London of the Future

What will London be like in a hundred years’ time? A century ago, having asked this question, The London Society published London of the Future, a bold, visionary work that predicted city-centre airports and Channel tunnels, and addressed such prescient concerns as pollution, housing and access to public space. This intriguing new book sets out how the city could and should improve by 2123. Over the course of eighteen essays, experts in various fields – engineering, urbanism, architecture, manufacturing, futurology, journalism and more – predict how the metropolis might be governed, organized and designed in the years to come. Some of the issues of the original book remain potent today, but there are many challenging new considerations that the 20th-century authors could not have foreseen. Will the city become a Venice-like heritage park for tourists, or be an independent state? Could local food production feed the capital? How will we need to adapt to climate change? Will we become a techno-utopia, with Londoners’ lives in perfect harmony with artificial intelligence? How do we achieve a London that is fair and equitable for everyone? Now London of the Future presents an entirely fresh and up-to date series of ideas for the 21st century and beyond. It will provoke debate among architects, developers and planners, and also provide food for thought more generally, in a world where change will be required of everyone.