Glimpses of the Future. The Urban Landscape Represented by Artificial Intelligence Systems

The world changes; it always has, with or without human intervention. The novelty in recent years lies in the frequency, intensity, and those so-called leaps – or disruptive changes – that transform the socio-economic fabric at an ever-increasing pace. Sometimes these are caused by revolutionary technologies; at other times, they are the result of gradual maturation that does not attract public opinion's attention until they become too significant to go unnoticed. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is likely one of these latter cases. Ignored for several decades, it has now matured the necessary potential to manifest significant and growing impacts on human communities in the years to come.

The modern development of AI began in the 1950s when scientists began designing machines capable of simulating human intelligence. In the following decades, research focused on symbolic logic, a rule-based approach using algorithms for symbol manipulation. In the 1980s, development shifted to artificial neural networks (ANN), an approach based on the functioning of neurons in the human brain, allowing the development of machine learning algorithms. This process, combined with the use of algorithms such as artificial neural networks and decision trees, allowed computers to learn from data and improve performance based on experience. Since the 2000s, research has turned its attention to deep learning, a technique that uses artificial neural networks organized at different levels for model learning.

Today, applications are numerous and often discreetly present in daily activities or in support of them, such as image recognition, natural language processing, automatic translation, and recommendation systems.

In the media landscape, two tools are often cited as prototypes of new functionality: ChatGPT and Midjourney. The former is a language model based on machine learning developed by OpenAI (www.openai.com). Its best-known version, GPT-3 (Generative Pre-trained Transformer), was released in the summer of 2020. The latter tool is a program developed by the independent research laboratory Midjourney Inc., first released in February 2022, that allows the creation of images from textual descriptions (www.midjourney.com).

The possible applications of these innovations are widely discussed in the media, leading to controversial positions on their use in education and the information ecosystem. The following text uses generative textual and graphic functionalities jointly to describe and depict what could be the landscape of a future city, expanding the main urban morphology trends in recent decades. Evidently, this work assumes continuity in trends, which, as history teaches, is not to be taken for granted. It is also a qualitative, subjective process aimed at simplification. Nevertheless, it allows significant urban policy themes to surface, representing them graphically in an original way, providing glimpses of the possible futures of the urban landscape.

Predictive ambitions have always been present in the human mind. Consider great science fiction authors like Isaac Asimov, who wrote an excellent saga on this theme, the Foundation series. The protagonist of the first volumes, the mathematician Hari Seldon, founded a new science, psychohistory, a statistical model capable of accurately predicting human society's development: The individual behaves unpredictably, but Seldon found that mass reactions could be statistically studied. The larger the mass, the more accurate the predictions. And Seldon's human mass was the entire population of the galaxy, which then numbered about a trillion inhabitants (Asimov, Isaac. 2006. The Foundation Cycle. Milan: Mondadori).

In recent years, many other researchers, academics, and futurists have contributed analyses in this field, rejuvenated by the rise of AI. Steven Novella, in the book titled "The Skeptics' Guide to the Future," masterfully retraces fantasies about the future, highlighting how these projections are mainly the result of prejudice, ignorance, hopes, and fears of the present: The future is a wild fantasy. It’s feverishly concocted out of our hopes, fears, biases, ignorance, and imagination, saying far more about us than what is to come. Predictions of the future are really just reflections of the present. And that means we’re really bad at predicting what the future will bring (Novella, Steven. 2022. The Skeptics’ Guide to the Future. Hodder And Stoughton Ltd.).

The American author finally notes the dichotomy between pessimists' and optimists' visions. Although the optimists are those who have more frequently identified trajectories that translated into reality, pessimists are the ones most heard and present in the media. In their visions, we find societies reduced to misery, natural and nuclear cataclysms, famine, and hunger. But this is probably also a cultural aspect that reflects a certain resistance to change: hypothesizing the end of one's species is, in fact, easier than identifying the multifaceted factors regulating its development in increasingly complex and interconnected systems.

The past as a key to interpreting and projecting into the future

Figure #1: Landscape of a typical European city at the beginning of the 20th century (image processed with Midjourney)

In the last century, urban spaces have undergone radical transformations, reflecting a society that has evolved rapidly. They have done so with unique metrics, rhythms, and characteristics, precisely because every city is a different reality. However, it is possible to isolate some factors that have characterized various evolutionary trajectories.

