In collaboration with Panos Pictures and the World Photography Organisation, the nine-month social documentary initiative, #FutureofCities, launches today under Sony's Global Imaging Ambassadors programme. With over a dozen photo commissions, this project explores how cities around the world are evolving and coping with the large-scale migrations of people from suburban and rural areas into urban environments. Primary areas for reporting include China, the United States, United Kingdom, Mexico and Brazil, with additional stories from Africa, Asia and Northern Europe. The initiative will also call on non-Panos photographers to participate from within the Sony and WPO communities, as well as encourage the general public to post their own photos on social media responding to the brief by tagging #FutureofCities. Click through / scroll down for more information.

Sony Press Release

Sony’s Global Imaging Ambassadors launch #FutureofCities

October 2014 – In collaboration with Panos Pictures and the World Photography Organisation (WPO), the nine-month social documentary initiative, #FutureofCities, launches today under Sony's Global Imaging Ambassadors program.

With over a dozen photo commissions, this project explores how cities around the world are evolving and coping with the large-scale migrations of people from suburban and rural areas into urban environments.

Seventy-five percent of the global population is projected to be living in cities by the middle of this century. Panos photographers have begun examining this change through topics such as urban farming, eco-housing, technological innovations, elastic environments, children at play, green spaces, economic divides and much more.

Primary areas for reporting include China, the United States, United Kingdom, Mexico and Brazil, with additional stories from Africa, Asia and Northern Europe. The initiative will also call on non-Panos photographers to participate from within Sony and WPO communities, as well as encourage the general public to post their own photos on social media responding to the brief by tagging #FutureofCities.

Adrian Evans, Director of Panos Pictures comments, “What makes this project so exciting is that it has a broad appeal; so many people can relate to the importance of the topic.  With more than half the world's population already living in cities, we are all aware of the joys and challenges associated with urban living. Indeed, most of us have formed our own ideas of what we want our cities to be like in the future. Sony has once again provided Panos photographers with the latest in digital camera technology to enable them to visually explore the issues and bring the # FutureofCities project to life.”

#FutureofCities is the first major, long-term campaign launched by Sony’s Global Imaging Ambassadors and follows recent projects, such as William Klein’s “Brooklyn” and Zackary Canepari’s “Tudo Bom?!”. Launched in 2013, Sony’s ambassador program is rooted in visual storytelling and supports photographers with pioneering photographic equipment in producing beautiful imagery.

The three first #FutureofCities projects will be:

Adam Dean: Beijing Subway. Week of October 13th
The Beijing subway is the second largest metro system in the world with 465 kilometers of track servicing the vast urban and suburban area of Beijing municipality. Opened in 1969, it now consists of 17 lines with more than 232 stations and an average of 9.5 million daily commuters.

Abbie Trayler-Smith: London Honey. Week of October 20th
The number of beehives kept in some of the world's most populous cities has been rising steadily over recent years with urban beekeepers housing their colonies on rooftops of houses and commercial buildings, in public parks and allotments and on top of some of the most famous landmarks

Carolyn Drake: L.A. River.
Week of October 27th
The city of Los Angeles plans to restore the Los Angeles River channel - formerly an industrial wasteland - with up to $1 billion in state, local, and federal money, improving the ecology of the river and making it an attractive environment for residents and visitors. But these changes are expected to lead to billions more in commercial and residential development.

Keep up with #FutureofCities via Instagram, Twitter and Facebook

See full galleries at imagingambassadors.sony.net

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