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Festival of the Future City

Festival of the Future City
Illustration of some of the Festival of the Future City themes

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Festival of the Future City will return in 2023.

The fourth Festival of the Future City took place 20-21 October 2021.

The festival aims to be the largest public debate about the future of cities. It brings together politicians, writers, artists, scientists, change-makers, academics, journalists, students, the public, economists, futurists, policy makers, roboticists, philosophers, filmmakers, think tanks, charities, social enterprises, city-builders and more.

Festival themes in 2021 included: social justice; COP26 and inclusive and sustainable cities; urban and planetary health; cities and regions after the pandemic; film and cities; culture and cities; digital futures and cities; mayoral powers and future devolution; democracy and freedom of expression; levelling up; and the future of city and town centres.

Events were held in-person and online. Most events were on Wednesday 20 and Thursday 21 October, but activity also took place around those dates.

Festival of the Future City 2021

Supported by

Promotional image for the 2021 festival created by Willem Hampson.
Illustration of some of the Festival of the Future City themes

Festival of the Future City Archive

Below are links to downloads of past Festival of the Future City brochures (PDFs). Playlists of audio recordings of most of the past sessions are available on SoundCloud: 2015, 2017 and 2019.

2015 Brochure 2017 Brochure 2019 Brochure

Projects Within Festival of the Future City

  • Festival of the Future City
    1984 Book Cover - Penguin Edition

    Nineteen Eighty-Four

    Information on the reading project linked to the 70th anniversary of the novel 1984.

  • Festival of the Future City
    Film Noir artwork

    City Films

    Information about the film programme within the 2019 Festival of the Future City.

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