How Smart Can a City Be?

The Economist magazine’s recent turn towards more coverage of technology (including cover stories on cloud computing and DIY manufacturing) has been complemented by a provocative series of conferences under the label “Ideas Economy.”

Last week in New York City, the Economist hosted a summit on “Intelligent Infrastructure.” We attended the event and found the discussion to be wide-ranging, covering finance and investment issues, new technologies, scenarios for urban growth, and sociological questions about the future role of the city.

Here is our interview with Economist Global Correspondent and curator of the Ideas Economy conferences Vijay Vaitheeswaran:

We also spoke backstage with Saskia Sassen, Professor at Columbia University and perhaps the world’s leading sociologist of the role of the city in world history:

Ayesha and Parag Khanna explore human-technology co-evolution and its implications for society, business and politics at The Hybrid Reality Institute.