With a soaring global population, vast numbers of people are facing living in cities that are decades or centuries old, built for much smaller populations with very different needs. This puts our environment at risk by wasting resources such as land, water and energy, and makes cities harder to manage logistically.

A diverse range of disciplines are helping solve these challenges, aided by a suite of digital tools that allow scientists and city planners to see and explore the futures we are creating and their effects on their inhabitants and the planet as a whole.

This approach could lead to a reimagining of the entire discipline of architecture by focusing not just on the resulting structure but also the impact a building will have on the planet’s resources.

Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCity project aims to create holistic, virtual models that enable urban planners to digitally study and test ideas, to consider the impact urbanization has both within the invisible boundaries of their city, and also on the entire planet and its resources.