The Invention of the Future: A history of cities in the modern world Bruno Carvalho

Event details

For the past three centuries, urban dwellers and planners have imagined future cities that would be radically different from those of the past. Planners pursued progress, whether focused on flying vehicles above, sewage systems below, or daily life in between.

Yet modern cities continuously defied predictions. Visionary designs and technological innovations created dramatic, unforeseen outcomes, and the ongoing urban boom is a story of continuity as well as rupture.

Join Bruno Carvalho of Harvard University, US and author of The Invention of the Future, for a compelling history of imagined futures and the transformation of urban life. What might we learn from the stories of our cities as we shape them for the 21st century?

Moving between large-scale changes and detailed examples, Bruno will tell the story of key moments and turning points, from the rebuilding of Lisbon after the 1755 earthquake to the utopian capital of Brasília. He’ll argue that in recent decades the capacity to invent urban futures has become increasingly constrained. Social and environmental challenges loom large.

But the story is not over. While cities helped create current problems, compact and transit-rich urbanisation might be our best hope to combine high living standards with sustainability. Sometimes, moving forward can involve reaching back to the future.

This event will take place live on Zoom Webinar. You will receive a link to join a couple of days before the event and a reminder an hour before. During the event, you can ask questions via a Q&A function, but audience cameras and microphones will remain muted throughout.

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You can buy copies of many of our speakers’ books from Fox Lane Books, a local independent bookseller and Festival partner. In some cases, author signed bookplates are available too. 

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