According to a report by the United Nations, 54 percent of the world's population lives in urban areas and it predicts that by 2050, this figure will have increased to around 70 percent. But as more and more people migrate from the countryside to the city to get better opportunities, they can end up with nowhere to live.
This is true in places such as Rio de Janeiro, where migrants can't rent or buy a home, and they end up building their own communities and houses on unoccupied land. These are called shanty towns—poor communities where the houses are built out of cheap materials—and often don't have any electricity or water supply.
These are, of course, not the megacities (大城市)of the future we want to see. Some serious urban planning is needed to make our cities of the future good, safe and modern places to live in. This involves improving the infrastructure (基础设施), the housing conditions and also the opportunities for education and employment.
Something urban planners
are looking at now is the creation of "smart cities". According to
John Rossant, founder and chairman of the
non-profit organization New Cities Foundation, technology is the way forward. He thinks that it's generally
accepted that "cloud computing 
ubiquitous internet, robust 5G networks, etc, will transform our cities." He says technology is really "a game changer" in urbanisation. It would collect large amounts of data about how a city is performing and may improve how a city functions.
This may sound like a utopian (乌托邦似的) view. For now, some big cities around the world are trying out more low—tech schemes to try and make them desirable places to live and work in. Building shared—ownership housing and improving public transport are some ways. And encouraging cycling and building bike lanes can keep the population healthy and cut down on smog. What would make your city a better place to live in?
