Singapore - ERA-co, the strategic intelligence and placemaking advisory shaping the future of global cities, will headline WRLD CTY 2026 as the festival’s featured main stage partner, bringing this question to a global audience of city leaders, developers, and policymakers, hosting one of the event’s most anticipated debates: “Will Robotics Improve Our Cities — Or Make Them Redundant?”
Moderated by ERA-co Global Director Steven Cornwell, the session will explore a question that sits at the core of the next urban era: what is the city for, if not the worker?
“Cities have always been organised around human effort,” says Cornwell. “As machines begin to take on both physical and cognitive work, we are forced to confront a deeper question – not how cities function, but why they exist at all. This debate is about putting those futures into tension, in real time.”
The debate engages one of the most urgent questions facing developers, policymakers, investors, and urban leaders: how AI and automation will reshape the purpose of cities.
The session will bring together opposing perspectives:
• Hugo Lamb, Brand Experience (Melbourne), making the case that robotics will unlock more efficient, adaptive, and ultimately more human cities
• Alex Baum, Regional Director – EME & North America (New York), challenging whether automation will erode the economic and social foundations cities depend on
Additional voices will be introduced in the lead-up.
ERA-co’s presence at WRLD CTY 2026 reinforces its role in shaping how cities evolve at a moment of profound transition.
Attendees are invited to join the session live and explore ERA-co’s latest thinking on the future of urban life in the age of intelligent machines.
For more information about ERA-co visit www.era-co.com. ERA-co is part of the 7C Network.
About ERA-co
ERA-co is a global place consultancy partnering with ambitious leaders to shape high-performing places — from workplaces to large-scale urban masterplans. Operating at the intersection of creativity, commercial strategy and urbanism, we develop the vision, positioning and experience frameworks that guide development and unlock long-term social and economic value. We believe place is one of the most powerful levers for advancing human potential and driving sustainable growth. Part of the 7C network.
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