Retrofuturism, Renewables, Colonisation and Endless Cities: Four Future Urban Visions
What are the fundamental trends of our age? In central London on November the 25th and 26th, thirty forward-thinking minds will attempt to address this topic at the iq2 if conference. This Big City contributor Rachel Armstrong will be one of the speakers, all 30 of whom will also be exploring this (massive) question: how will our homes, lives and cities be transformed by an urbanised, environmentally conscious and technologically empowered humanity?
To give you some kind of idea of what to expect, we’ve selected four videos from iq2 if’s youtube channel, each of which features a different speaker and a different future-thinking idea (and if you’re tempted to go, the guys at iq2 are giving This Big City readers a massive discount on ticket prices – read on for details):
Retrofuturism
‘You pretend you’re moving into the future, but actually you’re quoting, you’re xeroxing, copy, copy, copy, copy….’
Renewables
‘Even with the most optimistic view of fuel production, there’s no way we can pump three times as much oil in 2050 as we pump now…’
Colonisation
‘There’s a lot to be said for an imperative to spread beyond the earth to protect ourselves as a species…’
Endless Cities
‘Half the population of Mumbai are living in slums, that’s the equivalent of the population of London…’
Check out iq2 if’s youtube channel for more videos, and their website for more details on the event.
Photo: Yolanda Sun
