SHACK15 Conversations

Flying cars, teleporters, robot butlers, and geostationary metropolises are just a few of the tropes that have long been used as pop culture markers for cities of the future. But those imaginative notions rarely address some of the most pressing issues experienced by cities now, including an expanding income gap, growing homelessness and global climate change. Can we surmount today’s pernicious challenges and realize a shared, ideal future? Will tomorrow’s cities be more reminiscent of the shiny utopia of Star Trek or the bleak dystopia of Blade Runner? Will future cities even be identifiable as such? SHACK15, Manny's, and SPUR presented a conversation diving head first into this pertinent question, with leading architects and urban planners Peter Calthorpe, Kristen Hall and Shilpi Kumar. Here to introduce the panel is Manny Yekutiel.