New Future Agenda Website

We have now launched the new futureagenda website on futureagenda.org – this highlights the results of the 12 month insight programme so that people, companies and governments can now use them to inform, challenge and identify new opportunities. All of the previous content from the global discussions will stay active so that you can access it but you may find that the 52 new insights provide a better starting point for you. The associated book and ebook include the same material.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Global Launch and New Website

We are now just 72 hours away from global launch event in Istanbul and the updating of this website with the new one. The new book and website both allow navigation from topic to topic as well as more conventional read through so hopefully people will find that useful as some of the linkages are quite revealing. As well as all the original content from the programme, the new website includes all of the synthesis from the new book, pdfs of each section / insight and reference material as well as links to supporting sites etc. This original wordpress site will continue to operate in the background so you can also still access the source insights from all the varied workshops and on-line comments. Lastly, the new website has been designed so that it can be embedded in other sites so we will ensure that coding for that etc is also made available.

Popularity: 42% [?]

Key Global Insights

The 52 key global insights from the Future Agenda programme have been summarised in a presentation and are now available for download. These will be detailed in the new website and book being launched in November.

As well as the 4 certainties for the world in 2020 (imbalanced population growth, key resource constraints, universal data access and Asian wealth shift), the presentation provides 6 clusters of additional insights with 8 topics in each. These clusters are health, wealth, happiness, mobility, security and locality.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Migration Magnets

Immigration is a key part of many cities’ and government’s economic development strategies so they are increasingly positioning themselves as migration magnets for feeder countries

Migration both within and between countries has been on the increase for many years and shows little sign of slowing as we move forward. As Professor Richard Black highlighted in the initial perspective on the topic:

“Although international migration has increased over the last few decades, it has done so slowly, rising from just 2% to around 3% of the world’s population over the period from 1970 to 2005.  It seems highly probable that this percentage will continue to rise slowly over the coming decade, or at least not fall, implying that by 2020 there will be more international migrants in the world than there are today. Read more

Popularity: 40% [?]

Water Management

Advanced water purification, irrigation and low-cost desalination technologies will be used in water stressed regions to help communities better manage the rising supply / demand imbalance

As highlighted in the key resource constraints chapter in section 1, water is the resource over which many governments, corporations and communities have greatest concern for the future: As populations increase and move to urban areas and as consumption rises in line with economic growth, water stress will be the main challenge for many parts of the world. Read more

Popularity: 14% [?]

Urban (Im)mobility

As greater growth, congestion and regulation impact the world’s cities, more informed choices drive shifts towards more efficient, more sustainable transport options.

Although all cities are in many ways different in terms of layout, structure and hence specific transport options available, many share similar issues and challenges around sustaining growth without gridlock. With increasing recognition not just of the efficiency and emotional problems from congestion, but also of the environmental implications, many leading mayors and supporting administrations have been taking steps to encourage citizens to make alternative choices. In many developed world cities primary challenges include encouraging people to change their existing habits and behaviours, while in the developing world it is often a case of encouraging people to make different choices around mobility that others have made in the past. With car ownership rising steadily in many nations this is no easy task. The challenge of future urban transport was examined in a number of different workshops within the Future Agenda programme – in Bangalore, Brussels, Cape Town, Delhi, London, Melbourne, Shanghai and Singapore. Across all these discussions it is clear that “it is not simply about stopping people using cars but is about improving the efficiency of car usage and providing viable alternatives;” nor is it just about “encouraging people to travel less by better co-locating home, work and leisure” or “developing wider eco-literacy.” It is about all of these and more: Urban transport is a complex issue driven by multiple different drivers on top of the geographic and cultural differences present. Read more

Popularity: 7% [?]

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: 4% [?]

Electric Mobility

With France and Germany taking the initial lead roles, in parallel with the electrification of public transport, electric cars take off and form over 10% of the world’s vehicle fleet by 2020

It is has been a long time coming, but 13 years after the global launch of the Toyota Prius hybrid, a host of companies have all electric vehicles slated for launch over the next few years. The alignment of technology development, targeted incentives and economies of scale together with a fundamental change in consumer sentiment has started the ball rolling towards a future where electric mobility has a significant role in global transportation. By 2020, experts predict that nearly a third of all cars being sold will be electric and that electric cars will form over 10% of the world’s vehicle fleet. Read more

Popularity: 27% [?]

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% [?]

Bridging the Last Mile

With increasing demands to make public transport as flexible as individual transport, attention is focused on fixing the last mile gap between multi-modal hubs and the home / work destination

The concept of “the last mile” game into common language as telecommunications and cable television companies have sought to deliver faster and better services to their customers. Although they can get data to hubs and exchanges quickly and cheaply, when it comes to reaching their final destination and wires and cables have to fan out to multiple homes and offices, things get more complex. Not only is connecting the last mile more expensive than other parts of a network but it often suffers a loss of quality the further you are away from the local hub. Read more

Popularity: 3% [?]

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