Future City Competition


The Future City Competition is an international engineering competition that focuses on improving students' math, engineering, and science skills. The program is open to middle school students who attend a public, private or home school, and to those attending high school. Each year, teams of five along with a mentor and a coach work to design a futuristic city aiming to mitigate the issues presented by that year's theme. Teams write an essay, develop an either real or virtual 3D model based on the competition type, and present their city to a panel of judges. The theme changes annually, with teams beginning city designs in September.
A program of the DiscoverE organization, Future City has been operating since 1992 and ran its 34th championship in 2025. Over 1,800 teams participated from 5 countries, encompassing more than 70,000 students. The 2025 season included regional competitions, with 46 Middle School teams and 20 High School teams advancing to the championships in Washington, D.C.

History

Future City was founded in 1992 in five cities and 200 students with the aim to provide an "exciting educational engineering program" for sixth, seventh and eighth grade students, combining a stimulating engineering challenge with an inquiry-based application to present their vision of a city of the future. The inaugural 1992 championships were held under Future City national director Carol Rieg during National Engineers Week in February, with inaugural winners Tilden Middle School going on to win a grant of $1,000 and meeting the President of the United States.
National championships have been held in the U.S. annually since 1992 and expanded to Egypt in 2008, China in 2015, Canada in 2016, and Nigeria in 2021. Future City also established pilot programs in Sweden and Japan.
In 2024, Future City expanded to high school students and ran its inaugural high school championships in 2025 with 20 teams.

Competition

As a competition, Future City has aligned itself with STEM-related national and state educational standards. There are two levels: regional competitions and the national finals for regional winners, the goal being to able to design a futuristic city and discuss its important elements: urban planning, zoning, transportation, energy, economy, environment, and education.

Components

Team members represent their ideas and proposals in several ways:
  • Essay about the yearly theme
  • A City Narrative discussing their city's attributes, features, and main concepts.
  • A Physical Model to show a physical representation of their city. The model is to consist of as many recycled materials as possible, and must cost less than 100 dollars.
  • Computer design using Sim City software.
  • Presentation to describe their city to the judges on the day of the competition.

    Awards and prizes

For middle school students, the prizes are as follows:
For high school students, the prizes are as follows:
  • 1st Place: A $20,000 cash prize and a $10,000 scholarship per student
  • 2nd Place: A $14,000 cash prize and a $7,500 scholarship per student
  • 3rd Place: A $7,000 cash prize and a $3,500 scholarship per student
  • Special Award Recipients: A $1,000 cash prize

    Media exposure

The Future City competition has been covered by multiple media publications, including Voice of America, the Washington Post, and ABC News. In 2008, total TV viewership peaked at 8 million, with Future City accounting for half of all publicity generated for Engineers' Week.
In 2024, a movie narrated by John Krasinski, "Cities of the Future," was released in theaters and centered around one Future City team.

Games