One of the main changes has been the increase in urban population and the consequent expansion of cities, which have developed into new neighborhoods and popular, residential, and commercial suburbs. The metabolism of these spaces is heavily dependent on motorization and communication routes, which have had an increasing impact on the urban agglomerate and urban planning strategies. Cities have had to adapt to the needs of vehicles, creating road infrastructure, a distribution network for petroleum derivatives, and parking areas.

Figure #2: Landscape of a typical European city in the 1960s of the 20th century (image processed with Midjourney)

The expansion of built-up areas has gradually led to a subdivision into areas dedicated to specific purposes: financial, residential, commercial, industrial, or recreational. This has helped to limit inappropriate land use, or it has prevented overlapping incompatible functionalities, such as industrial ones with those of a residential or touristic nature. The functional specialization, coupled with the sprawling development of the city, has required increasing resources for commuting.

In recent decades, territorial policies have developed by better articulating the various constituent elements, focusing particularly on urban regeneration, aimed at transforming and renewing declining urban areas, also introducing the concept of multifunctionality. This includes the conversion of old industrial buildings and the creation of urban parks from the burying of communication routes.

Figure #3: Aerial view of a typical European city in the 1970s of the 20th century (image processed with Midjourney)

With the increase in social and environmental awareness, there has been a growing focus on urban sustainability and the integration of practices aimed at more efficient management of natural resources, with policies also targeted at the delicate social balances that characterize the urban ecosystem. This includes the creation of green areas, the promotion of low-energy consumption buildings, the use of renewable energy sources, improvements in public transportation, and the development of participatory policies at the local level. These dynamics also reflect the shifts in a socio-demographic fabric that, over the decades, has undergone a radical transformation, thanks to the average increase in educational attainment, the shift towards service-oriented industries, the rise in leisure time, and the increase in life expectancy.

One of the central points in the evolution of urban areas is densification: thanks to this process, it is possible to mitigate dependence on vehicles and promote mixed spaces where citizens live, work, and spend their free time, avoiding long and exhausting transfers. Travel is indeed more and more frequent, initially limited not so much by distance but rather by travel time. Despite shared interest in having an efficient and proximity-based transportation network, over time there has been growing intolerance towards the structures that allow it, a fact that has contributed to a migration underground of these networks. Densification also makes the distribution services, often less visible, such as the water supply network, electricity, and sewage, more efficient and economical. These are also services oriented to make greater use of the underground, in still approximate ways (disconnected and inconsistent networks).

The transformation and requalification of urban areas are part of a strategic vision aimed at developing knowledge-based economic sectors, such as technological innovation, higher education, and research. This process aims to attract new talents and promote entrepreneurship, leading to sustainable economic and social growth.

In this context, the very concept of nature itself evolves, becoming more integrated and less dichotomous, tied to a romantic view of uncontaminated space as opposed to the anthropic one. Natural, agricultural, or urban areas constitute interconnected surfaces that outline varied landscapes, a variety that constitutes a favorable condition for biodiversity. Nature in urban contexts, previously ignored and relegated to disused spaces, is now more appreciated and valued; at the same time, there is an increased awareness that wilderness is a complex concept, as evidenced by significant interventions in natural parks.

Globally, the evolution experienced by urban spaces is positive, and this is despite the strong demographic growth recorded in the last century, which has brought the world population from 1.6 billion in 1900 to 8 billion in 2022. Challenges are not lacking and should not be minimized, but as highlighted by the main indices (life expectancy, schooling, air quality to name a few), trends are oriented towards slow and progressive resolution of the main issues.

Figure #4: Some Positive Factors on the Rise (Rosling, 2018)

Figure #5: Some Negative Factors in Decline (Rosling, 2018)

What are the main mechanisms that will influence urban metabolism?

Starting from the trends that have characterized urban development over the last century, below are six hypotheses concerning the typical European city as seen through the eyes of a citizen, approximately a hundred years from now.

