With this sort of amenity-rich cocoon, there is a relentless focus on the object, absent of any context or community. The future of mobility is assumed to be car-dependent, while a vision based more on public transportation is thought to be old-fashioned. But isn’t planning for the car the thing that is most out of date?

Even before COVID-19, many parts of the manufacturing industry were experiencing detrimental labor shortages. The use of automation and other systems that allow for distributed manufacturing would permit greater flexibility in where manufacturing sites were located.