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How Will the Future Remember COVID-19?
Three visions for a hypothetical pandemic memorial
Metropolis Now
METROPOLIS NOW
Technology is transforming city life, for better and worse
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The YouTuber Who Treats the Inner City Like a Safari
Charlie Moore turned the aesthetics of beat policing into a full-time job.
The Pandemic Could End Waiting in Line
Theme-park designers, architects, and engineers have been fighting against queues for decades. COVID-19 could finally kill them for good.
America Will Sacrifice Anything for the College Experience
The pandemic has revealed that higher education was never about education.
Trees Are Time Machines
Arborists are planting trees today that must survive decades of global warming. The health, comfort, and happiness of city dwellers hang in the balance.
The Pandemic Has Remade Friendship
Every relationship is long-distance now—and that’s a good thing.
Why Every City Feels the Same Now
Glass-and-steel monoliths replaced local architecture. It’s not too late to go back.
The End of the Fictional Cop
Television and film helped naturalize police violence. Noir offers a way out.
The Struggle for the Urban Soundscape
The quiet of lockdown and the noise of protest restage the political conflicts of sonic life in the city.
How a Feel-Good AI Story Went Wrong in Flint
A machine-learning model showed promising results, but city officials and their engineering contractor abandoned it.
Tech Is Killing Street Food
The wealthy hubs of the United States and India are embracing informal gastronomy, but not the people who have traditionally provided it.
An Augmented Reality
A short story explores the possible quandaries of future wearable computing.
Meet the Safecracker of Last Resort
Charlie Santore sees Los Angeles from the inside, by breaking into safes whose owners can no longer unlock them.
The Grim Future of Urban Warfare
New technologies are making war even more horrific.
What Venice Can Teach American Cities
The city of canals has been flooding for centuries. Others can learn from its adaptations.
A Map That Tracks Everything
Blockchain-based mapping hopes to replace GPS. Can it be trusted?
How Restaurants Got So Loud
Fashionable minimalism replaced plush opulence. That’s a recipe for commotion.
Sports Stadiums Are a Bad Deal for Cities
But cities can fight back.
When Elon Musk Tunnels Under Your Home
The billionaire is drilling for futuristic transit under Los Angeles. He didn’t have to ask the neighbors first.
Kim Kardashian’s Private Firefighters Expose America’s Fault Lines
“Rich people don’t get their own ‘better’ firefighters, or at least they aren’t supposed to.”
Every City Should Have a Toy Library
The “toyery” once made play a part of civic infrastructure. It’s time to bring it back.
A Smart City Is an Accessible City
A new breed of accessibility apps can make life easier for people with disabilities. They can also make it harder.
Future Shock in the Countryside
Earth’s rural areas are being transformed by climate change and technology.
The Bus Is Still Best
Ride-shares aren’t the most efficient way to move lots of people around cities.
The Black Struggle for Technology Jobs
In Atlanta and other racially segregated cities, the education system is stacked against African Americans competing for STEM careers. If Amazon picks the city for its second headquarters, things could get even worse.
How High Schools Shaped American Cities
Public education and its traditions united communities. But “school choice” could put that legacy at risk.
A World-Class Airport for the End of the World
New Orleans is building a state-of-the-art, billion-dollar terminal. But is it planning for a future doomed by climate change?
A Long-Term Solution for Scooter Sharing
San Francisco’s scooters are back, and newly regulated. But is regulation enough to make them work in the long term?
Cape Town Is an Omen
Climate change is going to revolutionize politics in cities across the world.
The Hurricane in My Backyard
An environmental philosopher reflects on his experience enduring Hurricane Harvey, and what it teaches cities and their citizens about living with global warming.
An App for Ejecting the Homeless
Amazon’s hometown has one of the nation’s worst homelessness problems. But instead of using its technology and its wealth to fix it, the city is making the problem worse.
Who Gets to Live in Silicon Valley?
Google and San Jose hope to make the city more affordable for working- and middle-class families, but they make matters worse.
Brexit Could Cripple Britain’s Ports
Technology has streamlined Dover, the busiest port in the United Kingdom. But nothing has prepared it for the Brexit transition.
Shops Aren’t for Shopping Anymore
Retail stores used to be places to buy things. Smartphones changed that, and retailers are struggling to invent new reasons, and methods, for shopping.
The Cities That Never Existed
What if the urban visions of famous architects and planners had actually been built?
The Unbearable Awkwardness of Automation
The machine age is changing the nature of work. In the process, it is also transforming buildings, and making them less hospitable for human use.
Apple's Airpods Are an Omen
The company’s slick, wireless earbuds work great, but they foreshadow startling changes to the social fabric.
‘Cargo-Bike Moms’ Are Gentrifying the Netherlands
In Rotterdam, the bakfiets utility bike has become a symbol—and a tool—of urban displacement.
Drone Cops Take Flight in Los Angeles
The L.A. County Sheriff has deployed a quadcopter drone for rescue and reconnaissance. But will the public accept that these aerial officers come in peace?