Future Tense

New York City Event: Can Megacities Be Resilient?

The sun sets over the New York skyline

Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Resilience is the new buzzword when it comes to urban planning and development. But what does it really mean? With a projection of 5 billion people living in cities around the globe by 2030, much is at stake if we can’t clearly define—and achieve—our sustainable-development goals for the future. The new gigalopolises of the future will have to cope with everything from more rapid sea level rise as a result of climate change to a revolution in the basics of urban infrastructure: energy, food, water, transportation.

At 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 24, join Future Tense at the New America Foundation’s New York City HQ for a wide-ranging discussion on how cities will cope with a century of accelerating change. Our speakers will be Leah Cohen, New York City’s climate resilience adviser; Steven Koonin, inaugural director of NYU’s new Center for Urban Science and Progress; and David Biello, energy and environment editor at Scientific American.

To learn more and to RSVP, visit the New America Foundation website.

Future Tense is a project of Arizona State University, the New America Foundation, and Slate.