Hypothesis 1: Urban Planning and Land Use

Figure #6: Hypothesis 1: Densified and vertical city, parks and green areas unite workspaces, commercial areas, and residential zones; roads, parking lots, and logistical surfaces are nonexistent (image created with Midjourney)

The city will promote more efficient resource management, a reduction in environmental impact, and an improvement in the quality of life. Urban centers will adopt planning geared towards densification and the reduction of diluted and spread-out spaces. Moreover, functional spaces will be more integrated and cross-sectional, facilitating the transition between areas dedicated to professional, private, familial, and recreational purposes. The creation of green zones, parks, and recreational areas will be integrated into urban planning and will allow for enhancing the quality of life and stimulating social relations.

Urban metabolism will not require further consumption of surfaces to be concretized but will lead to their concentration and more harmonious functional management, avoiding the sacrifice of large areas of soil for goods storage, parking, or waste storage. Thanks to the vertical development of cities, it will be possible to provide dignified spaces for the world's population, which in 2100 will find a balance settling around 11 billion individuals, at least according to UN forecasts.

Cities will pay increasing attention to degraded or disused urban areas, stimulating their regeneration, rather than perpetuating policies oriented towards an irrational expansion of built surfaces. This will involve the redevelopment of disused industrial areas, the transformation of parking lots into green spaces, or the rehabilitation of abandoned historical buildings.

Cities will thus orient towards more compact urban planning, with increased housing density and a combination of residences, offices, shops, services, and nearby public spaces, encouraging more efficient public and private transportation. Green spaces will assume new centrality, improving the quality of life and helping to reduce the environmental impact. This multinuclear approach will allow the time dedicated to commuting to remain constant, with travel being more frequent but shorter. Territorial strategy will allow for the valorization of more valuable areas, such as a lakeside or a waterfront, avoiding the planning mistakes of the past.

The multifunctionality of urban infrastructure will meet various needs. For example, building facades will be used for solar energy production or as green walls to enhance thermal insulation. Wise management will not be confined to soil resources but will also extend to other natural resources such as water and air.

Hypothesis 2: Energy Balances

Figure #7: Hypothesis 2: Energy self-sufficient cities, also thanks to technologies developed for space exploration (image created with Midjourney)

Thanks to technological advancement and the introduction of new forms of zero-emission energy production, cities will reach a phase of balance in energy efficiency. Buildings will be designed and constructed with a focus on efficiency: there will be advanced systems for thermal insulation, LED lighting, sensors for automatic control of energy consumption, and intelligent energy management systems. The structures will utilize these new solutions not only for functional reasons but also for aesthetic and creative purposes, both internally and externally.

The experience of colonies on the Moon and Mars will provide valuable knowledge for the development of efficient urban models. Energy sources will progressively become distributed and decentralized, making the network stable and resilient. This is a fundamental process in a context where everything is regulated by tools and services related to electrical production. Traditional electrical networks will be transformed into intelligent energy networks (smart grids) that will optimize decentralized production centers with those of consumption and storage. Public lighting will be converted to low-energy consumption technologies and will constitute a necessary condition for supporting 24/7 activities.

As mentioned, the development of space colonies will allow for a substantial improvement in construction technologies. The focal point of this type of research will be Mars and its terraforming: challenges in this sector will attract the brightest minds from universities and research centers. This represents one of the many new forms of migration that will be woven into the global socio-economic fabric, now characterized by flows both internal and external to the terrestrial system.

Hypothesis 3: Mobility and Underground Development

Figure #8: Hypothesis 3: Thanks to the development of underground networks, the surface will remain for slow mobility and green spaces (image processed with Midjourney)

Human beings are nomadic animals: this genetic code will be confirmed with new nomadisms of a professional and recreational nature, supported by a widespread and reliable distribution of physical and digital communication pathways. Tourism will remain one of the main industries worldwide, but it will manifest with fluid characteristics and less distinct contours compared to Fordist and post-Fordist versions. Hybrids will develop between work time, leisure time, hobbies, vacations, and retirement.

Transport infrastructure will increasingly go underground: roads, highways, train networks, and subways will form the skeleton of cities below the surface. Functional spaces such as parking areas will also be progressively moved underground.

Spaces will be freed up to enjoy more green areas oriented towards slow mobility. Contrary to science fiction visions, there will not be a development of drones as a means of transport: this is a solution that poses safety issues and is subject to external conditions such as weather.

