How will we be able to meet the healthcare needs of the city populous, given that some estimates predict the costs will escalate and outstrip the national domestic budget? Some expectations must be trimmed, oviously.

What happens when the population density becomes so great that it can be measured in increasing stress, anti-social behaviour and crimes of violence? How do we plan for and handle that situation without resorting to draconian measures? How do we inculcate tolerance and encourage social conformity (and who defines that?), retaining democratic freedoms while at the same time constraining these freedoms to meet the goals of a Smarter Planet?

Think of the road networks that are designed for a means of transport that one day may prove to cost more than the environment can afford. Freedom of travel is taken for granted today, but some unpalatable truths must be faced soon; maybe the not-too-distant future will bring rationed mileage for everybody.

It is all very well to talk of the need to be inclusive, but we cannot ignore the inevitability of disparity, where poverty and relative deprivation will continuously present challenges to city planners and budget holders.

I am inclined to believe that cities will increasingly turn in on themselves and, in the pursuit of controlled spending and balanced growth, begin to develop along the lines of ‘city-states’.