A couple of predictions about the urban future from Benjamin Plackett at the Connectivist:

“Future cities will be downloadable

The Internet can be a democratizing force. Social media gave a voice to the Arab spring protesters and made accessing information a consumer’s market. Alastair Parvin, an architect from the U.K., says the Web will do the same for the construction world. Thanks to the increasing capabilities of broadband, ‘we’re moving into a future where the factory is everywhere, and that means the design team is everyone,’ he says. Parvin co-founded a company called WikiHouse, which offers free CAD files to anyone with a 3D printer looking to build a home on a tight budget. The 3-D printer produces the home’s structural components, which Parvin says the user can then assemble ‘without formal construction skills or power tools.’

Future cities will live underwater

This is perhaps one of the more radical predictions for the future of the urban environment: a sea-scraper. Its designer, Sarly Adre Bin Sarkum, a Malaysian architect, won a special mention from eVolvo Magazine for its entry into the magazine’s annual skyscrapers competition. The design iIt’s essentially a floating, self-sufficient tower building, its top just peeking out above the water’s surface. Wave power would supposedly power the underwater city, while the rooftop would provide a place to farm food. It’s pretty safe to say this is a far-out premise, and there are no plans to build anything like the sea-scraper anytime soon, but it’s certainly set tongues a-wagging.”