The big cities of the future will (have to) look different than the current metropolises.
The reason for this are the growing problems of big cities, such as the steadily increasing individual traffic, rising rents, gentrification or impoverishment of some parts of the city.

One approach to get these problems under control is the so-called „15 minute city“. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/15-minute_city)
The concept describes a city in which all everyday journeys can be completed in a maximum of 15 minutes.
Sustainable means of transport are to be used, and journeys are to be made on foot, by bicycle or by public transport.
For this, an even distribution of everyday destinations across the entire city is important.

Now this is where I come to my common ground with John Mellencamp.
We were both born in a 15-minute town like that, a small town.
John also described this in his song „Small town“ (on the album „Scarecrow“).

In a small town, you can actually reach all of your daily destinations within 15 minutes by sustainable transportation.
But in a big city like New York or Tokyo, for example, this will never be possible unless city planners radically rethink their approach.

This is why the approach of dividing the big cities into many „small towns“, the neighborhoods, or in more modern terms „quarters“, came into being.
These then become the 15-minute quarters, in which all areas of life such as learning, working, shopping, recreation, health and culture are to be represented.
I am very curious to see how the cities of the future will change and whether the goals set will be achieved.

What does this have to do with IT?
Well, in order to be able to provide cities with services of all kinds, a comprehensive, stable and fast data supply is a basic prerequisite.
The peripheral areas of large cities in particular must not be forgotten.
Unfortunately, Germany is still a developing country in this respect.

Incidentally, John Mellencamp told Rolling Stone in an interview:
„I wanted to write a song that said, ‚You don’t have to live in New York or Los Angeles to live a full life or enjoy your life.‘
I was never one of those guys that grew up and thought, ‚I need to get out of here.‘ It never dawned on me.
I just valued having a family and staying close to friends.“
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/john-mellencamp-my-life-in-15-songs-11308/small-town-2-208639/