Corporate owned cities. 

In the year 2050, about three quarters of the world’s population will live in the city. With the city as a huge growth market, large companies like Ikea (Landprop, BoBlok, Inter-Ikea Group), Philips, IBM (Smarter Cities), Cisco and Siemens (Masdar City and Wildpoldsried) have been focusing on this profitable market. Landprop Holding BV for example, is the company that manages all intellectual property, real estate development and profit of IKEA. Landprop is currently investing in 30 projects in e.g. Denmark, Sweden, Poland and Germany. But currently nothing is as big as the Strand East project. A $39 million dollars project where Landprop bought 26 acres (10.5 hectares) near the River Lea and Stratford High Street in East London. My questions are? Will these new ‘corporate’ bought and build areas in the city be like Andrew Niccol’s ‘Truman show’ ? Will our living environment in the future be shaped by these multinationals? Is Logorama really what we are heading for? And will we ever be able to use the expertise of these companies? VPRO Backlight asked Geoffrey West, the physicist that unleashed the laws of biology on organisms such as cities and businesses. And 3 time National Newspaper Award winner Doug Saunders, author of Arrival City, explains how urban sprawl can make proper use of human capital of newcomers. VPRO Backlight takes all of this under the microscope. For Dutch viewers click here to watch the Episode Making Cities: de stad van de toekomst. For all International viewers watch the TEDTalk Geoffrey West: The surprising math of cities and corporations here or above.