METROPOLIS OF THE FUTURE

The rupture in the territory of the metropolis provoked by the fourth wave of the digital revolution will transform urban spaces and human activity. The urbanized civilization will have to adapt its territory to this new technological way of life and this will imply in rethinking the use and occupation of the soil in the cities. The amplitude in the absorption and implantation of these new technologies in their territorial infrastructure will differentiate the metropolises as a place of prosperity and producer of knowledge, defining their position in the global competition.

The optical cabling system and high-speed broadband, with the incorporation of digital technologies in transport, energy consumption and production will be normal in cities. Recycling solid waste and sanitation on digital platforms as well as rationalization of supply, traffic management and public safety will make the city more and more efficient. It will be, therefore, the metropolis, a privileged place of production of the creative economy with shared prosperity.

One possible change will be the expansion to a larger region of direct influence, as the use of work platforms and alternatives with transport applications will provide a spreading of the cities. Paradoxically, cities will also need spaces of social interaction and centralizing, as bases for the gratification of virtual communities and the necessary physical catharsis to consolidate the collective identity.

These spaces will boost polycentrism in the metropolis, where virtual communities would choose places to socialize and exchange group experiences. The combined network events would take place in places (squares, parks or subway stations) that were not initially designed for this purpose, allowing greater flexibility in the ground and better utilization of the infrastructure. The various centers of the metropolis will also increase their specializations according to the interests of groups or services, such as regions with medical centers, purchases of clothes or electronics, foods and conglomerates of education and training, among others.

The buildings will be reprogrammable, changing their uses according to local interests and quickly adapting to the new activities demanded. Or it could have multiple uses scheduled and digitally controlled according to the needs of virtual communities, ie a building may be a social center, gym, fair, nightclub, theater, school or other adaptive uses. To the extent that these infrastructures in information and communication technologies connect citizens, governments, companies, factories, consumption and educational equipment, metropolises will be spaces of experimentation, generation of knowledge and transforming centers of ideas into values ​​in the global economy.