Fantasizing on the Future of City Life
A day in the life of a future city dweller might look something like this:
It’s Friday. You wake up to your alarm in the complex where you live.
Apartment complexes have been reimagined to offer a variety of services that make life easy and also minimize your footprint.
Your energy comes from renewable sources, like the rest of the buildings around town, and your water fixtures use a tiny fraction of the water they used to (although somehow they work even better).
You don’t have to take the trash out anymore, either.
You drop your different types of waste into portholes where they’re sucked through underground tubes to a processing center and prepared for recycling, composting, etc.
It’s been years since you owned a car. These days you mix up your commute to work between autonomous electric vehicles and various forms of public transport. Sensors monitor traffic conditions and your phone tells you the quickest ways to get around.
Today you decide to grab a bike from the bike-share port on the corner and ride to work.
You like to spend your lunch hours outside in the fresh air. With tons of open green spaces around the city, you can visit a different park each day of the week if you like.
Most of the food in the city’s markets and restaurants was produced in a vertical farming high-rise nearby. Much of it’s grown with rain water that the city captures and distributes for reuse.
More and more, the proteins you eat are made in high-tech labs around the city.
After work, you hail an autonomous vehicle to meet your friend for drinks and vent about the project you’re working on. You tell her about your weekend getaway plans to explore a different city with someone you met on the latest dating app (please don’t be weird, please don’t be weird).
It used to take hours to drive there but Hyperloop technology now gets you there in 15 minutes.
The complex where you live AirBnB’s your apartment for the weekend while you’re gone. Each time you choose to let them do this it helps supplement some of your month’s rent.
When you arrive home on Sunday, your place looks as if you’d never left.
The mad dash to a clean future
Smart, sustainable cities like the one described above are already being designed and developed. Here are a few that are pushing the limits:
Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
“In 2008, Masdar City broke ground and embarked on a daring journey to develop the world’s most sustainable eco-city. Through smart investments, Masdar City is successfully pioneering a “greenprint” for how cities can accommodate rapid urbanisation and dramatically reduce energy, water and waste.” Read more.
Highlights:
- Passive and intelligent building design reduces energy and water demands by 40%
- Personal rapid transit system of driverless pods (straight out of The Jetsons)
- Narrow streets create a wind tunnel effect, as well as provide shade, and lower the air temperature throughout the city
Songdo IBD, South Korea
“Where the future of cities is taking shape… and residents, businesses, and visitors are contributing to the growing ecosystem.” Read more.
Highlights:
- The world’s “smartest” city (connected infrastructure)
- 40% of the city for public green space
- Widespread implementation of the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED™ standard
Malmo, Sweden
“Over the last decades Malmö, in the southern part of Sweden, has made a remarkable journey from an industrial city based on its shipyard and other heavy industries to a modern entity founded on knowledge and sustainability.” Read more.
Highlights:
- Pledged to be carbon neutral by 2020, and 100% renewable by 2030
- Part of city runs on wind
- Aquifers collect rainwater that’s used to heat and cool homes
Act on Climate
Speaking of carbon neutral… travel much lately? In a previous post, we discussed the problematic result of carbon emissions from air travel. For your next trip, consider flying with United Eco-Skies.
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