A glimpse into life in an Irish city in 2050

What will Irish cities look like in 2050? That is the question posed in a new three-part series on RTÉ1 next week.

Called Futureville Ireland, it airs on RTÉ1 on successive nights from Tuesday November 12 at 7pm, and offers a vision of a new Irish city a generation from now: How will it look? What will daily life be like here? What are the latest innovations from the Irish research community that will make it possible?

Athlone has been chosen as the place to be re-imagined for the series, as a near future metropolis, a capital of the midlands, and a new home for a quarter of a million people in 2050. This exciting transformation, built on Irish scientific research, could happen just as easily to any other Irish town or city such as Cork.

The first episode highlights the newest technologies that will enable our vision for this city of 250,000 people to become a reality.

It focuses on the housing and sustainable urban design of the future, how to bring new life to the main streets of our towns and cities, how robots will become an integral part of our daily lives at work and at home, the shopping experience of the future, and how breakthroughs in neural technology could benefit all of us.

A number of expert contributions are heard on different elements of the journey to creating this future city.

Orla Murphy, Assistant Professor at UCD School of Architecture, and architect Seán Harrington talk about the sustainable urban design and new building technologies that will help us build enough quality homes for everyone in ‘Futureville’.

Gerry Lacey, Professor of Engineering at Maynooth, explains how robots will become a key part of our daily lives, while Miriam Simon, consumer and retail expert, talks about the changing consumer experience, and Manus Biggs, Associate Professor in Biomedical Engineering, reveals how neural implants will become a key part of our treatment of brain disorders in the future. The episode also features a blend of Athlone residents – Leah Moloney and brothers Adam and Ross Mulvihill are desperate to move out of their family homes and find a place of their own; Rosie Boles, owner of Ireland’s oldest department store; Darren Magee, business owner, and ex-Dublin GAA star and Tadhg Kelleher – who provide insights into the daily lives, the challenges they face and their hopes for the future.

We also meet Megabyte, the robot pet of the future.

The series is presented by RTÉ’s Carla O’Brien (pictured on the cover of TV Week) and Dr Lorraine Mancey, of the UCD Innovation Academy.