The mass production of affordable automobiles is perhaps one of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century.

And due to that, many modern cities have been designed under the assumption that cars are a necessity and almost require residents to own vehicles to get around.

Joichi Ito, director of the MIT Media Lab, believes that such "zoned" cities are unsustainable. With more technological development — including shared, compact electric vehicles and affordable, "transformable" apartments — future cities will have a higher density of people while creating healthier ecosystems, he said.