La Tribune is a leading French newspaper specializing in economic, financial, and business news, founded in 1985 and headquartered in Paris. They featured an article about InfraVision’s view on cities of tomorrow.
The piece is co-signed by the Strategic Committee of InfraVision
- Gwenola Chambon (CEO and co-founder of Vauban Infrastructure Partners)
- Sadie Morgan (founder of architecture firm dRMM)
- Erik Jones (Director at the Robert Schuman Centre)
- Andris Piebalgs (former advisor to the President of Latvia and former European Commissioner for Energy)
- Connie Hedegaard (former European Commissioner for Climate Action, Chair of the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change)
Since the earliest sedentary societies, infrastructure has structured the spatial, economic, and social dynamics of cities, serving as the operational backbone of urban systems and their interconnections. Historically viewed as the “spine” or skeleton of cities, the authors argue that 21st-century infrastructure must evolve to become the nervous system — dynamic, adaptive, interconnected, and intelligent — rather than a static supporting structure.Context and challenges
You can read our report Cities of tomorrow: https://infravision-thinktank.com/previous-reports
Cities face multiple overlapping crises in the 21st century: climate change, rapid urban population growth, resource constraints, digital transformation, need for resilience, social inequalities, and the transition to low-carbon economies. Traditional “siloed” and rigid infrastructure approaches (transport, energy, water, waste, digital networks treated separately) are no longer sufficient to address these systemic, interconnected challenges.Key reference
The article draws heavily on InfraVision’s latest report (November 2025), titled “Cities of Tomorrow: Reimagining Urban Infrastructure”, produced in collaboration with the strategy firm Altermind. This report extends the historical perspective into the contemporary context and advocates for this paradigm shift.Proposed vision
Infrastructure should become:
- Adaptive and responsive (like a nervous system that senses, processes, and reacts)
- Integrated and cross-sectoral (energy, mobility, digital, water, etc. working together)
- Data-driven and intelligent (leveraging IoT, AI, sensors for real-time optimization)
- Resilient and sustainable (capable of withstanding shocks while supporting decarbonization and circularity)
The authors call for reimagining urban infrastructure as the central coordinating and regulating system of tomorrow’s cities, enabling more livable, efficient, inclusive, and environmentally viable urban spaces.In short, the opinion piece urges policymakers, investors, urban planners, and businesses to move beyond viewing infrastructure as mere “hardware” and instead treat it as the intelligent, living connective tissue essential for the viability of future cities. It positions InfraVision’s work as a key contribution to this necessary rethinking.
Read the article (in french): https://www.latribune.fr/article/idees/83541703209653/opinion-villes-de-demain-faire-des-infrastructures-le-systeme-nerveux-des-espaces-urbains
