Trends: City Planners Are Redesigning The Way We'll Live

The city planner not only shapes the city but by doing so they are maybe one of the biggest forces when it comes to the future of IRL customer-brand interaction: from whether citizens will shop, to how they'll eat, to where they'll engage in leisure experiences.  

Germany builds a city within a city – green, accessible and adaptive
An abandoned airfield and transportation hub in Berlin is being redeveloped into a walkable city and offers insight into how inactive, large scale infrastructure developments can find a second life as livable urban environments. The experimental neighborhood will open in 2027. Schumacher Quartier

Saudi Arabia connected city will have below-the-surface service networks 
With half a trillion dollars and a fleet of the world's top consultants behind him, the Saudi Crown Prince is working to turn an expanse of desert the size of Belgium into a high-tech, entirely bespoke “smart” city. Designed from scratch to act as a new global industrial and commercial hub, the mega-development will also serve as an economic engine for growth in the now-barren region. Neom

Live truly remotely with the UK's new drone highway
Commercial drone superhighways, like the 164-mile long stretch being developed in the UK, will offer greatly expanded delivery ranges to brands and shoppers. Low carbon air transport systems, along with other aerospace innovations, are better able to connect communities, as well as provide more equitable access to key needs like healthcare. Announcement

Uncertainty about direction of digital retail holds back city development
Ecommerce or In-Store?  This NY Times article says that decision needs to be made about the future of retail, because decisions around commercial zones are going to impact the way cities are designed. NY Times