William J. Mitchell, Professor of Architecture and Media Arts and Sciences at MIT, holds the Alexander W. Dreyfoos, Jr. (1954) Professorship and directs the Media Lab's Smart Cities research group. He was formerly Dean of the School of Architecture and Planning and Head of the Program in Media Arts and Sciences, both at MIT. He is author of the recent books Placing Words: Symbols, Space, and the City, City of Bits, E-topia, and ME++, all from the MIT Press. These books explore the new forms and functions of cities in the digital electronic era, and suggest design and planning directions for the future.