Designing Tomorrow: Carlo Ratti comments on Innovation and Urban Development

Interview by Elena Sbokou

Known for integrating cutting-edge technology with architectural practices, Professor Carlo Ratti explains his visionary approach to urban design and shares with us his thoughts on the evolving role of architecture in shaping the world of tomorrow.

Global Design News: As an international architect, you have worked on projects all around the world. How do the challenges and opportunities of smart city initiatives differ between developed and developing countries?

Prof. Carlo Ratti: You mention “smart cities” here, but I have never been a fan of the term, which puts too much focus on the technology—and not enough on the ways we use it. That’s why, two decades ago, we called our lab at MIT the ‘Senseable’ City Lab—focusing on how to employ digital technologies to help our cities sense the needs of their inhabitants and respond intelligently.

Senseable technologies are not necessarily flashy or high-tech; instead, they are designed to address specific scenarios and needs. This adaptability is particularly effective in tackling the unique challenges of developing urban spaces. Of the 4 billion people living in cities worldwide, nearly 1 billion reside in informal settlements. These areas are often vast yet remain invisible to traditional mapping technologies—often depriving residents of urban rights (including property rights).

At the Senseable City Lab, we are working on a project called Favela 4D—utilizing 3D laser scanning technology to analyze the morphology of Rocinha, the largest favela in Rio de Janeiro. By making the informal visible, this project aims to enhance environmental conditions, including improved access to sunlight, air ventilation, and water—and also verifying structural vulnerabilities, which are one of the main causes of mortality.

GDN: How AI can affect and shape the future of urban development and master planning? 

C.R: Let’s remember that there is no AI without data to train it. Using data, we can better understand urban environments, design them more effectively, and improve how we live in them.

AI is a way to speed up and automate the analysis of urban data.

Data can be applied in a myriad of ways—from mapping urban tree canopies to better understanding mobility to guiding action to make cities more diverse and inclusive. At the MIT Senseable City Lab, we developed a project for the Porto Design Biennial in Portugal, using geolocalized tweets and anonymized mobile phone data from tens of thousands of people to better understand urban communities and what separates them—something that, together with sociologist Richard Sennett, we have been calling liminal ghettos.

GDN: As a director of the Senseable City Lab at MIT, can you give us an idea of how can smart city technologies contribute to achieving sustainability goals, particularly in reducing carbon footprints and promoting renewable energy?

C.R: There are many ways—these could be distinguished as related to mitigation and adaptation.

Regarding mitigation, smart city technologies are already transforming our cities in several impactful ways. One significant method is using data to optimize urban processes, such as streamlining traffic to reduce congestion and lower emissions. Additionally, real-time data facilitates the introduction of new services, like micromobility sharing, which includes bikes, scooters, and small vehicles, promoting more sustainable transportation options. One of my favorite applications is using data to empower citizens by making air pollution metrics accessible, which helps encourage behavioral changes that contribute to a healthier environment.

Regarding adaptation, data plays a crucial role in managing extreme events, such as heatwaves and storms, and in enhancing a city’s resilience. For example, our project with the MIT Senseable City Lab, Treepedia, aims to create a global map of urban trees and analyze their impact on reducing extreme temperatures. This initiative supports better planning and implementation of green infrastructure, helping cities adapt more effectively to changing climate conditions.

All of this is not something nebulous and distant, but something that is already transforming our cities. 

GDN: Nowadays urban planners use big data with detailed insights to facilitate a more informed and accurate city planning, do you think that there are certain measures that can safeguard the privacy and that can ensure data security for city inhabitants?

C.R: Cities are intricate ecosystems—where data flows like water and requires meticulous management to prevent leaks, contamination, or misuse. When urban planners harness big data for more informed city planning, safeguarding privacy and ensuring data security are crucial.

However, much of the data used for urban analysis is aggregated and low-resolution (such as at the scale of Census tracts in the USA), making it relatively benign. My greater concern today lies with what happens in our own pockets—where our smartphones collect vast amounts of high-resolution, non-anonymized data…

 GDN: What inspired you to pursue a career at the intersection of technology and urban design? 

C.R: It was less of a process of direct pursuit but rather arriving at a place where a constellation of my interests had aligned. My design journey actually started with civil engineering.  I studied the subject at Politecnico in Turin and at the Ecole des Ponts in Paris. It was after graduation – while my classmates were busy entering the job market – that I moved towards architecture and computer science at the University of Cambridge, which subsequently led me to a Fulbright scholarship at MIT. I was following my passions – and this fact helped me connect the dots retrospectively, as Steve Jobs might have put it!

GDN: Can you describe to our readers, what key elements will shape the cities of the future, and how will these differ from today’s urban environments?

C.R: For centuries—since the time of the ancient Greek poet Theocritus, who celebrated rural life in his pastoral idylls—people have explored how to create cities that coexist with the natural world. Today, the call for greener urban environments is more pressing than ever.

Fortunately, progress in innovation and technology presents new ways to achieve this long-sought equilibrium.

This is the focus of the upcoming 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, which we have named Intelligens—a theme centered on the integration of natural, artificial, and collective intelligence.

Carlo Ratti loves cities and the built environment. Ranked as one of the top ten most-cited scholars in urban planning and one of the leading designers in America, he focuses on intelligent systems and the convergence between the natural and artificial worlds. Recently nominated curator of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, he aims to foster a public conversation on our urban habitat, starting from his work at the intersection between academic research, innovative design,
and start-up entrepreneurship.