What does the future look like?

The UAE is celebrating its 50th year. Everyone has been demonstrating what those 50 years have meant to them and imagining what the next years of the UAE will be like. It’s really quite inspiring to be able to imagine what a country will be like in the future. But to be honest, if you look at the UAE, many of its cities and their innovatively designed buildings already look futuristic. An excellent case in point is the Museum of the Future.

I must tell you what I think could be the future in the UAE. I imagine that perhaps someday each city or town will be one humongous self-contained structure. It would be temperature controlled so the occupants will be protected from the external climate and no one will ever need to leave this building for anything.

In my mind there will be residential areas, recreational areas, parks, shopping facilities, restaurants, schools, universities, community centres, markets, law enforcement and sectors where multinational companies set up operations so that people have somewhere to go to work without having to leave that building.

The structure would be so huge that, in order to get to work, it would take a maximum of half an hour by, and wait for it, special lifts that travel both vertically as well as horizontally and diagonally. There could even be trains within this structure going to certain sectors. I know it sounds a lot like the shopping malls we already have in the UAE where there is often a residential building adjacent to a shopping mall that also has restaurants. But the difference would be that, in this case, no one would ever need to leave the building to do anything, unless, that is, they wanted to go on an outdoor adventure to the desert or a forest or a beach, or they decided to move to another city which would mean another structure that was also exactly like the one they were already in.

That to me, is what the future might be like and not just in the UAE. Of course, some people might argue that this type of city might mean fewer jobs. But if you think about it, a city such as this might actually create jobs for everyone.

Of course some people would need to upgrade their skills or even learn new skills but that is what the future is all about, isn’t it? For example, taxi and bus drivers could be taught to operate the lifts and electric vehicles. Engineers would have to think outside the box as would landscape architects and city planners.

Moreover, since the city would be indoors, maybe the structure could be large enough to house mini roads where people would drive small electric vehicles and electric taxis and even electric minibuses. To be honest, if a city were to contain all of this within one single structure, it would have to be huge, and I mean humungous to the nth degree. But I don’t think size should be an issue at all here. Engineering and construction could also be a part of the city as it might need to expand as and when required.

The outdoors are often a hindrance for people all over the world. Some places are way too hot and humid while others are too cold or too wet. Getting to and from work can be a chore for many because of traffic and weather issues.

Surely a city such as this might alleviate some of those hindrances. Getting to and from work might be quicker with the lifts operating in all directions and moving at high speeds. Even shopping and school runs might be fun and interesting, especially when the windows to the exterior would offer strange and futuristic views of the outside world. Just imagine that for a second?

Would you want to live in a city like that?

But if I were to live in a city, yes, I would prefer one like this. But at the same time, I would also be very encouraged to explore the outdoors more.