In a world where the POTUS and Mega Millions jackpots are larger than life and continually changing, being able to predict the immediate future seems preposterous. So, to be able to foresee how an entire industry and the professionals in it will progress over the next decade? Maybe pointless. Yet prognosticating about the imminent years ahead for the design and construction industry, may be the only best way to prepare for, experience, and positively influence the A/E’s future.

Let’s first look at the world—both the U.S. and globally—that architecture, engineering and environmental consulting professional will support with their work by the year 2030. The United States’ diverse population is a globally connected minority population who live online. They shed their heavy laptop computers, tablets, and cell phones as their clothes and trendy accessories link them effortlessly and continuously to the Internet. And the data generated with incessant interaction (that they may or may not be aware of) will lead to intuitive supercomputers with algorithms that learn and anticipate your every need and want.

Demographics
What can we expect in 2030 when it comes to population, age, and diversity? First, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs predicts the world population to reach 8.6 billion by 2030—a quick billion people added globally.

Today, India and China hold nearly 40 percent of the total world population. By 2024, India will surpass China as the world’s largest population center. The UN also reports that the fastest population growth will be in the world’s least developed countries (LDC). The combined population of the LDCs, roughly one billion in 2017, will increase by a third by 2030.

The U.S. will mark several milestones of its own by 2030. The U.S. Census Bureau says all baby boomers—accounting for about 20 percent of the population—will be over 65 by the end of the next decade. The aging of baby boomers means older people will outnumber children for the first time in U.S. history, says Jonathan Vespa, a demographer with the bureau. “By 2035, there will be 78.0 million people 65 years and older compared to 76.7 million under the age of 18.”

The U.S. population will grow at a...

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