Alternative city futures

摘要

Are our cities and urban environments locked into a predetermined future shaped by the milieu of global forces - one which is dehumanising? Or is there time and space still for communities to engage with urban governments to create alternative city futures? The answer is uncertain as are our urban futures and it is also place specific as it depends on the capacity of citizens to act as change agents. Solutions that might work in Goteborg Sweden could be inconceivable in Bulungan Indonesia; yet the underlying processes of building city foresight may be more closely related even across different cultural contexts. Urbanisation is a global megatrend pushing and or attracting more people into cities across the planet. The reasons behind this megatrend have been explored extensively by others [ 1 -3 ] and will not be the focus of this edition.