In 1898, a Global Urbanization Conference was held in New York. The motive was to plan for the urban centers of the world. The biggest point of discussion there was on how to get rid of Horse Manure from the cities, yes you read it right, Horse Dung. In fact, it was estimated that if civic authorities don’t take any action soon, within 50 years London would be buried under about 9 feet of Horse Dung.
Just few years later, automobiles became prevalent.
The future will always be uncertain. Immediate issues of contention might not be relevant in the future. So, unless the future danger is very real like Climate Change, very long term thinking might not be fruitful to anyone.
Sources:
- https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-first-global-urban-planning-conference-was-mostly-about-manure
- https://youtu.be/dlKCYi5szWo