s without a doubt that life as we knew it will never be the same. While some on the extreme end have been asking “will we even need cities?” (to which the answer is a very definite yes), how will cities change if we continue to move forward in this digital era of work and life that was accelerated by the pandemic?

Urban Heat Islands Are Increasingly Dangerous, But Planners and Designers Have Solutions

Jared Green — Wed, 09 Jun 2021 03:30:00 +0000

For this month, The Dirt and author Jared Green share with us a study about urban heat islands, exploring new approaches that have been designed to both reduce urban temperatures and help communities adapt to a hotter world, In three cities: New York City, Copenhagen, and Abu Dhabi.

An Optimist’s Take on AI and the Future of Architecture

Martin Pedersen — Fri, 14 May 2021 03:30:00 +0000

This article was originally published on Common Edge.

The Future Workspace That Isn't the Workplace

Kaley Overstreet — Sat, 01 May 2021 07:30:00 +0000

As we begin to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been much speculation and debate about whether we will return to our old habits of working in the office 5 days a week, or if working from home creates equal or greater productivity. However, many believe that the future of the workforce will largely be focused on a balance between in-person and in-office working, and a form of remote working, that summates into a new, hybrid model. But if you’re not at home, and you’re not working, then you must be somewhere else- exploring the true in-between of a public and a private space. Enter the concept of the “third” place, which is used to describe everything from coffee shops to banks, and even co-working spaces. If you’ve ever studied for an exam at a bookstore, or even dropped into an airport restaurant to catch up on some work, then you too, have visited a “third” place.