It is the year 2043. Sydney's skyline is a sea of green vertical gardens, aquaculture farms line the city's waterways and the Harbour Bridge is one giant solar panel, with large hanging "scoops" to catch rainwater.

The hypothetical scene is what Professor Brendan Gleeson imagined of a future Sydney, in collaboration with the launch of the new television series 12 Monkeys.

"These are just examples of the imaginative leaps we are going to have to make in rethinking the entire way our cities are constructed and inhabited," said Professor Gleeson, foundation director of the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute.