Robot City Versus Human City Planning

Two visions are competing to define the cities of the future. One imagines vast “Robot Cities,” governed by data, sensors, and centralized systems designed to optimize traffic, energy, and efficiency across sprawling megaregions. The other looks smaller and more human, drawing on Jane Jacobs and New Urbanism to prioritize walkable neighborhoods, public life, and the everyday vitality of streets and “third places.” In this episode, we explore why each approach falls short on its own, what real-world experiments like Songdo reveal about the limits of top-down smart cities, and how fictional worlds—from Black Panther to Blade Runner—hint at a better synthesis. The story argues that the most successful cities will not choose between humans and machines, but learn how to design for both.Abbott, Carl, 'Epilogue Imagining future cities', City Planning: A Very Short Introduction, Very Short Introductions (New York, 2020; online edn, Oxford Academic, 22 Oct. 2020), https://doi.org/10.1093/actrade/9780190944346.003.0009