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  smartacusNov. 28, 2011 - 09:11AM JST

  I think there will be more enclaves of ethnic, religious and lower income groups. The wealthy suburbs will be separated from the rest by security mechanisms. Infrastructure will be inadequate. Unfortunately, I can't imagine anything other than gloom, but I won't be around to see it.

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  -4

  NeverSubmitNov. 28, 2011 - 09:18AM JST

  I think many people, families in particular will move further out of the city and back into the countryside. More space, closer to nature, safer.

  Working from home will be more common so living close to the office won't be necessary.

  Cities will be entertainment and retail districts while residences will be spread out throughout the countryside. Hopefully in the midst of greenery

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  -3

  johninnahaNov. 28, 2011 - 12:47PM JST

  The US/China alliance will cover the world. People will be microchipped and there will be checkpoints to control the movement of people from one part of a city to another.

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  -1

  tkoind2Nov. 28, 2011 - 02:12PM JST

  Bangladesh.

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  -2

  tkoind2Nov. 28, 2011 - 02:16PM JST

  Kidding aside.

  Big, crowded and dangous poor urban centers where the legions of empoverished working class people will compete for tiny spaces. They will be here because there will be no jobs anywhere else. And since their civil rights would have long gone away, they may be compelled to do so.

  Resources will be scarce (watch Soylent Green) and global warming will have made the climate too difficult for most rural places to produce much more than dust.

  Political freedom will be the ability to work. Social freedom the ability to sleep. And economic freedom the capacity to eat and drink a little of the corporate owned water.

  And this if the first world I am talking about. Can't even imagine the poor places.

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  FarmboyNov. 28, 2011 - 03:13PM JST

  I hold to the George Jetsonian vision, and I'm looking forward to my first flying car.

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  0

  some14someNov. 28, 2011 - 03:26PM JST

  Tora Bora.

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  1

  kurisupisuNov. 28, 2011 - 03:38PM JST

  Ha ha ...2050?

  The human race is going to last that long?

  It will be mud huts !

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  bobobolinskiNov. 28, 2011 - 11:20PM JST

  Soylent Green

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  1

  FoxieNov. 28, 2011 - 11:38PM JST

  They will look the same – partly because the public are profoundly conservative in their architectural tastes, but largely because the vast majority of houses that will be standing by 2050 have already been built.

  It’s on the inside that they will be different – with everything from floor to ceiling retrofitted to inject some intelligence, efficiency and adaptability into the old shell.

  Intelligence will come from an array of sensors which automatically switch lights and taps on and off, order your groceries and even monitor your health. A central control system will manage the home for maximum efficiency, and show when the fridge needs defrosting, or if the micro-generator isn’t running at full efficiency. Houses will be interactive and fully wireless, allowing us to access data from any point.

  A drive for extensive resource efficiency could see water harvested and recycled within each home. Integrated solar panels and microgen combined with ultra-thin insulation films will allow some houses to come off the grid. Food will be grown in gardens, roofs and balconies, tended by the increasing number of home workers, and fed by composted domestic waste.

  The interior of houses will be more modular, changing to suit needs during the course of the day and over your lifetime. Walls on rollers will allow you to reconfigure your space from office, to lounge, to bedroom. And instead of paint we’ll have floor-to-ceiling screens, where you can join a work conference or watch a movie, change the colour to suit your moods, or just switch to the latest fashion in wallpaper.

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  zichiNov. 28, 2011 - 11:55PM JST

  Japanese cities will be very different than the current ones if population predictions are correct. Many less Japanese and many more foreigners. Some experts have stated that by 2050, Japan will need about 30 million foreigners to do the work and pay the taxes.

  That's provided the country survives the nuclear crisis.

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