Internal flows, as well as those between adjoining agglomerations, will be ensured by underground high-speed transport networks. Medium-range networks of trains like Hyperloop will develop; air transport will guarantee movements between more distant agglomerations. Transport will have less distinct distinctions between public and private, thanks to hybrid forms of sharing that will offer, for example, subscriptions to networks of autonomous cars, associated with local, personalized transportation, as well as comprehensive transmodal subscriptions. It will be a model of rapid, frequent, and ecological hypermobility.

Thanks to the development of a 24/7 active society, no longer tied to day and night cycles or fixed office hours, commuter flows between residences and workplaces will be better distributed over twenty-four hours, greatly reducing problematic peaks tied to traditional cycles, fundamentally inherited from industrial societies.

Hypothesis 4: Museification of Historic Centers and Dynamism of the Urban Belt

Figure #9: Hypothesis 4: preserved historic centers, suburbs built with densified vertical buildings, interconnected with green areas and gentle mobility at various stratified levels; diluted and wasted spaces are less present, there are climate-controlled areas thanks to domes (image created with Midjourney)

The historic centers of cities will experience almost exclusively underground development. On the surface, there will be a preference for the conservative restoration of buildings, making the city center a historical testimony of the past, akin to a widespread museum.

The main transformations will occur in the first urban belt: existing buildings will be replaced with quality urban elements, progressively densified and developed vertically. In the peripheral areas, network development will not only occur underground but also on the upper floors of skyscrapers, connected by bridges that will facilitate multi-level and stratified transportation.

Residential areas will be more tied to urban characteristics, less to diluted and diffuse spaces around city centers. Thanks to the presence of green spaces at various vertical levels, the division between built spaces and natural spaces will be less sharp. This will make residential areas very welcoming from a social point of view: pedestrians will no longer be confined to small sidewalks. The wise use of land resources will lead to interconnected ecological quality islands, recovering spaces previously sacrificed, such as enclosed and channeled waterways.

To ensure accessible spaces regardless of weather conditions (harsh winters, summer heatwaves, rain), cities will develop extensive coverings to create microclimates, for leisure purposes or controlled ecological niches. On the climate theme, with particular attention to climate changes, cities' responses will be differentiated, depending on locally diversified impacts: some regions may face significant challenges, others without relevant changes, and others with potential benefits, such as desert areas experiencing more precipitation. Experiences gained from projects like the Eden Project (www.edenproject.com) and space exploration will enable the development of energy-efficient and autonomous structures.

Industrial areas will be built with quality materials, not necessarily in urban areas. The industries that remain in the agglomerations will align with the city's identity: they will no longer be anonymous polluted areas leading to segregation. Decommissioned industrial zones, as well as extensive logistical or transport support areas, will be dismantled, creating green areas in direct contact with densified areas.

Agricultural spaces will be different and increasingly integrated into agglomerations, significantly reducing their ecological footprint. Crops will be de-seasonalized and densified, thanks to the development of biotechnology and the creation of vertical farms. Livestock will be reduced, replaced by cell-based meat (cultured meat). Here too, space exploration will allow a significant leap in knowledge and materials used, substantially reducing the space needed to sustain the population, despite demographic growth and concentration.

Hypothesis 5: Social Relationships, Smart Squares, and City-States

Figure #10: Hypothesis 5: Central and artistically crafted squares, places of socialization (image created with Midjourney)

At the urban level, the trend will be characterized by a population growth that will continue even after the stabilization of the global population; the growth of average income will also be confirmed, a fact that will affect some fundamental characteristics of public spaces: more resources will be invested in convivial and artistically quality spaces. With the progressive shift of support areas underground, the concept of the square, a place of exchange, meeting, and dialogue, will regain relevance; leisure and cultural consumption will be more pervasive.

In these smart cities, technology will be a constant support to improve the quality of life of citizens, increase the efficiency of services, and promote sustainability. Thanks to the integration of artificial intelligence and the network development of objects (Internet of Things IoT), real-time data will be collected and processed to improve the management of resources and services, such as traffic, lighting, water, and electricity distribution networks. Many household appliances will evolve in functionality, making them independent of their owners and supporting their daily activities. Overall, technologies will be everywhere but little visible thanks to their miniaturization.

Phenomena of social self-segregation will still be readable in urban landscapes but will have a more commercial character, promoting the canonical brands such as China Town, Little Italy, etc. Migrations will indeed change their fundamental characteristics: they will generally no longer be mass movements due to major crises but rather individual choices, more frequent and of variable duration.

