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At a recent ULI Chicago event, speakers addressed the disruptive technologies that are having an impact on today’s lifestyles and shaping our vision of the future city. What is a reasonable projection of the near future in real estate, and which investments will enable the industry to profit and cities to prosper? Panelists asked whether current trends are pointing us toward a leisure city, a green city, a dystopia, or something in between.

Last December, car-sharing giant Uber abruptly loaded its prototype autonomous cars onto a trailer and moved its program from California to Arizona after a dispute with state regulators. If nothing else, the potential conflict over autonomous vehicles in California is a reminder that many complicated hurdles need to be cleared before the much-discussed takeover of autonomous cars. Communities and legislators are wrestling with the realities of regulating and creating infrastructure, even though it remains unclear what role driverless vehicles will play in future mobility.

ULI Minnesota has launched the Healthy Communities Initiative, which proposes an ambitious capital improvement program for turning proposed freeway lids along the I-94 corridor into places that re-establish neighborhood connectivity, create economic opportunities for residents, and make new land available for civic and commercial uses.

The latest survey of U.S. real estate economists showed a marked increase in expected economic measures, most likely due to federal proposals to reform the tax code, reduce regulatory burdens, and invest in infrastructure. Compared with the same survey from six months ago, real estate economists have higher expectations about gross domestic product (GDP) growth, employment growth, and housing starts.

While the growth of e-commerce and the shifting needs for open and smaller office spaces are having a marginal impact, most of these disruptive forces are still years away from having a substantive negative impact on the retail, office, and other industry sectors, said panelists discussing the latest ULI Real Estate Consensus Forecast during a webinar.

Most migrants to Europe are clustering in cities, a new study finds, compounding the challenge of rising rents with encouraging integration of new residents and preserving a healthy socioeconomic environment. The new ULI report, Mass Migration and Real Estate in European Cities, was released at ULI Germany’s Urban Leader Summit.

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Premiering this week, Light City Baltimore is the first large-scale, international “light festival” in the United States. Similar festivals have been held in Berlin, Singapore, Rio de Janeiro, and Sydney, Australia. Light City Baltimore provides a backdrop for the celebration of ideas, ingenuity and creativity through art, music and innovation.

Local and regional transportation planners often consider two distinct options—people driving to and from work, or people using mass transit. But the rise of shared transportation modes is rapidly changing that by creating new options for commuters, according to panelists at a recent conference sponsored by the Eno Center for Transportation, a Washington-based nonprofit charitable foundation seeking improvement in transportation and its public and private leadership.

Joseph P. Riley Jr., who led the highly successful revitalization of Charleston, South Carolina, during his 40-year tenure as mayor, has agreed to serve as ULI’s first distinguished visiting fellow. As a distinguished visiting fellow, Riley will offer expertise for several of ULI’s areas of focus, including affordable and workforce housing, sustainable development, improving overall community livability, and public sector leadership in land use decision making.