Balancing Act: Urbanism & Emerging Technologies

How does technology influence our urban experience? Whether we like it or not, technology is deeply rooted in our everyday lives. As emerging technologies continue to evolve, and our cities morph and adapt, the relationship between technology and our urban environments grows more complex. Automobiles have become the drivers of urban landscapes; elevators have changed the vertical stack of property values; and innovations in engineering and materials have pushed the limits of what skyscrapers mean.

Today, the rapid rate of change in technology and human society has reached an unprecedented pace. As we consider the future of the urban environment, a keen understanding of the symbiotic relationship between city and technology has become imperative to not only achieve efficiency in economy and convenience, but also to provide higher quality of life through thoughtful placemaking, community-building, and design. Whether by autonomous automobiles, UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles), smart buildings, or hyperloop tunnels, the urban experience is undergoing remarkable change, and there is a growing need to find the balance.

The exhibition explores the idea of this balance by posing a series of questions about how we can focus emerging technologies towards the human experience and develop best urban practices to make our cities more livable, equitable, and sustainable. Through a process of reflecting on the past, listening to contemporary perspectives, and learning the current technological forces, the exhibition speculates imaginative futures and ongoing projects and initiatives. Balancing Act: Urbanism & Emerging Technologies provides a thoughtful lens to examine the current conditions of our urban environments and the future of emerging technologies in the design and development of cities around the world. Pickard Chilton's Uber Sky Tower was featured in the exhibition at the BSA Space in Boston, Massachusetts.