Building a Future-Ready City

An actionable roadmap for rebuilding smarter, greener cities

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Results from new study to debut at upcoming Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona, Spain - Read more
Benchmarking study of 200 cities across regions, population sizes, and income levels
Survey of 2,000 residents in cities from six world regions to assess how these plans align with changing citizen behaviors and expectations
Economic and social impact analyses and in-depth case studies on the urban transformation plans of 15 cities
Available now!
Download our free eBook, Executive Summary and City profiles today!

How will cities reinvent themselves for a digital-first, post-pandemic world?

Which global cities are prepared for the future? And how can you learn from them?

A global study of 200 cities by Hatch in partnership with ThoughtLab analyses how cities are future-proofing their urban environments and supplies a blueprint for going forward.

Cities are facing social, economic, and climate disruptions that are radically altering the expectations and behaviors of citizens. These expectations run the gamut: wider digital access to public services, medicine, and education; more sustainable and safer infrastructure, mobility, and living conditions; and greater inclusiveness, public health, and affordable housing.

Urban leaders around the world must quickly come to grips with these demands and develop action plans to become “future-ready.” This means morphing into sustainable, inclusive, resilient, and safe cities—with new fit-for-purpose digital and physical infrastructure.

Building a Future-Ready City

The results of our research, conducted from July to October of 2022, reveal how cities will use innovative partnerships, latest technologies, advanced data analytics, new sources of funding, and citizen and community engagement to become future-ready. This report also outlines how much cities plan on investing in technology over the next five years.

Executive summary

What will future-ready cities do differently? Our executive summary paper sheds light on the road ahead and the speed bumps along the way.

City profiles

Which global cities are most prepared for the future? This report highlights how 16 cities are planning to achieve their long-term goals.

Is your city Future-Ready?

This groundbreaking study examines how cities around the world plan to reinvent their urban environments to meet the post-pandemic expectations of citizens and other stakeholders. It addresses the increasing needs for resiliency, sustainability, inclusiveness, and economic development.


We have built a coalition of urban experts across cities, government, businesses, and associations.

Building a Future-Ready City provide city leaders, urban service providers and consultants with valuable market intelligence on the fundamental areas of investment for cities as they emerge from the pandemic.

Our research enables you to design successful go-to-market plans aligned with the needs of a diverse set of cities around the world.
Gather insights from our corporate, government, and academic advisors
Survey 2,000 citizens to gather their views on how their needs and behaviors will change after the pandemic and the services they expect from cities
Collect data on 200 cities through an in-depth survey and secondary research
Develop interactive databases of 200 cities, 2,000 citizens, and urban metrics
Model social environmental and economic benefits of future-city programs
Provide in-depth case studies of future-ready strategies
Our research uses a mixed-method approach
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