The future city, like the future home looks much the same as it always did. The idea is not only abstract and generic but also old. A key feature of futurism is nostalgia and current futurism is nostalgic for the 1950s, a period when potentially unlimited opportunities – in employment, education, public life and private life – opened up for women and were simultaneously shut down. By highlighting the regressive re-sexing of otherwise sterile and egalitarian environments I draw attention to, and expose a number of other false or questionable claims concerning: artificial intelligence; transparency; openness; efficiency; security; autonomy and sustainability. To what extent is the technology of the future all about comfort, care and convenience – and whose comfort, care and convenience are we talking about? Finally, what are the opportunities for intervention when smart means dumb, sterile is sexist and openness is a form of enclosure?