Futures Past: the art of imagining cities

Keynote speaker. As we look to the future, the world will be shaped by its cities. The future will be increasingly urban, as the majority of the population will move to live and work in urban hubs. It is estimated that in a few decades, more than fifty per cent of the earth’s population will live in cities or their suburbs. Hence, cities will become the ultimate destination of the new generation, they will play a key role in the lives of everyone in the world. How these cities look, feel and operate has long been (and is still) a topic of interest and inspiration for many artists, designers, architects… Through their artistic work and practice, they imagine, depict and perform what the city of tomorrow might look like. Many of these visions of future cities aren’t constructed yet or they remain fictional, but this does not mean we cannot learn from them. They offer a challenging perspective on social, political, economic and ecological issues. They illustrate how a city can become uncontrollable or how it will remain a centre for innovation and freedom.