Incredible urban designs for the future – OZY

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Friday 13th August 2021

This week’s UN report on our planet’s warming made it clearer than ever: Our world is getting warmer. What is equally obvious is that our cities will be forced to play an important role in the struggle to curb global warming.

While (perhaps naively) I envision a future for my hometown Los Angeles that is efficient, sustainable and fair, today’s Daily Dose dives into cities that are already models for the future of urban design when it comes to energy consumption. , equal access to green space and public safety. Read on for a taste of what the urban utopias of tomorrow might look like.

Liam Jamieson, OZY reporter

hong kong: reinventing the use of energy 1. Keep calm as the globe heats up

Air conditioning may not be all that great. Energy-intensive alternating current is used extensively in glass skyscrapers that trap heat. In Hong Kong, the air conditioning in the 118-story ICC skyscraper accounts for a whopping 70% of the buildings’ total energy. Ouch. As urbanization increases and the available land on which to expand decreases, cities are forced to build rather than move out, underscoring a future dependent on towering structures. As global temperatures rise, demand for cooler air will also rise, and experts predict that global AC power consumption will triple by 2050.

2. Sustainability of the skyscraper

Home to more than 1,500 skyscrapers, most of any city, plus some 8,000 skyscrapers, Hong Kong’s 42,000 total buildings use up to 90% of the city’s electricity and emit 60% of its greenhouse gases. But in line with the city’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, innovators are looking for ways to reduce energy consumption. One approach: transform skyscrapers into smart buildings with high-tech centralized building management systems. The 48-story One Taikoo Place, one of the city’s highest-rated green buildings, is paving the way for energy-efficient skyscrapers with different approaches: an AI-powered system called Neuron that predicts the needs of air conditioning and heating in the city. buildings; the installation of energy efficient AC fans called EC plug fans; and a heating / cooling system that runs on biodiesel generated from used cooking oil collected from the buildings’ restaurants.

3. A greener future

One Taikoo Place is reaping the rewards of its green innovations. Completed in 2018, its power consumption is now nearly 30% lower than a standard Hong Kong office skyscraper. The Neurons AC system saves nearly $ 400,000 annually on electricity, and EC plug fans are reducing power consumption by up to 30%. With the undeniable long-term benefits of investing in sustainable energy, buildings like One Taikoo Place are setting a precedent for a growing global trend of smart buildings.

Ford Motor Company has been helping Americans hit open roads for 118 years, creating some of the most iconic vehicles ever made. Next one? Electrification! Whether it’s the adrenaline-charged Mustang Mach-E or the American workhorse, the F-150 Lightning, Ford is bringing electric vehicles to the mainstream.

Washington, DC: equality through parks 1. Park problems

Green spaces are a crucial part of urban life. They keep cities cooler, improve air quality, encourage recreation, and provide comfort from busy streets – all of which are essential for physical and mental health. But green spaces are not within everyone’s reach, especially those who live in densely populated buildings without courtyards. In cities around the world, access to parks and green spaces is largely unequal; residents of richer neighborhoods have far more opportunities to experience the benefits of parks than those living in poorer areas. We must evaluate access to parks and green spaces as fundamental to the health and well-being of all equally, Dartmouth College professor and sustainability architect Karolina Kawiaka tells OZY.

2. Bridging a divided city

Lack of access to green space is also a problem in the capital of the Americas. Washington, DC, historically, the Black Anacostia neighborhood has been cut off from much of the rest of the city by the pollution-spewing Interstate 295 highway running through the community. But the change is taking place, thanks to a project implemented by local leaders. 11th Street Bridge Park, a redesign of the underserved area, is a 7-acre elevated green space that will boast a rain garden, boat rentals, and an environmental education center. Opened in 2023, the bridge park will connect communities on both sides of the river, fostering equal access to green space and economic growth.

