Sit back and imagine.

When you think about what the city of the future will look like, what exactly comes to mind?

What's the first thing that you see?

What do you hope to experience?

Who's going to be there?

And how will they live?

For many of us, the vision of what's to come has been shaped by Hollywood movies.

A new life away to you in the all-world color. The chance to begin again.

Just think about the rain-soaked depressive world that was depicted in the classic 1980s film, Blade Runner.

These giant airships float overhead, projecting giant advertisements, promising escape from a desolate planet Earth.

The masses crowd into filthy streets, while the rich hide in these enormous period-shaped skyscrapers.

I was in high school when the movie came out, and I'm sure like you, I really didn't raid much into the messages and movies back then.

But now, years later, I see Blade Runner plays on American anxieties about the rising power of Japan.

The signs are in Japanese, not English.

Harrison Ford's character even has trouble ordering dinner from an outdoor food stall.

No, Ford, 2, two, four.

But not every vision of the future city is as depressing as Blade Runner.

Do you remember Stephen Spielberg's 2002 film Minority Report?

Well, things look much different there.

Their city of the future is bright and sunny and happy.

The whole place looks like a futuristic shopping mall, and for good reason.

Thanks to retinal scanners and artificial intelligence, the advertisements, they already know who you are.

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