COVID-19 has already significantly altered urban life, both physically and socially. From temporarily widened sidewalks, replacing car parking spaces and roadway with cycleways, to allowing restaurants to expand into the street to enable social distancing, these changes are transforming the urban streetscape. In parallel, citizens are demanding that cities are built back better to become liveable, sustainable and affordable, which requires action on climate and resilience, the provision of vital social infrastructure (health and housing) and the enabling digital infrastructure required for our new normal. This is set against record budget shortfalls, dwindling tax revenues and record unemployment, while health, sanitation and housing costs have accelerated, putting city budgets into deficit. The Global Future Council on Cities of Tomorrow will seek to identify how cities can be re-designed to build back better and provide the climate and resilience, social and digital infrastructure to do so, as well as rethinking traditional revenues and financing mechanisms to deliver liveable, sustainable and affordable cities.

Co-chairs

Penny Abeywardena, Commissioner for International Affairs, Mayor's Office, City of New York, USA

Carlo Ratti, Director, SENSEable City Laboratory, MIT - Department of Urban Studies and Planning, USA

Council Manager

Alice Charles, Project Lead, Cities, Infrastructure and Urban Services Platform, World Economic Forum