Zócalo Public Square

Over the next 20 years, hundreds of millions of people will move to cities, demanding the economic opportunities and material comforts of urban life: air conditioning, personal computers, rich diets, cars, cell phones. In 1950, only 30 percent of the world’s population lived in urban areas; by 2030, that figure will rise to 60 percent. While cities have long propelled economic growth and brought prosperity to their residents, how will they fare as populations increase, temperatures rise, natural disasters threaten, and resources grow scarce? In an event co-presented with the UCLA School of Public Affairs Luskin Center for Innovation, UCLA Luskin Scholar and professor at the School of Public Affairs Matthew Kahn, author of Climatopolis: How Our Cities Will Thrive in the Hotter Future, visited Zócalo to explain what Los Angeles will look like in a few decades and how we can best prepare for the urban future.