You Asked Us: Who will build the cities of the future?

Our expert panellists:

Elisa Rönkä, Head of Digital Market Development Europe, Siemens

Prof. Dr. Verena Rock, Professor for Real Estate Investment and Portfolio Management, Aschaffenburg University of Applied Sciences

During the webinar, panellists suggested that what we currently consider soft skills will become hard skills in an increasingly automated world. Are empathy and compassion trainable skills? And if so, how can they be effectively assessed and reliably certified? 

Elisa Rönkä: Empathy comes in various forms: cognitive, emotional and compassionate empathy are just a few examples of the different categorisations. Cognitive empathy – communicating in a way that is understandable to the recipient – is definitely a trainable skill. The further we move towards compassionate empathy, the more personal attributes come into play. However, just being mindful of the different dimensions of empathy in the business context – for example, how we build trust – makes us more capable of empathy. Personally, I do not think it is necessary to certify these skills, but we can certainly assess them. To do so will require a psychological approach. In my view this will also be key to addressing existing leadership challenges.

Verena Rock: Empathy, intercultural competences and social skills can be trained – to a certain extend. A good way of training would be by using case studies and role plays, simulating diverse situations from every day working life at the interface of technology and the built environment. Performance in these situations could be assessed by professionals from various disciplines, in order to allow for reliable certification. Working in an increasingly virtual world will strengthen the need for these skills, so as to differentiate between robotic and human actions and processes.

If AI relies on the accumulation of large volumes of data on our movements, choices, preferences and behaviours aren’t we facing the end of personal privacy? Is it too much to say that, in the city of the future, citizens will be living, breathing data points?

ER: The “human sensor” is already a valuable data point, the capture of the data is just mainly based on disparate inputs. As we are able to capture more data on preferences and behaviours, with the help of AI we can focus on personalisation and creating better overall experiences. The question of privacy is of course an important topic and should be taken extremely seriously (so too bias in artificial intelligence) but overall, if the intention is to create better experiences, the development of technology represents more of an opportunity than a threat – as long as people have the choice to opt out.

Could panelists give more detail on what the “Internet of Experiences” might look like?

ER: The Internet of Experiences shifts the focus from connecting devices to creating connected experiences. Therefore, the focus in on creating value to the user via connectivity, not in connecting data itself. Simply put, not focusing on gathering a data lake but on the applications that can be derived from the data in order to reduce friction, create joy, or optimize and personalize experiences.

How will cities and central business districts (CBDs) look in the digital age? Could the city of the future be more like an idea or concept, than a physical place?

VR: I think historic centres or CBDs will remain the heart of most cities, but they might become more closely connected to their surroundings via technology. They will function more efficiently in terms of digital mobility and amenity concepts – which will help to prevent congestion, pollution and crime. The human being will still predominantly shape the city of the future, which will remain a place for social interaction. The city will be facilitated and augmented by virtual gadgets but remain a physical place with central functions. These functions could be different from those of today. The process of finding out what these functions might be is ongoing. I believe, they are likely to involve a higher level of social focus and interaction.

ER: I really support this idea. Concepts will be less and less linked to physical assets, but more to value creation irrespective of physical space. The city of the future could be an intertwined concept of journeys and experiences. If we think about governance, perhaps it will not be divided by district, but instead by these value journeys.