# Cities Of The Future



## Harpo (May 13, 2019)

Let's have a thread that gathers artistic images of the cities of the future, to inspire our imaginations.

This is Robert Crumb's City Of The Future.


----------



## -K2- (May 13, 2019)

_Love Robert Crumb's work..._

Metropolis by RichardDorran on deviantART






And from Judge Dredd, Mega City 1 (artist unknown):






K2


----------



## Harpo (May 14, 2019)

Compare the above with the original Mega City One, by Carlos Ezquerra, which bears a resemblance to Crumb's image.


----------



## -K2- (May 14, 2019)

This is one I have been trying for some time to contact the artist about seeking rights to use it as a background image for my second novel in 
Liberty Stumbled:  *Sci-Fi Street by Andre Sutherland* (wish he'd answer, I feel like a stalker ):






K2


----------



## Starbeast (May 15, 2019)

I always wanted to live in a future city that's bright and shiny. With lot's of vegetation, flying vehicles and androids. Plus, we'd have the option to live on other worlds.


----------



## -K2- (May 15, 2019)

Though not wanting to derail the thread, regarding the 2000AD-CE Mega-City 1 cover above, I know there have been a few back and forth numbers on population and size, that was one of the fun things about my initial novel Lest ye be Judged in the LS series...  Set VERY near future vs. the 2099-date of MC-1, my CASE City I wanted a _*tad*_ denser...





265 avg. people vs. 77,222 avg. people per square mile (64% of the pop. at 232,000 to 833,000/sq.mi.), seemed a bit more reasonable 

K2


----------



## -K2- (May 18, 2019)

Though my thoughts typically lead to dark cities of decay and dystopian oppression, I have to admit that @Starbeast 's image above reminded me of my other half when thinking of urban environments.  So, I decided to look up some visions of the future based upon sustainable, blending of the things of man and nature.
















K2


----------



## -K2- (May 18, 2019)

In contrast, I have been following Detroit, Michigan's rebirth.  If you investigate how the city grew (actually only very recently), spread out, then decayed from the inside out as new edges were added forsaking the old, some of the visions above are very much what they're leaning toward.  First a proposal for using the freed up space as downtown is demolished, house by house, block by block:

Areas once dense neighborhoods, have turned to barren plots:





Planning is proposed:










Though some see it as we might expect:





K2


----------



## Phyrebrat (Jun 1, 2019)

You guys need to watch _Midnight Special_. Can’t say without spoilers so I’ll just leave it at that.

pH


----------



## hardsciencefanagain (Jun 12, 2019)

Clue to the cover artist near the crater wall/the immortal EE


----------



## dask (Jun 15, 2019)

Love Emsh. Always eye-popping and jaw-dropping.


----------



## MaxiPower (Jun 15, 2019)

I always liked the cover of Iron Maidens Brave New World Album.


----------



## Dave (Jun 16, 2019)

Some of Roger Dean's poster pictures and album covers included objects that could be cities - most are landscapes; floating rocks and alien animals and plants, but often with "organic-looking" buildings: Dragon's Dream 1985 - 2008 - Roger Dean

Ditto for Tomislav Tikulin's sci-fi book covers: SCI-FI & FANTASY


----------



## Laura R Hepworth (Jun 18, 2019)

As I don't want to risk stepping on any of the artist's toes by posting their artwork somewhere without asking them first, I'll just post the link instead. On a digital artists community I'm on they had a 'cities of the future' art challenge. All I can say is, 'wow!' You might find some great inspiration from these creations.


----------



## tegeus-Cromis (Jun 19, 2019)

Darn. I posted this as its own thread, but I should have posted it here. Jack Kirby, 1966.  A rare example of his uninked pencils surviving. Simply gorgeous.


----------



## hardsciencefanagain (Jun 26, 2019)

Dask,you gotta be a fan of the trialblazers:Schoenherr,Gaugan,Freas,Emshwiller,right
What happens when a catastrophe hits a city (or building of the future?


----------



## dask (Jun 26, 2019)

Whoops. Mistake.


----------



## dask (Jun 26, 2019)

hardsciencefanagain said:


> Dask,you gotta be a fan of the trialblazers:Schoenherr,Gaugan,Freas,Emshwiller,right
> What happens when a catastrophe hits a city (or building of the future?


Oh yes, absolutely.


----------



## Vince W (Jul 13, 2019)

Neo-Tokyo from Akira.


----------



## Starbeast (Jul 14, 2019)

*Mega Tokyo* - _BUBBLEGUM CRISIS_ (adult anime series)


----------



## StilLearning (Jul 28, 2019)

The Fall Into Night, acrylic on canvas. What? No one said they had to be happy futures


----------



## Starbeast (Aug 1, 2019)

@StilLearning  Awesome. Mysterious.


