The world is gradually learning what it means to be sustainable as we march towards achieving the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals and approach net zero, but should we simply be adapting our current way of living or thinking about a new way of life?
The Covid pandemic has demonstrated that remote working is not just the digital dream of IT professionals and visionaries, but is and can be real life. Do we need cities? Is urbanisation going to continue? Alternatively, should we be looking at the airline industry and the ‘hub and spoke’ model as the future for communities where most activity can happen locally in a more sustainable way via serviced offices, with only occasional visits to major hubs? The world is changing and this State of the World report asks: “are we changing quick enough to match the way communities want to live not only tomorrow, but today?”