The center of gravity is shifting to the cities of the South, moving definitively below the equator. This shift is creating a new political and social equator – a messy, snaking line defined not by latitude, but by the global distribution of wealth. It skirts around neighborhoods, creating pockets of unimaginable affluence in Rio de Janeiro and zones of unexpected deprivation in Athens. South of this equator, urban communities are growing faster than ever anticipated, in the process posing challenges we are struggling to comprehend and address.

Now Urbanism: The Future City Is Here

‘Forget About Utopia’

Publications

The most prevalent contemporary model of social housing – government-owned and constructed spaces that are rented to the public at affordable, subsidized rates – is only one of many possible approaches to providing dwellings for those members of society excluded from traditional property markets. In the vein of alternative social housing, we see the possibility for government to help establish conditions for the construction of homes without actually providing the home itself. We feel the key is balancing self-determination with top-down planning.

Real Estates: Life Without Debt

‘Capitalism and Freedom’

More than half the world population today lives in cities. In India alone, it is estimated that within the next two decades 380 million people will migrate from rural areas into metropolises. That is equal to 20 new cities the size of Mumbai or São Paulo. In this context, it is somewhat ironic that Western real estate firms are promoting sprawl in Indian cities as the norm. As demographic and geographic developments in Asia, Africa, and South America will inevitably lead to increased urbanization, one might think that cities in these regions should prepare for the numerous ‘consequences’ that come with dramatic population shifts to urban zones. Surprisingly few politicians, bankers, and urban planners, however, have thought it necessary to take action.

MAS Context 10: Conflict

‘Build Simply: South of the Border’

The work of Urban-Think Tank has centered on the dynamic cities of the Sur Global. These are spaces of ordered delirium and yawning inequality, defined by a fluid mode of development and a population that grows with every driving impulse. If cities are simultaneously lived and dreamed, then our task in imagining the teeming metropolises of 2050 is to envisage how social needs can best be translated into physical form.

Title	2050: Designing Our Tomorrow (Architectural Design)
Authors	Alfredo Brillembourg, Hubert Klumpner & Alexis Kalagas
Release	July/August 2015
Guest Editor	Chris Luebkeman
Publisher	John Wiley & Sons
Pages	136

‘El Sur Global: Future Resilient City’

2050: Designing Our Tomorrow