----------



## Vince W (Aug 1, 2019)

Starbeast said:


> @StilLearning  Awesome. Mysterious.
> 
> View attachment 54920​



Night City. Nice.


----------



## hitmouse (Aug 5, 2019)

Starbeast said:


> @StilLearning  Awesome. Mysterious.
> 
> 
> View attachment 54919
> ...


Believe it or not, those bendy red buildings in the first pic are the Hotel Porta Fira in Barcelona. Stayed there a couple of years ago.


----------



## Astro Pen (Jan 24, 2020)

Syd Mead. This video will just carry you on a 12 minute ride straight to what we thought the future would be. Did it turn out that way? Debatable.


----------



## Starbeast (Feb 29, 2020)

*"Diner"* artwork by Yu-Chao Cheng


----------



## -K2- (Apr 9, 2020)

Starbeast said:


> I always wanted to live in a future city that's bright and shiny. With lot's of vegetation, flying vehicles and androids. Plus, we'd have the option to live on other worlds.
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 52607​




Have you been watching this season of Westworld? That's the way Singapore looks though with even more green.

K2


----------



## HanaBi (Apr 9, 2020)

Whenever I think of future cities my mind drifts towards the world of Bladerunner. But on the flip side I always marvel at the visionary of Asimov and his Foundation series of books. Moreover, I have always been impressed with his idea behind the planet of Trantor, with its city mostly bound in the interior, but with many "telescopic" towers rising to the surface. And this render by Michael Whelan is, for me, a perfect rendition of that vision.


----------



## -K2- (Apr 9, 2020)

Without too much elaboration, I've lived brief periods throughout the first half of my life in what were some of the most crowded slums on the planet. Oddly, contrary to what most people believe about them, I always found safety there. More so community unlike anywhere else. It was as though, 'if you were living there, then you earned your right to be there, was made welcome, and accepted as part of the larger family.'

Dark, dirty, run-down... none of those things really bothers me too much. Sure, I'd feel justifiably scared, but in an odd way I also felt safe because it was familiar. So, I tend to gravitate to 'typical' portrayals of dystopian cities vs. gleaming, pristine glass and aluminum. Those sorts of places I've always found cold and impersonal.

That's why with places I've lived in mind, I've developed and am writing about my own overcrowded dystopia of CASE City. The best lessons I learned in such places, hopefully I'll show regarding the people and how they turn trying times into shining ones.

K2


----------



## -K2- (Apr 9, 2020)

BTW, here's a nice site from one of those images i posted: Concept Art Portfolio — Concept Artist Rob Brown

K2


----------



## Starbeast (Apr 10, 2020)

-K2- said:


> Have you been watching this season of Westworld? That's the way Singapore looks though with even more green.



I haven't watched the _Westworld_ series, I've been watching _Better Call Saul_. 4th season.


----------



## -K2- (Apr 10, 2020)

Starbeast said:


> I haven't watched the _Westworld_ series, I've been watching _Better Call Saul_. 4th season.



The real Singapore:






K2


----------



## JohnM (Jul 29, 2020)

Bubblegum Crisis. Great visuals, great city backgrounds. But bland stories. The convertible motorcycles of the Knight Sabers and their hard suits were incredible designs. I watched it in English and saw simplistic stories repeated again and again. Too bad.


----------



## logan_run (Aug 1, 2020)

i found this on google.


----------



## dask (Aug 1, 2020)

The future improves the further back you go:


----------



## Don (Aug 2, 2020)

Has anyone mentioned "The City of the Singing Flame" yet?


----------



## dask (Aug 2, 2020)

Sometimes I wish I had been born in 1914, then I would have been 12 when the first issue of Amazing Stories hit the stands and perhaps in a frame of mind to be hooked on Hugo Gernsback’s vision of SF.


----------



## Starbeast (Aug 9, 2020)

Future City competition for grade school students. Sorry, I couldn't find the artist's name. However, she did an awesome job.


----------



## Nara (Mar 16, 2021)

Starbeast said:


> I always wanted to live in a future city that's bright and shiny. With lot's of vegetation, flying vehicles and androids. Plus, we'd have the option to live on other worlds.
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 52607​


 This reminds me so much of Tomorrowland


----------



## tinkerdan (Mar 16, 2021)

Then there are all the improbable cities in flight


----------



## Mon0Zer0 (May 28, 2021)

I find it impossible to look at Fritz Lang's metropolis and not see Bladerunner and Akira.


----------



## hitmouse (May 29, 2021)

I have always enjoyed the idiosyncratic cityscapes of The artist Imperial Boy.  Sort of subtropical very human scale neighbourhood feel to his pictures. For manga fans, he did the background art for the film of Tekkonkinkreet.


----------