3. Lasting equality

Fancy new parks have been built alongside disadvantaged communities before, but they tend to usher in higher house prices and new developments, also known as green gentrification, at the expense of the very communities they were supposed to serve. So how do local leaders ensure that this doesn’t happen in Anacostia? To put it simply: community involvement. Dialogue between park planners and local groups enabled residents to express their needs, leading to more than $ 60 million invested in fair community strategies. These strategies include helping families buy homes, providing construction training for local workers, administering loans to local businesses, and providing pandemic relief funds. The lesson: Community involvement is key to providing equal access to green space.

Today on “The Carlos Watson Show”

You may know iconic actor Sean Penn for his Oscar-winning roles in films like Mystic River and Milk, but do you know how he’s revolutionizing the service world? Today, the change actor discusses his organizations’ involvement in the distribution of COVID vaccines, why we need a moratorium on technology and how we need to reform our views on serving citizens.

1. The rise of the automobile city

Following the invention of the automobile, cities quickly adapted to car-centered urban planning with multi-lane roads, complex motorway networks and large parking lots. But this change in urban design comes at a cost: the safety of those who prefer to embrace the tradition of traveling on foot or by bicycle. The United States has faced staggering rates of traffic-related deaths in cities like Los Angeles, the deadliest city in the country for walkers, and New York City, which saw a 58% increase in pedestrian deaths in the early four months of 2021 compared to the same period of 2020. But this global problem disproportionately affects the poor, from bustling Bangkok to small towns in Romania. Can urban planning turn the tide to focus on humans rather than cars?

2. A Nordic solution

Norway’s capital Oslo may have found the solution to this deadly problem. In 2002, Norway adopted Vision Zero, a project initially launched in Sweden in the 1990s that considers it unethical to accept death as an externality of road traffic and aims to eliminate fatalities and reduce the number of cars on the road. Additionally, Oslo has implemented extensive road safety initiatives since 2015 to pedestrianize the city. These efforts included reducing street parking to encourage residents to use public transportation, installing road bumps and redesigning intersections to slow cars, adding more cycle lanes and walkways separated from roads, and creation of car-free roads in urban centers and around primary schools. It’s not rocket science, but it takes political will to bring about changes that keep people safe while still providing plenty of mobility, founder and director of the US-based Vision Zero Network, Leah Shahum, told OZY.

3. Lifesaving results

Prior to the introduction of security measures in Oslo, which has about the same population as Portland, Oregon, annual fatalities were common, with 116 serious injuries and five deaths in 2015. But after the changes, the city has seen impressive results. In 2019, Oslo recorded zero deaths of pedestrians and cyclists and only one death from road accidents. Although urban upgrades met with opposition, some feared that reducing the number of cars on the road would stifle local trade, car-free roads have actually stimulated the economy of city centers, and having fewer vehicles on the roads led to a reduction in traffic. carbon emissions. As the pandemic shed light on city dwellers’ love for car-free urban spaces, Oslo’s simple and effective innovations can serve as a model for car-crazed countries like the United States to bring back more car-focused urban projects. man? US communities have been designed and run for far too long in a way that prioritizes speed over safety, says Shahum. We can and must reverse the situation if we were seriously concerned with security.

Mexico City of the future1. Boot city

As the world population grows, more and more people flock to cities. To accommodate the influx of residents, urban spaces must transform and adapt through massive infrastructure projects and renovations. But what if we create new cities from scratch? With an additional 2.5 billion people expected to join the global urban population over the next three decades, building cities from scratch will not only be cheaper and easier than modernizing existing ones, it will be a necessity. It is already happening in places like Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka, where developers have wasted no time drawing up blueprints and opening land on empty areas of land for major planned cities – ready-made, high-tech metropolises with economies. thriving.

2. An environmental Eldorado?

But how to ensure that a future city doesn’t become just another megacity that sucks energy and pollutes carbon? The Smart Forest City project by Italian architect Stefano Boeris could have the answer. The city of Boeris, designed for the tourist destination of Cancun, Mexico, aims to house up to 130,000 residents in an eco-friendly design of 557 hectares. Part city, part botanical garden, Smart Forest City will contain 7.5 million plants of 400 species that will absorb 116,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year; be completely self-sufficient in terms of food and energy; and hosts a high-tech innovation campus dedicated to addressing climate change and improving sustainability.

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