A panel proposal with Ozcan Saritas; Raphaële Bidault-Waddington; and
Jean-Paul Pinto

In this panel, we will explore the future of urban life as the center of human
evolution and of social, economic and technological activity, with all the pros
and cons from a past-present-future perspective. We will use the metaphor
of industrial revolutions for our discussion. The history of cities and urban
life dates back thousands of years, and it has been a convoluted and
fascinating journey of emergence and evolution due to the complex interplay
between technological advancements, economic growth, social
transformations, and environmental impacts. Industrial revolutions have
been important drivers of urban development. They have brought about
significant social transformations and urbanization, as people migrated from
rural areas to cities in search of employment and better life. This has led to
the growth of cities and the development of new social structures. While
industrial revolutions have provided new opportunities and improved living
standards for some, they have also resulted in overcrowding, poor living
conditions, and social challenges in urban areas. At the threshold of the
Fourth Industrial Revolution, understanding this history helps us appreciate
the complexity of urban development and the ongoing efforts to create
vibrant, sustainable, and inclusive human lives for the future. Searching to
capture the “future of today” with open positive future perspectives, we will
look at current urban resilience movement supporting cities in their transition
toward a sustainable future model. We will share insights from the
Mesopolis lab, a slow art-based research project to explore the design of
resilient and creative future protopias. This includes learnings from historical
urban imaginary models and utopias, as much as from urban resilience,
transition design and foresight theories. We will use Science Fiction to
address possible risks that humanity may face at the verge of the Fourth
Industrial Revolution with a dystopian future perspective.