What is the role of transportation in future smart cities?
Exploring depictions of transportation systems in smart cities
I was really inspired by the drawings in Space Settlements as well as the architectural plans created for the Quayside project by Sidewalk Labs. The drawings, despite their functional limitations, serve as a source of inspiration for technologists, designers, urban planners, and policy makers who work together to build their vision of the future.
I also looked at the film 2046 by Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai. This film is filled with beautiful imagery and cinematography. Its visuals are absolutely stunning. Saturated reds, blacks, and greens juxtaposed with neon hues create a very decadent and ethereal landscape of the future.
In one of the stories in the film, there is a high speed train that one takes to “recapture their lost memories”. The caveat is that the train is a one-way trip with no return.
Time is a one way destination, and the train, which is a metaphor for time, allows for an indefinite escape into the future.
The scenes where you see the high speed trains traverse through towering skyscrapers remind me that time, travel and speed seems to be on everyone’s mind when imagining futures.
So, with emergent technologies becoming more prevalent such as at-home smart devices and autonomous driving, how might we integrate them into our cities to make transportation more accessible and more efficient?
The article, Smart Cities Rethink Mobility, talks about smart mobility. “Autonomous vehicles, electric vehicles (EVs) and shared mobility models” help cities “create a cleaner, more resilient and efficient way to move people and goods around.”
The images here demonstrate “high-capacity systems that use a combination of metro, light rail and bus rapid transit” to help reduce “traffic congestion and pollution, especially during peak hours.”
Using IoT and data collection around these transportation vehicles could help track and share real time data with city management to ensure transportation safety and efficiency. This is also an opportunity for both public and private companies to work together, leveraging technology and the data collected to serve the people in the city and manage traffic effectively.
Autonomous driving is also another hot topic as we envision future transportation systems. An opportunity lies in utilizing autonomous driving to provide automated and efficient service for the otherwise marginalized populations such as the elderly and those with disabilities.
This is another cool image by illustrator Michele Marconi. It comes from the article, A Sunny New World, exploring the role of renewable energies to create a more sustainable and efficient economy. The illustration of a flying car, albeit unfeasible at the moment, allows our imagination to run wild.
Vision Zero is a “vision of a road system where zero lives are lost.” It comes from Swedish road planning and safety concepts to employ intelligent transportation systems to reduce traffic and accidents. Here in this illustration we see a higher integration of rails, bikes, and pedestrians.
“LEDs embedded in the pavement, giving pedestrians cues on when to cross.”
From the examples above, art and film are integral parts to our envisioning of future smart cities, with some drawings directly tying back to solutions such as autonomous driving and the integration of light rails to better utilize public transportation.
As designers, let us not limit ourselves, but continue to push our imaginations of the future exploring various mediums and crafts.
