City of the Future

In January, The History Channel created a contest called City of the Future: A Design and Engineering Challenge. "The theme of the contest is for participants to develop visions of their city 100 years from now. These visions are presented through a written statement, a 3-dimensional construct that was assembled within a 3-hour period during Phase I of the competition and accompanying visuals."

The architectural firm EDAW created a vision for Atlanta's growth over the next 100 years which made it a winner with the panel of judges. If you live in Atlanta then you are aware of the many obstacles currently facing the city including localized flooding problems, an ongoing overhaul of the entire sewage system, a traffic crunch, inefficient transit system and a drought. This makes EDAW design concept an utmost hopeful vision and worth a look.

Other design teams won competitions in San Francisco and Washington. Online voters on the History Channel Web site will decide which of the three plans is the nation's best. The voting ends April 28, and the winner will be announced May 5 on the "Cities of the Underworld" show.

Oh and Richard Meier offers his take on the three finalists too!