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Visionary Oxford professor Ian Goldin has spent decades researching the major challenges facing humanity - pandemics, climate change, inequality and loneliness. This book, the sequel to his seminal books Age of Discovery and Terra Incognita: 100 Maps to Survive the Next 100 Years , shows how the city - the ultimate symbol of human ingenuity - is where these battles will be won or lost. From centres of antiquity like Athens or Rome to modern metropolises like New York or Shanghai, our cities have shaped our past and will define our future. Our greatest achievements have originated in cities - the birth of democracy in Athens, the renaissance in Florence, the industrial revolution in Manchester, the digital revolution in Palo Alto. Making sense of our world, and our future, requires that we understand where cities are heading.Professor Ian Goldin has spent his career identifying the four main threats we face in order to build a sustainable future - the pandemics caused by our globalized world, the dizzying damage which will be done by climate change, the inequality which plagues future generations, and the loneliness which is symbolized by our retreat into the metaverse and online atomization.And cities, where we increasingly live, are at a crossroads. The choices they take will shape our destinies. For the first time in history, more than half the global population lives in cities. In the developing world, cities are growing at an extraordinary rate. More than ever, making our societies fairer, more cohesive, and sustainable starts with actions taken in the places where most of us live. He shows how cities started, the economic and human reasons they became so dominant, and how the megacities of the future must be used to tip the balance towards a sustainable and fulfilling future for us all.>
