What cities will look like in five years

The second prediction anticipates buildings with sense-and-response systems. "In the future, the technology that manages facilities will operate in like a living organism that can sense and respond quickly in order to protect citizens, save resources and reduce carbon emissions," IBM states.

Buildings can become a type of live infrastructure and smarter about how it leverages its own systems by co-ordinating information from heating, water, sewage, electricity and security systems, explained Campbell. "As we go forward, now that these systems are online, we can actually have [them] share information and track information regarding the usage patterns of its occupants," he said.

A third prediction sees vehicles that "run on new battery technology that won't need to be recharged for days or months at a time, depending on how often you drive. Smart grids in cities could enable cars to be charged in public places and use renewable energy, such as wind power, for charging."

In general, battery life improves at a rate of eight per cent per year, but IBM is anticipating a big change in battery storage capacities, noted Campbell. IBM is also looking at ways of using wind and solar power to charge batteries so vehicles operate cleanly in the environment, he said.

Another prediction involves cities installing smarter water systems to reduce water waste by up to 50 per cent and smart sewer systems that not only prevent run-off pollution in rivers and lakes, but purify water to make it drinkable.