Cities of tomorrow

3 cities leading the way 

1. Hyllie, Malmö (Sweden) – Smart district powered by solar, wind, biogas, and waste heat, balanced in real time by digital grids. Most advanced model of future cities.

2. Burlington, Vermont (USA) – First U.S. city fully powered by renewables (hydro, wind, solar, biomass). Proves 100% renewables can work city-wide.

3. Canberra (Australia) – Entire capital region runs on renewable electricity through bold policy and investment. Large-scale, government-led success.

3 examples of energy-positive buildings

1. Powerhouse Brattørkaia (Norway) – World’s largest energy-positive office, producing 2× its consumption with solar and smart design, sharing surplus with nearby buildings.

2. Bullitt Center (USA) – “Greenest office building,” designed for 250 years, with solar, rainwater harvesting, composting, and zero-toxic materials.

3. Pixel Building (Australia) – First carbon-neutral office in the country; record LEED score, with solar, rooftop wind, rainwater capture, and water treatment.

3  leading Water-Resilient Countries  

1. Singapore – Built resilience through the “Four National Taps”: desalination, rainwater catchment, NEWater (recycled water), and imports. Aims for full self-sufficiency despite no natural resources.

2. Netherlands – Global leader in flood and water management, with dikes, Delta Works, and water-smart urban planning turning risk into resilience.

3. Namibia – Pioneer of large-scale wastewater-to-drinking-water reuse, ensuring supply in one of the driest climates on Earth.

3 cities already leading the way

Copenhagen, Denmark is the world’s cycling capital, where over half of daily trips are made by bike on 350 kilometres of tracks. Its driverless electric metro and seamless public transport make the city both walkable and highly connected.

Oslo, Norway runs the world’s first fully electric public transport system, covering buses, ferries, and trams. Paired with pedestrian-friendly policies and rapid EV adoption, the city has sharply reduced emissions.

Pontevedra, Spain removed cars from its centre in 1999, turning streets over to people. Today, two-thirds of trips are on foot and emissions have fallen by 67%, making it a global model for walkable design.

3 examples for inspiration

Milan, Italy is home to the Bosco Verticale, two residential towers wrapped in over 800 trees and thousands of shrubs and plants. This vertical forest cleans the air, reduces noise, and naturally cools the buildings while creating habitat for birds and insects.

Basel, Switzerland requires green roofs on all new and renovated buildings with shallow slopes. These living rooftops help cool the city, store rainwater, and provide micro-habitats for urban wildlife.

Edmonton, Canada has built wildlife overpasses and underpasses that reconnect fragmented habitats. These biodiversity corridors allow animals to move safely across the city, helping nature thrive alongside people.

Breakthrough Ideas

Singapore has built a digital twin of the entire city, combining sensor data with 3D modelling. It helps plan climate adaptation, test new transport routes, and involve citizens in shaping urban policy.

Seoul, South Korea runs a citywide air-quality sensor network linked to public dashboards. Citizens can check pollution levels in real time, while the city adjusts traffic and transit policies to cut smog.

Barcelona, Spain pioneered “superblocks,” clusters of city streets closed to through-traffic. They reduce car use, create green public spaces, and cool neighbourhoods while improving air quality.

Toronto, Canada is experimenting with dynamic curb space, where sensors adjust parking, loading, and bike lanes in real time depending on demand.

Helsinki, Finland offers an integrated mobility-as-a-service app (Whim) that combines public transit, bike-share, car-share, and taxis into one subscription, reducing private car use.

Examples

Lufa Farms, Montreal pioneered commercial rooftop greenhouses, now spanning over 300,000 square feet. Their hydroponic farms grow vegetables without pesticides, recycle water, and integrate local compost, delivering more than 20,000 baskets of produce to city residents each week.

Brooklyn Grange, New York operates three large rooftop farms across the city, producing around 80,000 pounds of organic vegetables annually. Alongside honeybee hives and educational programs, they supply restaurants and markets while greening rooftops and strengthening community ties.

Stacked Farm, Australia/USA develops fully automated vertical farms powered by robotics and data-driven systems. Their facilities use up to 95% less water, reduce transport emissions by producing food close to consumers, and are designed to scale across cities globally.

3 examples

Seoul, South Korea uses RFID-enabled bins that charge residents by the weight of their food waste. This system has cut waste by over 30% while turning scraps into biogas and compost, tackling one of the world’s most pressing waste challenges.

Ljubljana, Slovenia is the first European capital to commit to zero waste. Through door-to-door collection and reuse centres, it now recycles more than two-thirds of its waste, showing how even historic cities can lead the circular transition.

San Francisco, USA pioneered mandatory composting and recycling, diverting about 80% of its waste from landfill. Its mix of strong policy, citizen engagement, and large-scale composting has made it a global model for urban zero-waste systems.

4 visionaries already shaping the cities of today

• Jaime Lerner (Brazil) – As mayor and governor, he transformed Curitiba into a global model of sustainable urban planning. His pioneering Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system has since been replicated in more than 250 cities worldwide.

• Janette Sadik-Khan (USA) – As New York City’s Transportation Commissioner, she delivered lasting street transformations: 400+ miles of bike lanes, the pedestrianization of Times Square, and safer, more people-focused public spaces that influenced cities around the globe.
• Yu Kongjian (China) – Landscape architect and urban planner who pioneered “sponge cities” — redesigning urban areas to absorb and reuse rainwater through wetlands, green roofs, permeable pavements, and restored waterways. Over 30 pilot sponge cities have been built in China, influencing urban resilience strategies worldwide.
• Stefano Boeri (Italy) – Architect of Milan’s Bosco Verticale (Vertical Forest), integrating 900+ trees and 20,000 plants into residential towers. His vision of vertical reforestation is now spreading to cities worldwide.