The project identified nine key trends; More globally than city wide connected communities, Neighbourhoods become more important, Collaborative production as well as consumption, Active aging population, Flexible working, Fragile energy supply and environment, Inequality causing skills and housing divides, Increasing collection and use of personal data and Socially divisive access to communication technologies — Future Londoners

Given current growth trends, the world's population is expected to reach 9 billion people by midcentury. That also means a quadrupling in the number of cars to 4 billion by 2050 -- and that, said Ford, is a recipe for global gridlock that he argues will become "a human rights issue, not just an inconvenience."

For Ford [...] the only answer is to create a future where pedestrians, bicycles, and cars become part of a connected network. — CNET

How do you fancy living in a city with which you can interact? A city that acts more like a living organism, a city that can respond to your needs. [...]

But how do we get to this smarter future. Who will be monitoring and controlling the sensors that will increasingly be on every building, lamp-post and pipe in the city?

And is it a future we even want? — bbc.co.uk

Smart city infrastructure can augment the ability of managers, planners, designers and engineers to define and implement a fundamentally better next generation of buildings, cities, regions — right? Maybe. For that to be a serious proposition, it’s going to have to be normal for planners and designers not only to collaborate productively with engineers, but to do so with the full and competent participation of the only people they mistrust more than each other ... customers. — Places Journal

Technology being used in urban communities around the world hints at how we may live in the cities of the future — BBC News

The Three Grand Prize winners and thirteen Special Mentions were released for d3's Unbuilt Visions 2012 competition. The program promotes critical debate about architecture and design by acknowledging excellence in unbuilt projects. The Grand Prize: went to The Emperor's Castle, designed by Thomas Hillier, UK. In response homme_du_jura applauded "I'm very glad to see Thomas Hillier's work recognized...A beautiful piece!"

Jan Gehl, says the new suburb was old-fashioned from its inception. “It was built on principles — specifically those of the modernist movement — that were popular in the middle part of the last century,” he said. “Orestad was built from the top-down, rather than from the bottom-up. Plus, there was an idea that if you got enough ‘starchitects’ on board, then things would be fine.” — NYT

My thinking about complexity and the dangers it poses for us has been evolving fast lately and I am convinced that this is some of the most important work I've ever done. The message is simple, but the implications are profound. To say "hope you enjoy" would not accurately describe my feelings. Let's try "hope you are moved to action, dialogue, or further reflection" instead. — Kazys Varnelis

The best way to harness a city's potential for creativity and innovation is to jack people into the network and get out of the way — scientificamerican.com