**3.1 Synthesis of the past, analysis of the present, projection of the future**

Proposing a probable future is very risky if the necessary evidence is not available; therefore, the theories of the future put forward by the researchers Jim Dator [19] Nikolai Kardashev [20] and Sohail Inayatullah [6] are considered as a starting hypothesis in the present research.

Jim Dator in his studies of the future proposes a foresight model (see **Figure 1**) in which it is observed that social change can be classified into four recurring groups of images, stories or policies about the effects of social change, and the trend indicates the following:

*Morphological Evolution of Single-Family Dwellings: A Prospective towards 2100 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108521*

**Figure 1.** *The four Dator futures, growth-based alternative scenarios (GBAS).*


Nikolai Kardashev proposes three types of civilisations on a scale that can be quantified in units of power (watts) and represented on an increasing logarithmic scale. **Figure 2** illustrates the types of civilisations per the proposed scale.

Sohail Inayatullah mentions that at the macro-global level, there are many images of the future; however, there are five archetypal ones;

**Figure 2.** *Type of civilisations per the Nikolai Kardashev scale.*


Organising the above scenarios around the architectural field, four hypothetical futures are proposed, through which the present morphological study revolves, as shown in **Table 1**:



## **Table 1.**

*Hypothetical Futures described from the visions of Sohail Inayatullah, Jim Datos and Nikolai Kardashev.*

Once the hypothetical futures have been established, the methodology of the six pillars described above is applied, in each of which the evidence validating each proposed scenario is examined in depth, the results obtained in each step are set out below:
