AoU Journal - Here & Now - Autumn 2025

As cities accelerate into the digital age, this ‘Digital Cities’ edition reflects on how technology is reshaping urbanism, governance, and the lived experience of place. Key trends we’re watching are:

Digital Planning: Ed Parham examines whether digital advances in design and planning translate to better places.

The 15-Minute City: Adam Muggleton examines walkable neighbourhoods, highlighting debates over surveillance, equity, and the balance between nudge and enforcement in urban design.

Nature and Wellbeing: Mike Saunders demonstrates how digital platforms can amplify community voices and help deliver nature-rich environments.

Human Cognition and Agency: Irma Delmonte warns of declining spatial memory in the age of GPS and AI, urging cities to engage our senses and cognitive abilities.

Tech-Utopianism vs. Tech as Tool: Harrison Brewer investigates Sidewalk Labs and NEOM’s ‘The Line’, revealing that while technology promises magic, real progress lies in incremental improvements and public participation.

Artificial Intelligence (AI): Maryline Esteves explores how AI agents will soon curate urban journeys, raising questions about personalisation and the risk of echo chambers. Urbanists must balance machine logic with human intuition.

Hydraulic Modelling and Urban Design: Lewis Hubbard advocates for simplified, collaborative approaches to SuDS, cautioning against overreliance on software.

Smart Infrastructure: Shane Mitchell analyses global infrastructure, showing a shift to adaptive ecosystems where digital intelligence and collaborative governance underpin resilient futures.

As we navigate digital transformation, technology must serve people. The future of urbanism lies in balancing innovation with inclusion, efficiency with empathy, and digital intelligence with human agency—so digital cities can flourish for all.

This issue also features a new BDP Good Cities paper from Rotterdam looking at urban resilience against extreme weather; the Urban Idiot queries the 'smart' of smart cities; and our resident philosopher positions Archimedes as the forefather of digital cities. 

Plus a MyPlace from Berlin, an ArtPlace commemorating 20 years of the AoU, a book review of The Smart Building Advantage, and a Member Spotlight from Seoul.