Unleash the Future: Changes of Urban Forms in the Information Age

According to the growing needs of our world today, many efforts were emerged to create more livable cities and communities. A major effort has been made to direct growth in a way that decreases changes to environment and to create a balance between the four changing poles of urban growth: economy, society, environment and politics. Experts and professionals in many parts of the world developed, implemented and monitored different policies and strategies to achieve that aim. However, this view of the development of urban forms and cities need to be revised with the immense growth of the use of information technology and emerge of global economy and globalization.

This paper aims to highlight the impacts of information technology and globalization on the urban form. The integrating new trends of IT in the process of smart growth create new urban forms. These new urban forms are responsive to the changing needs of the world today: the world of global forces, information technology and problems of environment and population. The paper discusses the challenges and opportunities of applying new tools of IT in simulation for urban growth and urban forms in a way that can enhance the process of smart growth (SG) using the city of Dubai, UAE as a case study.

This research raises two questions: How could the accelerated progress of IT affect the cities’ smart growth plans? What is the future of our cities in light of globalization and information using the city of Dubai, UAE as a case study? The aim is to achieve a clear understanding of the changes of urban forms in the information age. The study concludes by highlighting the linkages between urban growth and information technology.