Cities will become privileged exchange places for new populations of nomads; borders will play an increasingly secondary role in this sense, the result of the growing importance of cities and states that will no longer be able to pose as central references of world geopolitics. Linguistic misunderstandings will be secondary, thanks to simultaneous translators associated with integrated devices accompanying citizens. Narratives related to nation, religion, or race, typical of the twentieth century, will be forgotten even by right-wing parties, considering the diluted and interconnected characters of urban communities. The concept of real estate ownership will be less clear: modular co-ownership models that support residence distributed in different places will indeed be established.

Many administrative activities will be delegated from the State to the City. To cope with the increase in complexity, privatization and outsourcing will proceed. Smart cities will promote local participatory governance, stimulating citizens' direct action in planning and managing public activities. Through digital platforms and engagement tools, citizens will provide feedback and contribute to improving the neighborhood and city.

Discreet difficulties will be present in increasingly complex and stratified urban fabrics. Tangible discomforts will be less frequent, with pockets of poverty, exclusion, and self-exclusion. Intangible ones will grow, linked, for example, to mental health, suicides, excessive social control, and Kafkaesque control by the State.

Crime will take on different characteristics, becoming less circumscribed and less linked to violent actions. Organized crime will continue to be a concern on a global scale, with criminal groups engaged in drug trafficking, arms, and other illegal activities. With the advent of technology and global interconnection, cybercrime will be the increasingly relevant challenge. Activities such as identity theft, phishing, hacking, spreading malware, and other forms of cybercrime will be widespread and managed in relation to organized crime.

The incremental evolution of robotics and artificial intelligence will lead to a redistribution of work different from that matured in industrial societies. In particular, a minimum income for citizenship will be introduced, which will allow more frequent enjoyment of quality urban spaces.

Hypothesis 6: Interconnected and Stratified Volumes

Figure #11: Hypothesis 6: bold skylines with materials that allow elaborate constructions, no longer just parallelepipeds, buildings that will feature interconnections at various heights (image created with Midjourney)

Materials and construction techniques will allow the development of increasingly sophisticated volumes and solutions, creating ever more daring skylines. Skyscrapers will no longer be simple parallelepipeds but will take on different and new shapes, possibly featuring interconnections with other architectures and existing external elements. This is not just the result of the introduction of new materials and building techniques, but also of the densification process, which will gradually shift the focus from the individual building to the complex that brings them together. Architectures will emancipate themselves from the characteristics of a specific building culture: local materials and traditions will no longer be a tangible aspect, except in historic centers. Vertical development, starting from the underground, will progressively colonize aerial spaces, taking on over time a character of a stratified cluster with overlapping neighborhoods.

Mobility will become slower and... increasingly faster. On the surface, green and quality areas will form the backbone of slow mobility. Simultaneously, underground will see the development of a high-speed interconnection network allowing rapid and frequent movements, supported by an efficient and intermodal air transport network.

Interconnected cities will grow in symbiosis, developing high-speed underground arteries or air corridors where distance is more significant. Connections to orbital stations and colonies on the Moon and Mars will be located so as not to interfere with urban flows.

Decentralized urban spaces and less dense areas will not be able to meet the growing and diversified needs of the population and will consequently suffer a significant demographic decline.

From Hypotheses to Glimpses of the Future

After outlining some hypotheses that describe the urban landscape of a European city in the 22nd century, it is possible to launch previews with the eyes of AI systems.

The first tool used to process glimpses into the future is ChatGPT-4.0 from Openai.com. The chatbot helps facilitate the transition between the hypotheses and the graphical representation of urban landscapes, finalized by a second AI tool, Midjourney.

