In a long paper, Reon Brand of Philips Design presents a holistic approach to systemically transform cities into places that positively contribute to human personal development, social harmony and diversity.

"Urban living is the future of the majority. But although urbanization has brought great progress to human civilization, it is also a key factor in compromising the natural balance of the planet; it has become one of the key threats to loss of biodiversity. There are a number of associated macro level issues such as pollution, decline in natural resource, and numerous current and escalating social issues that will increasingly detract from the benefits brought by urban living if we continue to develop cities in their current format. Many approaches to improve urban development are still driven on an issue-based level rather a systemic approach.

This paper examines the systemic issues and drivers of change associated with urban development. It explores possibilities for a holistic approach to systemically transform cities into places that positively contribute to human personal development, social harmony and diversity, and the environment and health of the planet at large. The paper concludes that we have to think differently about the role and the function of cities, which will inspire us to develop future cities and urban living in a different way."

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