Peter Madden, CEO of Future Cities Catapult – the Government supported UK centre of excellence in urban innovation – is warning that UK cities are vulnerable to cyber-attacks, flooding, robots and far-right politicians.

Setting out his thoughts for urban innovation in 2017 in a HuffPost blog, in the context of ‘black swans’ - improbable but not impossible events – he asked whether 2017 could be the year when torrential rain causes billions of pounds of flood damage in the centre of a major city.

He also questioned if 2017 could be the year a major cyber-attack cripples the infrastructure and functioning of a leading UK city, or the year a populist far-right politician becomes mayor of a combined authority. This could even the year displaced workers take direct action against automation by destroying robots.

The Future Cities CEO went on to suggest that tackling inequality will be a greater focus for cities – a theme already identified in the elections of Sadiq Khan in London and Marvin Reese in Bristol.

Suspecting that financial constraints will bite hard in 2017 as local authorities adjust to further tightening, Peter Madden is questioning how cities will pay to get stuff done. Highlighting how pioneering cities are experimenting in how to decrease costs, earn money and attract investment, he has drawn attention to initiatives in Wolverhampton, Cheshire East and Aberdeen that demonstrate municipal entrepreneurialism.