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About Anthony Townsend

As a research director for IFTF’s Technology Horizons Program, a post he has held since joining IFTF in 2005, Anthony focuses on the impact of new technology on cities and public institutions, and the role of technology in economic development ... 

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Future NOW Blog

Identify Your Assets and Gaps: A Foresight Tool for Action

Oct 14, 2022

IFTF News from the Future #80

Oct 06, 2022

IFTF Equitable Enterprise Newsletter | September

Sep 28, 2022

Sparking a Sense of Hope & Agency

Sep 19, 2022

IFTF News from the Future #79

Sep 08, 2022

Selecting the Right Signals: Don't Ask, "Is It Good;" Ask "What Is It Good For?"

Aug 30, 2022

Designing an Anticipatory Institution

Aug 26, 2022

IFTF Equitable Enterprise Newsletter | August

Aug 24, 2022

IFTF News from the Future #78

Aug 24, 2022

IFTF News from the Future #77

Aug 02, 2022

Browse all blog posts »

@anthonymobile

Smart Cities: Big Data, Civic Hackers, and the Quest for a New Utopia

An unflinching look at the aspiring city-builders of our smart, mobile, connected future from IFTF Research Director Anthony Townsend

Today, more people live in cities than in the countryside; mobile broadband connections outnumber fixed ones; and machines outnumber people on a new Internet of Things. In this era of mass urbanization and technological ubiquity, what happens when computers take over the city?

IFTF Research Director Anthony Townsend explores this question in Smart Cities, a broad look at the people and historical forces that have transformed the design of cities and information technologies. From the great industrial metropolises of the nineteenth century to today’s sprawling megacities, wave after wave of new technologies have been invented to address the proliferating challenges posed by human settlements of ever-greater size and complexity. As a new generation of technology barons, entrepreneurs, mayors, and civic coders try to shape our future, Smart Cities explores their motivations, aspirations, and shortcomings, offering a new civics for building communities: together, one click at a time.

More on the Future of Cities from IFTF

Anthony's book builds on IFTF's previous research about human settlement and links to our Technology Horizons Program's current research on Maker Cities—a look at how citizens are changing work, production, governance, learning, well-being, and their neighborhoods, and what this means for the future. How will individuals, grassroots efforts, and community groups use emerging technologies and work together to solve problems in your city? How will Smart Cities be Maker Cities? Visit makercities.net to brainstorm, discuss, collaborate, and engage with fellow citizens to make your city a Maker City.

Smart Cities in the News

  • Is a city a tree? Foursquare and Urban Pattern Languages (Boing Boing)
  • Tomorrow's Cities: What's it Like to Live in a Smart City? (BBC News)
  • "The too-smart city" (Boston Globe)
  • "Smart cities and smart citizens" (Sustain Magazine)
  • "These 'Civic Hackers' Are Secretly Making Your Commute Better And Your Air Cleaner" (Business Insider)
  • "Tomorrow’s smart cities" (Standard)
  • "City Slickers: 5 Books About The Urban Experience" (NPR)
  • "IASP, Anprotec, Sebrae e Porto Digital apresentam o maior evento sobre parques tecnológicos da América Latina" (Segs.com)
  • "Mensajero del futuro" (El Pais)

Available Now

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For More Information

  • For more on smart cities, follow Anthony on Twitter (@anthonymobile) and Facebook.
  • Follow our Maker Cities and other future of cities research at @IFTF, Facebook, and #makercities.
  • Contact John Clamme | [email protected]
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