The future of the future in planning: Appropriating cyberpunk visions of the city

Author(s): Warren, S., Nunn, S., Warren, C.

Journal/Book: J Plan Educ Res. 1998; 18: Univ New Orleans, College Urban Public Affairs, New Orleans, LA 70148. Assoc Collegiate Sch Planning. 49-60.

Abstract: Planning's vision of life in the 21st century tends ro be more-of-the-same or che adoption, often implicit, of a marker-based information society in which telecommunications advances will restructure time and space in ways chat are beneficial in the long run. The future of the future, however, deserves more attention in urban planning. Utopian constructs have largely been abandoned and traditional methods of projection and modeling are poor techniques for anticipating qualitative and nonlinear change. An exploration cf cyberpunk writings, a genre of science fiction, offers che opportunity to critically examine and assess the hegemonic model of the information society as well as more dystopian pictures of how evolving social, economic, cultural, and technological patterns could combine in the next century. Attending to the urban dimensions of these fictional work, and discourses about them can contribute to more realistic and ethical planning scenarios of the future.

Note: Article Warren R, Univ Delaware, Sch Urban Affairs & Publ Policy, Newark,DE 19711 USA

Keyword(s): EXPERT-SYSTEMS; FICTION; GIS

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