ABSTRACT
The city of the future is currently a major topic in science and practice; it is predicted that approximately 60 percent of the world population will live in large metropolises by 2030 (Bähr, 2007: 3), whose organizational form will determine the level of resource-use in urban systems and the extent of emissions reductions. It is certain that technological innovations are needed to arrange city life so that its mobility, living and leisure structures are less resource-dependent; however, there is also the challenge to adjust the social dimension: the reorientation of cities is partly a slow and partly a sudden process of reallocation of options and habits, of finances and resources. For this purpose, politics and administration depend on the participation of the city inhabitants.
