We can’t control the future- but it must surely help if we can imagine it

Technology in charge

SYSTRA’s Head of Innovation Llewelyn Morgan envisions a future transformed by technology

In this future world, generative AI has matured into an omnipresent force, and quantum computing has unlocked unimaginable levels of processing power. Wearable tech, neural implants, and immersive virtual environments allow us to remain permanently connected - working, socialising, and learning in digital spaces where avatars stand in for physical presence.

The need to travel to meet others diminishes as virtual interaction becomes seamless and immersive. Autonomous transport dominates, and our cities and towns evolve to reflect this shift—designed for intelligent, coordinated, human-free mobility. Freed at last from the grip of hydrocarbons, every journey by land, air or otherwise is optimised for energy and time.

But in this hyper-efficient, AI-orchestrated world, where does that leave us?

What becomes of human spontaneity, creativity and expression, our music, art, and culture, the things that make life meaningful?

As we navigate this hybrid existence, steered by algorithms and nudged by digital cues, will we recognise what we’ve gained… and what we’ve lost?

Coping with calamity

SYSTRA’s Director of Low Carbon Mobility David Connolly imagines a future shaped by environmental collapse and political centralisation.

In this scenario, every climate metric is flashing red. Successive record-breaking heatwaves push catastrophe closer with each passing summer, and the prospect of Mars-like conditions becomes a grim reality for vast swathes of the planet. The weakening Gulf Stream meanwhile plunges northern Europe into harsh, ice-age-style winters, while rising sea levels wreak havoc on coastal communities.

Food insecurity grows. Europeans face the looming threat of shortages, even famine, as agriculture buckles under climate pressure. In response, governments seize greater control over food and energy systems, shifting into war-like economies defined by centralised power and rationed resources.

For ordinary citizens, private travel becomes a luxury few can afford, burdened by soaring costs and government-imposed restrictions. Personal freedom, how and where we work, live, and play, erodes in the face of state intervention. Even the wealthy are not immune, as survival demands conformity to a tightly managed, resource-scarce society.

In this world, climate change is not a distant warning but a governing force that reshapes the very structure of everyday life.

Life lived local

SYSTRA’s Director, Andrew Archer, envisions a brighter, more localised future, one that could be realised within the next 25 years if the political will exists.

In this socially-shaped future, development is holistic and deeply integrated, designed to ensure that people have easy access to everything they need within their local area. Mixed-use planning is the norm, reducing the need to travel and enhancing quality of life.

Out-of-town mega enterprises have come to recognise their social impact and now contribute levies that help revitalise high streets, keeping them vibrant with retail, services, and local businesses. Employers are incentivised through tax breaks to support remote working and to encourage use of modern, well-equipped co-working hubs found in all new housing developments.

The transport hierarchy starts with walking and cycling and only then considers public transport and, finally, private electric vehicles—whose role has been significantly reduced thanks to the dense and accessible nature of this new urban model.

This is not just a vision, it is a call to citizen-led action. With bold planning reform and targeted investment, local living could become the standard across the UK. Not one of many planning options, but the central principle of a new era that builds for people, not just places, while rectifying the missteps of recent decades.