Defining future cities: A comparative review of future cities’ definitions and characteristics across multiple fields

Abstract

The rapid interest in future cities within academia is driven by the rising complexity of urban development and challenges such as rapid urbanization, population growth, and inequality. Researchers across various fields have different understandings of future cities and their characteristics, causing confusion and divergence between implementation goals and theories. This research addresses this gap by providing a unified, multidisciplinary definition of future cities, critically analyzing their intellectual and practical characteristics across fields including philosophy, computer science, engineering, environmental science, management, economics, social science, health sciences, architecture and planning. This research employed a mixed-method approach of a hybrid systematic-narrative literature review to identify key characteristics, followed by a multidisciplinary focus group of experts to synthesize the definition and key characteristics. It concluded that despite the rising interest in academia about future cities in recent years, there are differences in how various fields perceive future cities, particularly in areas like infrastructure, resource management, innovation, adaptability, technology, sustainability, and human needs. Despite these differences, future cities share common goals of meeting the well-being and justice needs of both current and future residents. They rely on technology, sustainability practices, community involvement, responsible citizenship, and efficient governance and leadership to ensure sustainable and effective long-term outcomes.