As portrayed in countless sci-fi books and movies, cities of the future will be dystopian. Most people will live near the ground level, doing the hard work and enduring the gritty and poorly maintained inorganic environment. Those in power— those who own the buildings — will fly above in their helicopters. No one but those in power will own their own home, or their own property, or be free or independent — everyone but the powerful will be stuck, working their life in “the system”, while all opportunities are reserved for those in control — be they wealthy plutocrats or Soviet-style apparatchiks.

A world of cities means the death of freedom.