Guest-edited by Marcus White & Jane Burry

Cities are facing several coinciding global crises. There is the dominant existential narrative of the impact of and adaptation to climate change, itself powered by cities. In a time of unprecedented urbanisation and growth, resilient architect and urbanism is needed in response. New modes of transport, renewed anxiety about robots taking jobs, AI, and the recent global pandemic are all challenging norms and expectations. All of these are forces of social division: changing life experience, evoking strong-arm politics and giving a sense of teetering between radically different possible futures. This is a story about reclaiming the urban design narrative and being alert to the potential impacts of socio-technical decision-making and design in cities. The issue explores the dichotomy of idealised visions for the design of urban settlements and the potentially shocking realities that may emerge from the same impulses and intentions. It examines the slippery territory between utopias and some of the ensuing dystopias that may unfold.