The City of the Future: Sustainability and Smart Resource Utilisation

There are an increasing number of forums discussing the concept known as «Smart Cities». I prefer to address the issue as the «City of the Future», not as part of a science fiction film script, but rather as an attempt to carry out a forward-looking exercise with regard to the management of urban space.
In the vision of the city of the future, environmental sustainability has become a fundamental pillar for urban development.
Among the greatest challenges, water management takes centre stage, both because of the scarcity of water in critical regions and because of the unused abundance in areas with high rainfall.
While it’s true that the issue of wastewater for reuse is already a prominent topic when considering the management of our territory’s water resources, the reuse of rainwater has not been given as much prominence, even though it is, in my opinion, one of the most promising solutions.
In addition to the smart use of rainwater and wastewater, other environmental measures will become part of urban planning. Green infrastructure will be a constant, with green roofs and living walls that will help capture carbon, improve air quality and reduce the effects of heat islands. Waste treatment will be optimised through the circular economy, in which the by-products of urban consumption will be reused to produce new goods and energy.
And how will the city of the future finance itself? The city of the future will not depend solely on traditional sources of funding, but on a combination of innovative and collaborative solutions and will rely heavily on the circular economy, in which waste is minimised and materials are reused in production cycles, and the various «water sources» are managed and used, generating savings through changing behaviour and the way they are managed.
Sustainable financing of modern urban infrastructure will become a viable reality, generating economic, social and environmental benefits for all its inhabitants and making it possible to finance change and thus give a future to the city of the future!