Already half the world's population of 7 billion lives in cities. By 2050, 6.3 billion people will have been born in, or migrated to, urban areas -- primarily in the developing world, in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Citing research in Planet of Cities by Solly Angel on the incredible challenge of creating decent housing, author Anthony Flint, a fellow at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, looks to a master of modernism for inspiration: Le Corbusier, whose super-efficient apartment blocks -- largely disparaged today, and associated with urban renewal -- provide a blueprint for innovative design.

Anthony Flint is an author, fellow at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in Cambridge, MA and has been a journalist for twenty years, primarily at The Boston Globe, where he covered urban planning, development, architecture and transportation.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)