In December 2009, the Council of Australian Governments proposed an objective for Australian cities:

“To ensure Australian cities are globally competitive, productive, sustainable, livable and socially inclusive and are well placed to meet future challenges and growth”.

But this objective is focussed on the present state of our cities. What about the future? What kind of city would you like to be living in by 2040?

The innovation lab, a project created by Anthony Howard of Confidere Group and Janine Cahill of Future Journeys, brought together a group of experts from diverse backgrounds to exchange insights and ideas about the future of Australian cities.

This collaborative approach aimed to foster a broad and innovative perspective on the future of our cities through in-depth discussion and the use of foresight tools. Key values, principles and ideals that are required to shape this future city were also discussed.

With the COAG objective in mind, participants conversed about their desired future states by identifying their skills and passions, and how they could be applied to co-creating city living in 2040.

Some of these visions included a focus on community, sustainable living, public spaces and industries being more interconnected, and a stronger reliance on AI technologies.

Once the group had created a vision of their ideal city, both positive and negative implications were discussed for each key trend using a wheel analysis.

Strong key trends included: an increasing emphasis on coworking; food and water crises resulting from population growth; and businesses focussing on being of service to society and the environment in addition to profits.

This wheel analysis formed the foundation for a 3D model of the future city based upon these trends. Creating a model of the city helped the group to create a tangible vision of their aspirations and identify areas which require further discussion.

To conclude the workshop, the participants constructed a timeline which highlighted the processes and changes that would be required in order to make their city a reality by 2040.

The workshop, which was held at Mirvac in Sydney, provided the participants with new ways of thinking about the future of our cities in a collaborative and creative environment.