Activate the future is a documentary series from BMW philosophizing on the future of city living and automobiles. They round up a variety of scientists, engineers, pioneers and entrepreneurs to foretell what we can expect in the nearing decades. It’s interesting stuff. The first of four parts, entitled “The New City”, explores the possibilities in designing tomorrow’s cities. As people migrate to cities, many of them grow into “super cities” boasting more than 50 million residents. Every year, more people move out of “the country” and into urban areas with a more centralized design.
In the last hundred years, more and more people have moved to cities. In 1900, city populations represented only 14% of the total population. Now, it is 50%, and the next two decades will see that number climb to 60%, if current trends continue. Interestingly enough, they predict mass transit will dominate our commutes out of sheer necessity, and our vehicles will be regulated to doing what they do best – entertain us. After all, no one likes sitting in commuter traffic for two hours, but we all fancy a thrilling drive now and again.
We haven’t made it through every one of the four episodes, but I admit we are hooked. BMW didn’t regulate this series to an amateur attempt and grainy YouTube film, it is well-thought, slick, colorful, high budget production worthy of at least a little bit of your time. There’s no embed code to host it here, so just visit http://www.bmwactivatethefuture.com/index.php and we’ll trust you to come right back here and enjoy the rest of our content once you are done.
