Festival of the Future City

An Arts Council England supported Exceptional project, the Festival of the Future City attracted over 7,200 participants and 150 invited speakers, and was the largest debate ever about the city and the future. Held in Bristol from November 17th – 20th 2015, the festival brought together academics, city planners, artists, writers, filmmakers, games makers, architects, politicians, journalists and commentators, poets, community leaders, businesses, scientists, think tanks, and others to debate the future of the city with the public.

Aiming to inspire wide thinking and debate about the future of cities, the festival looked at examples of good practice that help to promote a better and more resilient, sustainable and prosperous future for all; examined and debated good examples of city futures from the past and what they can tell us now; provided models for future city development; and promoted debate and discussion about the future city by the widest range of people and organisations.

Festival activities included launches by InnovateUK on their city demonstrators work; a special preview of the film High Rise based on Ballard’s novel; new poems and essays by leading writers and commentators; city walks; and the first Bristol Day looking at the future of the city. Speakers included Will Self on JG Ballard and future cities; Bettany Hughes and Edith Hall on cities and ideas in the ancient world; Richard Sennett putting the case for a new Charter of Athens, a guide for urban development in the 21st century; Mike Rawlinson on legible cities; Guy Standing on the emerging Precariat class and its impact on urban areas; and more.

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Find our more at:
http://www.ideasfestival.co.uk/seasons/festival-future-city/

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Architecture, Nature and Wildlife in Cities.

​John Alker (UK Green Building Council) chairing Rab Bennetts (Bennetts Associates), Mike Roberts (HAB Housing) and I, as we discuss architecture’s potential for creating nature-rich cities, filmed at the Watershed, Bristol, on November 18th 2015.

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What Happened to Utopian Cities?

​Jonathan Derbyshire chairs Darran Anderson, Douglas Murphy and I, as we discuss utopian cities of the past and future, filmed at the Watershed, Bristol, on November 18th 2015. “In the late 1960s the world was faced with impending disaster: the height of the Cold War, the end of oil, and the decline of great cities throughout the world. Out of this crisis came a new generation that hoped to build a better future.”

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