Abstract Streets today can be designed to form a sympathetic element of the hard landscape of a city, whilst at the same time playing an active part in the ecosystem of the city environment - reducing noise, absorbing noxious gases, and collecting and filtering run-off water. The future may see surfaces that are intelligent and can adapt to the particular needs of the environment. Over the coming decade Edinburgh's streets will become an open-air laboratory for some of the latest concepts in road engineering.