The first step in this process required training for OpenAi's system to instruct the chat on the creation of images in Midjourney. Once a handbook on processing the prompts was inserted, ChatGPT was able to transform the hypotheses into texts to be submitted to Midjourney. Below are some images that are the fruit of this working model depicting the city of Lugano, Switzerland:

Figure #12: Images created with Midjourney

Midjourney prompt Example

Cinematic high-definition hyper realistic photograph of Lugano, Switzerland in 2125, with its authentic topography::4; Monte San Salvatore in the backdrop::2; densely vertical city, integrating office, residential and commercial areas; verdant parks and green zones bridging various sectors; absence of roads, parking lots and logistical surfaces; audacious buildings interconnected at multiple levels; citizens promenading on aerial paths; traditional city core enclosed by towering skyscrapers; rooftop gardens providing contrast to steel and glass structures; enclosed domes and central artistic squares; skyline showcasing daring, innovative constructions, towering skyscrapers with intricate architectural designs, buildings featuring interconnections at varied heights, Captured with Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens at 35mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1/200s --ar 16:9 --iw 1.9

Overall, the results are satisfactory, although it remains difficult to maintain the realism of the landscapes and the topographic elements that characterize them. While it is true that the systems synthesize the general peculiarities (sea, lake, type of relief, etc.), it is also true that the result is not optimal, or at least not yet. On this front, the next versions of the systems will certainly be able to produce better results.

In addition to Midjourney, two other AI image creation tools were tested: Microsoft Bing Image Creator, based on DALL-E (https://www.bing.com), and LeonardoAI (https://leonardo.ai). In both cases, the results were inferior to what was produced by the first system.

It is also important to underline that the images do not express particular sensitivities related to the perception of the landscape or the construction culture (Baukultur): urban policies in different countries have adopted conservative approaches, while others leave more room for innovation and the introduction of discordant elements. This is a field where subjective values come into play, and they will likely follow an evolutionary trajectory in symbiosis with the evolution of society.

Conclusion: Predicting is Easy!

Forecasting the state of modern civilization for generations or centuries to come remains an impossible exercise. Even relatively near-term forecasts are bound to fail: no matter how assiduously assembled, a 2018 construct of the world as it might be in 2100 would be, almost certainly, even more misleading than the construct of the year 2018 made in 1936. Smil, Vaclav. Growth: From Microorganisms to Megacities. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2019.

Figure #13: Future city (image created with Midjourney)

Predicting futures is easy. Whether they then come true is a whole other story. Starting from the trends of the last century, it is certainly possible to venture hypotheses, some of which may likely translate, at least partially, into reality. But as noted by Vaclav Smil, a prediction made in 2018 for 2100 will be at least as wrong as a prediction made in 1936 for 2018.

Predicting how the life of the individual and the community will be configured in a century is not easy. Too many variables, too complex the industrious interweaving of the human species. Not surprisingly, the debate is very heated around studies on the future, balanced between scientific discipline and artistic expression. Many factors interact, as there are many leaps caused by disruptive technologies that will unexpectedly change the social and economic fabric of human communities. Just think about how urban spaces were articulated a century ago and keep in mind that changes do not seem destined to slow down; quite the contrary, it is plausible to expect that cities, in a century, will be very different from how we know them today.

The scenarios are numerous and diversified, and they foreshadow catastrophic situations alternating with idyllic visions. As many authors have noted, it is likely that the future will continue with the positive trends that have manifested in the last century. Despite the pervasive pessimism in the media, it is important to emphasize that the main global indicators are positive, a fact that is not to be taken for granted and that rewards the work carried out in many critical sectors. Rational optimism, to borrow the term used by Matt Ridley; the apocaholics exploit and profit from the natural pessimism of human nature, from the reactionary hidden in each one of us. For 200 years the pessimists have always been on the front page, even though the optimists have been right far more often. Doom-mongers are glorified, heaped with honors, rarely questioned, and even more rarely held to account for their past mistakes (Ridley 2014).

Would there be other scenarios to hypothesize? Certainly: one could, for example, consider a decrease in the attractiveness of city centers, although unlikely. Then there are scenarios that articulate modular developments, with sustainable cities or neighborhoods separated from problematic and self-managed urban areas; or the development of private cities, already present today in an embryonic way with projects promoted by eccentric billionaires (Snailbrook and Texas Utopia by Elon Musk) or by multinational corporations (Disney Downtown).

The imaginary urban planning of the city of the future is an open and elusive theme. In this context, increasingly high-performing representation tools allow for a clearer delineation of the objectives that public policies should set in the long term and the investments they will require in the coming decades. Ambitious visions that must not be limited to solving specific problems but aspire to have impacts in the centuries to come, also thanks to the pervasive use of new technologies, such as AI, and the consequent intelligent explosion predicted by Irving Good as far back as 1965.

Roland Hochstrasser, geographer August 2023

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