Conclusions: facing the urban future to 2050 and beyond

Abstract

Crises provide opportunities as well as risks, and there is an argument for suggesting that the COVID-19 crisis, and the continuing impact of climate change, provide us with a chance to think longer-term beyond the present, and re-imagine the way in which cities should be like further into the future to 2030, 2050 and beyond. In the rest of this chapter, therefore, the focus is on three main themes which have emerged from the book: (i) city foresight, transitions theory and city visions; (ii) urban planning and governance; and (iii) the future for cities. In doing this, the chapter focuses on the practical and pragmatic steps city leaders and other groups need to take to develop city visions and new forms of flexible governance as part of ‘urban futures’ thinking.