The world is undergoing the largest wave of urban growth in history. According to the United Nations' predictions, the proportion of the world's population living in cities is expected to grow from 54 per cent to 66 per cent by 2050, adding another 2.5 billion people to urban areas. I would note here that the opportunities outlined in the quote below are also in the public sector and civil society:

More than half of the world's population now lives in towns and cities. From 1950 to 2010, 1.3 billion people live in small cities [sized at 200,000 to 500,000 people according to the OECD], 632 million people live in medium-sized cities [500,000 to 1.5 million people], and 570 million people live in large cities [1.5 million+ people]. By 2050, the population living in cities, especially in developing countries, will have increased twofold. Thus, the problems created by rampant urbanisation are among the most important challenges of our time. They also represent one of the greatest opportunities - and responsibilities - for the private sector. Business is uniquely positioned to shape the sustainable, economically competitive cities of the future. With urban areas containing the increasing majority of the population, it is very important to focus on how technological innovation can help deliver a sustainable future. ref:1

Economic power is shifting - of the 424 cities that will generate over 80% of the world's GDP by 2030, 315 will be in Asia ref:2. The OECD reported that the new middle class in China, India and Brazil would lead to a shift in the economic centre of gravity accounting for nearly half of the world output by 2050, and surpassing the G7 ref:3.

Technology is expected to replace a large proportion of jobs. It will create new opportunities - as many as 58 million net new jobs by 2020, according to a 'Future of Work' report ref:4 and the World Economic Forum. It will expand our life span. It will threaten our middle class ref:5. The landscape of communities, large and small, is changing. We can no longer look in the rearview mirror for solutions.

Agglomeration creates new benefits (such as economies of scale, improved productivity and wages, innovation). It also creates challenges (congestion, social isolation, etc.). This document outlines a set of challenges for the future of cities. In doing so, the intention is to establish a basis for an inspired conversation. It is derived from the work of many thinkers, and a journey which many of us have been involved with for decades - city officials, governments, urban planners, researchers, engineers, architects, and private sector. What this document seeks to capture are the issues, challenges and opportunities that politicians, economic development professionals, community stakeholders, and policy makers now need to address. Cities are increasingly recognized as the main engine for change and have an opportunity to shape what the future looks and feels like.

Currently, cities are not efficient. We still think in silos. So-called 'smart city' concepts for the most part simply add a layer of technology to "fix problems" in silos. We really need to start thinking about the city as a system, as a web of networks (global and regional) that need to be developed and enhanced to become more effective and efficient. Resource constraint is not the problem: we could do a lot more with what we already have, if we just collaborated and shared better, instead of starting up yet another institution to handle each new issue.