Citizen One: Our Cities, Ourselves, and Our Uncertain Yet Extraordinary Future

Together, we must design more resilient cities where future generations can thrive.

What makes a city smart? Many think it's just sensors or AI-powered tech. But tomorrow's cities must offer more than infrastructure and innovation--they must make space for people to live fully, show up as themselves, shape the city's evolving soul, and provide equitable spaces that adapt to climate change. To fulfill this vision, we must all become citizens "one"--not as one person, but as a movement for collective transformation in an uncertain, extraordinary future.

Citizen One is Douglas Stuart McDaniel's bold dispatch from the edge of that future: a raw account of four years inside NEOM, Saudi Arabia's ambitious and controversial vision for urban living.

Drawing on McDaniel's journey through ancient ruins, high-tech labs, and think tanks, this book weaves personal narrative with hard-won insight into urban innovation, digital infrastructure, AI, climate resilience, and the ethics of city-making. Through interviews with architects, city scientists, futurists, and storytellers, Citizen One explores the radical--and risky--choices shaping the cities of tomorrow.