Advanced City: For the Future of Cities and Opposing Smart Cities

＂Evolution is by choice＂. This is not a passive truth, but a conscious commitment, one that lies at the heart of what I call the Advanced City. Coined and thoroughly introduced here in the book, this new concept is based on people-centric and data-informed processes to enhance our cities and communities for their future, and not for imagining future cities. This is not another model in the long line of urban prescriptions, nor a distant techno-utopia to be fantasized. It is a paradigm shift, an invitation to think, feel, and build differently. The ’Advanced City’ is a lived revolution, a dynamic process grounded in values, purpose, and practice.

Too often, we romanticize the future city: glass towers, flying cars, machines and robots everywhere, data-driven dreams. But these visions distract us from the urgency of the present. They bypass the real work of transformation by projecting change onto an abstract tomorrow. The Advanced City asks something deeper: What kind of cities are we actively creating, today, here, and now? It is not about waiting for innovation to arrive. It is about choosing a different path, rooted in responsibility, equity, and long-view thinking.

This book is not about cities as machines, markets, or spectacles. It is about cities as ecosystems of meaning, struggle, creativity, and care. The Advanced City is a movement of re-engagement, for academics, for planners, for civic leaders, and for all who call the city home. It calls on us to be co-creators of our urban futures, not passive consumers of predesigned and predetermined solutions.

We need radical honesty about the failures of current systems, and the intellectual courage to reimagine what’s possible. The advanced city resists the illusion of ＂smartness＂ and returns us to human truths: interdependence, justice, and purpose. It is about making change, not waiting for it. So, this is not a new product for urban branding, it is rather a process for transformation, a paradigm shift, and an ＂urban revolution＂. A call to co-create cities that are not merely advanced in function, but advanced in wisdom. Here, I also call for the development of ’Brother Cities’ and ’Advanced Development Goals (ADGs)’.

If not now, when? If not us, who? Let the Advanced City be an urban revolution of now and the future to be lived; not later, but now - not for the future cities, but for the future of our cities and communities.

Ali CHESHMEHZANGI is a Professor and Head of the School of Architecture, Design and Planning (ADP) at The University of Queensland, where he leads the School and researches across the fields of architecture, design, and urbanism. He has been in the World’s top 2 percent field leader since 2022, recognised by Stanford University. He is among the top 25 global scholars in the urban sustainability research area.

Ali has a wealth of experience, expertise, and a strong commitment to innovation and excellence in the fields of architecture, design, and planning, the three core disciplines of his School at UQ. With a career spanning over two decades, he has made significant contributions to the academic and professional communities, with a focus on sustainable and environmentally conscious design. Prior to joining UQ, Ali held several strategic leadership and senior managerial roles, such as Vice-President for International Engagement and Global Partnership, Founding Director and Head of the Center for Innovation in Education and Research, Head of the Department of Architecture and Built Environment, Founding Director of the Urban Innovation Lab, Director of a university-wide Teaching and Learning platform, Director of International Research Network for Rural and Urban Development, Founder and Head of Research Group for Sustainable Built Environment, co-director of university-wide research priority areas, Director of Center for Sustainable Energy Technologies, and Interim Director of Digital Design Lab. So far, Ali has published over 500 journal papers, articles, conference papers, book chapters, and reports. This is his 42^nd academic book, alongside his many poetry collections that he has written in Parsi/Persian and English. Some of his previous academic books have received awards at the national, provincial, and municipal levels. He also has received international awards and recognition for his research on urban resilience studies and sustainability research, as well as a 2018 Vice-Chancellor’s award for his impactful contribution to higher education.