How will we live in 2050

Every two years, the Futuribles International association publishes a report reserved principally for its partner members, which is either a summary of the studies it has carried out over the two preceding years in the form of a general conspectus of major and emergent trends identified, or an analytical study on a theme judged to be of strategic significance. The 2018 edition of this report was published this summer and is entitled How Will We Live? 20 Questions for 2050. The 20 questions it raises aim to enlighten the reader on the major issues that will face individuals and society up to that time horizon, and to discern a number of possible courses of development. Using these 20 questions, four scenarios were developed to show the range of possibilities: a scenario in which the dynamic of individualization is reinforced; a scenario of a “heavily monitored society”; a scenario in which society is in the grip of technology (automation etc.); and, lastly, a scenario in which society is organized by personal affinities rather than territorial logics. Cecile Desaunay and Francois de Jouvenel, who coordinated the production of the 2018 Vigie Report, outline these four scenarios, which are the products of collective work carried out at Futuribles."