We stand at an extraordinary inflection point in human history. Artificial Intelligence is rapidly advancing from narrow task-specific tools toward Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) — and beyond that, toward Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI). As this cognitive revolution accelerates, it is converging with a second transformation: the rise of robotics and autonomous systems that are reshaping the physical world.
Nowhere will this convergence be felt more profoundly than in our cities. Urban centres have long been organised around the logic of human labour — offices, transit systems, retail corridors, and civic spaces all designed around the rhythms of working life. As robotics automates not only factory floors but service industries, logistics, construction, healthcare, and beyond, we must ask a fundamental question:
What is the city for if not the worker?
About WRLDCTY
Steven Cornwell is the Global Director of ERA-co and a WRLDCTY Fellow, currently based in NYC. Prior to establishing ERA-co he was the CMO of publicly traded development company Howard Hughes Corporation and prior to this he was the CEO and Executive Creative Director of Cornwell Brand & Communications in Australia. Over the course of 20 years Steven has garnered an international reputation for developing leading brands from a broad range of sectors including real-estate, place, culture, consumer retail, media, transit & infrastructure and professional services.