For the first time ever man is becoming a majority urban creature. It’s hard to overestimate this change. Since the Fertile Crescent in 10,000 B.C., cities were only a fraction of human population, even if they were the centers of technology and culture. Humans throughout history have been mostly villagers, mountain people, hunter/gatherers.

In 1800 only 3% of humans lived in cities. Most people never saw a city, and the vast majority didn’t trust city folk when they came to town. They earned nasty terms like “city slicker” and “vilain,” which is just old French for “city slicker.”

By 1900, in the midst of the Industrial Revolution, only 6% resided in urban areas. Plenty of economic opportunity was to be had in the fields and in the mines of the countryside. Manufacturing and intellectual work still represented a minority of the jobs available.

Now in 2009, more than half of humanity lives in cities. Upward of 88% of all economic activity happens in cities – and this is increasing. Job opportunities in the countryside are disappearing as the knowledge economy makes physical capital less valuable and makes innovation the main driver of competitiveness.

Not all cities are created equal. Amsterdam, San Francisco, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Paris are monuments to culture, economic vitality, and learning, blessed by sufficient infrastructure and social stability. The urban future also means Lagos, Nigeria, Mexico D.F., Cairo, Egypt, Manila, Philippines, Calcutta, India, and more – cities of five, ten and twenty million inhabitants with critical sanitation problems, insufficient water, crumbling roads, and few jobs for the refugees from even deeper rural poverty.

For this reason Competitive Futures took a closer look at the future of what is likely to be our most common environment, the urban area. Enjoy.