http://cache.io9.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/io9.com.png http://io9.com/tag/future cities http://io9.com/tag/future cities

Cyberpunk is no longer the future. We're living in an age in which many of the visions of creators like Bruce Sterling, William Gibson, Pat Cadigan and Ridley Scott are invading our world today. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5836264&view=rss&microfeed=true

When you're in the city that never sleeps, you might want to keep one eye open at all times. Many of the best futuristic cities and urban fantasy stories take place in dark, dystopian cities. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5803812&view=rss&microfeed=true

Could Detroit's dilemma be the wave of the future for other atrophying U.S. cities? The New York Times reports that the Motor City is facing an urban planning crisis nobody expected: how to make the city smaller. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5790958&view=rss&microfeed=true

The future of architecture is lightweight, streamlined, and sleek as a cat on a hot photovoltaic roof. But sometimes, you can't help looking at these futuristic architectural designs, full of space-age supports and gravity-defying structures, and think, "No way would I ever actually go up to the top of that thing." More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5756681&view=rss&microfeed=true

As you may have noticed, we're obsessed with the Kowloon Walled City. Prior to the labyrinthine city's demolition, a Japanese research team drew up this huge cross-section map. It's in Japanese, but it's nonetheless astounding. [Deconcrete via William Gibson] More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5723698&view=rss&microfeed=true

China Miéville's novel Embassytown is all about communication with an alien race, on a distant planet. So it makes sense that the newly revealed cover shows letters falling on a luminescent cityscape. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5719471&view=rss&microfeed=true

More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5713565&view=rss&microfeed=true

A young man in Beijing has solved the problem of being low on funds in a high-rent city by building himself a 'egg house' out of bamboo and burlap sacks. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5702972&view=rss&microfeed=true

The next generation of concept artists is paying tribute to the master, Syd Mead, who reinvented cars and city living in his work on Blade Runner, Tron and other films. Here are our favorite entries from CGSociety's Syd Mead contest. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5578742&view=rss&microfeed=true

Hugh Hefner just donated a boatload of cash to secure the famous Hollywood sign's future — maybe he should've taken a Danish architecture firm's lead and turned it into a 300-room hotel. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5526544&view=rss&microfeed=true

Shanghai opened its 2010 World Expo to the public for a test run today, and everyone got a better look at the amazing futuristic architecture, much of it made with sustainable materials. Take a virtual tour below. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5520802&view=rss&microfeed=true

A parody site created back in the 1990s claims there's a giant underwater city within "the crystal clear waters of the Minnesota River." And people have been visiting from as far away as Texas to discover the Atlantis of Minnesota. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5520518&view=rss&microfeed=true

Cities are havens for weirdness. From communities built around garbage to dogs that ride the subway, urban environments have fostered all manner of weird patterns. Here are the 10 freakiest urban ecosystems on the planet. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5514775&view=rss&microfeed=true

A dystopian megacity, in which buildings merge together to become a single solid block, is the stuff of science fiction — but it already happened, in Hong Kong. The Kowloon Walled City was packed so tightly, it became an arcology. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5512888&view=rss&microfeed=true

Looking at the newly released production photos from Tron Legacy, it's hard not to be struck by how much of the film was shot on real sets. And it turns out the film's director, Joseph Kosinski, went to architecture school. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5495001&view=rss&microfeed=true

Behold the personal transport of the future! It looks like a boombox, but Honda's U3-X is a unicycle-like personal mobility device, that you can steer by leaning in the direction you want to go. It's small, unobtrusive, and sexy! More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5367133&view=rss&microfeed=true

Dubai 2010 mocks the bluster of U.S. movie trailers, while showcasing lovely CG vistas of Future Dubai. But ad-agency Rolling Thunder inadvertently reveals Dubai's "futuristic city" status is just as hype-fueled as Bruckheimer. Update: Check out the famous spaceship cameos. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5315363&view=rss&microfeed=true

Their books take you to strange cities from other planets, alternate histories and mythical realms. But what real-life cities inspire Ursula K. Le Guin, Michael Moorcock, Nalo Hopkinson and China Miéville? The SharedWorlds project found out, with fascinating results. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5294195&view=rss&microfeed=true

Shanghai in the year 2027 glimmers with life, setting the Huangpu river ablaze with reflections, in this image from Eidos' long-awaited game Deus Ex 3. Are video games the cutting edge of imagining future cities? More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5231419&view=rss&microfeed=true

You might have heard about the rotating skyscrapers already — one is set to be built in Moscow, and the other in Dubai. Floors slowly rotate around the building in a variety of patterns, powered by giant wind turbines fitted between floors, so the entire structure appears to shift and move with the wind. They look amazing, and are also entirely wind-powered, so these sinuous mega-structures could be the key to high density eco-housing of the future. In this new video from the UK Guardian, the rotating skyscraper's architect David Fisher explains how the buildings' construction will be unique as well. Each pie-shaped suite is pre-made on the ground, and then its narrow end is locked on to a central shaft and then raised to the top of the building. So these crazy structures are literally made from the top-down. See how that works in this vid. [Rotating skyscrapers via UK Guardian] More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5019592&view=rss&microfeed=true

A pair of lovers step into a time machine, and find themselves in the glittery Mumbai of the year 2050, which includes flying cars, holograms, sex robots and Indian ninjas. There will be a lot more kickboxing 42 years from now — and probably quite a few spontaneous song-and-dance numbers as well. We've been excited for Bollywood's Love Story 2050 for months, and we're even more excited after seeing this trailer, which showcases an unfinished version of the movie's big-budget special effects. The movie comes out this summer, at which point we'll be dancing in the aisles. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=373613&view=rss&microfeed=true

You can get a mod for Half Life called Toronto Conflict, for all those people who think the future of mass-mediated violence clearly lies north of the US border. [Boing Boing] More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=325807&view=rss&microfeed=true