Beyond economic and value wars: Mythic images of future cities

Images of the future are essential to a society's survival. According to Polak [1], images of the future reflect and foreshadow society's future; as images go, so goes society. As a visual medium, cities in particular depend on robust images of the future. I submit that our ability to develop useful images of future cities depends on our visual literacy in understanding architectural images. This study explores alternative futures illustrated with future fantasies as an experiment in connecting images, archetypal myths, and alternative futures. Using two variables (strength of the economy and shifts in social values), four scenarios are proposed: Frontier Freedoms, Urban Fortress, Eco-Survival, and Utopian Hopes. Scenarios of future cities depicted by architectural imagery and linked to worldviews and archetypal myths broaden public discourse beyond economics and technology to address qualitative contextual factors such as identity, community, sacredness, and nature.

► The critical uncertainties of economic cycles and cultural values shape cities. ► Urban scenarios relate to mythic images: Frontier, Fortress, Ecology, and Utopia. ► These typologies parallel but do not replicate archetypal myths. Instead, they employ a causal layered perspective for imagining urban futures. ► Examining values in mythic images of cities reveals qualitative consequences.