"In reference to urban mobility, how will design evolve in the upcoming two decades?"

Gorden
Wagener

Gorden Wagener took over the management of the globally active Design division of Mercedes-Benz in mid-2008. Before that, he was the Director of Strategic Design and Advanced Design at Mercedes-Benz Cars in California and was involved in developing the current models of the A-, B-, C-, CLK-, CLS-, E-, S-, M- and R-Classes and the SL, SLK and SLR McLaren sports cars as the responsible designer. Honoring his active commitment to the training of younger generations, he was appointed Professor h.c. of the University of Art and Design, Budapest, in December 2009, and Doctor h.c. of the Technical University of Sofia in October 2010. Gorden Wagener was born on 3 September 1968 in Essen, Germany. Following his degree in Industrial Design at the University of Essen (1990 – 1993), he attended the Royal College of Art in London where he specialised in Transportation Design. Before he joined Mercedes-Benz in 1997 he was working for Volkswagen, Mazda and GM.

Leif
Podhajsky

“Leif is an artist and Creative Director. His work explores themes of connectedness, the relevance of nature and the psychedelic or altered experience. By utilizing these subjects he attempts to coerce the viewer into a realignment with themselves and their surroundings.” Leif creates artwork for a number bands and record labels around the world such as Modular Records, Sub Pop Records, Sony Music, Shabazz Palaces, Lykke Li and Tame Impala and has exhibited work in Berlin, The Netherlands, Sydney, and Melbourne. He has also spoken at the prestigious art & design conference Semi Permanent.

In the upcoming decades design will play key function in a new era of human existence. One in which humans have attained a higher state of awareness, a realization that we are all connected and a want to exist in a free, supportive and sustainable society. A society that places a high value on imagination, science, music and art as a way to move forward as a species and explore both inner and outer space, a place in which we share knowledge and embrace our differences.

I am scared but hopeful for the future. There is certainly a change in the air and its up to us the people to make it a positive one.

In reference to mobility and the way we engage with our environment, our cities will become a product of a world where the monetary system has failed, as this seems to be the only way forward from a flawed ideology that gives nothing of value back to our society. We are witnessing a taste of this failure in our present day and things will only get worse.

We will need design, technology and ideas to break the syntax of this current model to create cities and environments in which humans well-being and not corporations are placed at the top of the chain. We need to see a rise in renewable energies with mass transit networks built to reflect this, the advent use of bikes and bike lanes, more green areas, communal gardens and parks, more ways to diminish waste and recycle, free widespread access to unregulated internet and localized production are just a few things that hopefully will start to change how we interact and live out our lives in the cities of the future.