Is it time for smart cities to show a little love?

After the smart city, and the 15-minute city, the latest approach to rethinking urban centres comes in the form of the "love city". Photo: AFP

In an article published on the website of the Hey/Hamburg mobility festival, taking place June 15 to 17, 2022, in Germany, the organisers ponder the future of the city, suggesting it should perhaps be more about people-friendliness than artificial intelligence alone, as advocated by more and more prominent architects.

After the smart city, and the 15-minute city, the latest approach to rethinking urban centres comes in the form of the "love city". This term is used to describe cities at human scale, cities which are not cold, clinical and governed solely by algorithms.