Elaine Trimble goes to work every day in one of the world’s sustainable buildings, The Crystal in London. Well, nearly every day — as a Director of Urban Development at the Crystal, she spends a significant amount of time each week talking or meeting with city leaders around the world to discuss the future of cities.
As more people stream into the world’s cities, governments face challenges in providing housing, transport, food, water and clean air to their citizens. Yet, according to Elaine, burgeoning technology such as microgrids and blockchains may just provide some of the solutions we’re looking for.
Listen to the podcast below, or scroll down to read the highlights of the discussion.
On how cities will change in the next ten years
“There’s definitely going to be new technology that we’ve never thought of, but I think what we’ll mainly see is a lot more focus on scaling up some of the great initiatives that are already taking place. There’s a project that I love, a microgrid in Brooklyn, where people are making solar power on their rooftops and selling it to neighbors through a system that uses different technologies including some Siemens technology, PayPal and blockchain. This isn’t new technology — it’s just a new way of using it.”
On what gets her up in the morning
“In my role here at the Crystal, I spend my days talking to city leaders about what’s keeping them up at night. How can technology help them solve their problems? Why aren’t more people using public transport? What can we do to make electric transport a reality for everyone? Why aren’t they in shared vehicles? Why aren’t they working where they are living? Can we scale up greener technologies fast enough to slow or reduce climate change? We have the knowledge and technology to build better cities, but do we also have the willingness? Finding the answers to these questions is what keeps me going.”
On the trend of people moving to cities
“I love the fact that city living is popular again for people of all ages — it creates more vitality, reduces sprawl and probably boredom. However, this is the urbanization story in wealthy cities, and it is not so positive when it means pricing out the young or existing communities. In developing cities, the challenge is even greater as rural to urban migration sometimes means millions not thousands of people. City leaders have to provide infrastructure for far more people than they had planned. This is where technology has real role to play and bridge this gap.
Cities are also far more sustainable than rural living when you think about their efficient use of resources and density. I come from the US, and many cities in 80s and 90s were places that you left if you could afford to, and that was not good for anyone.”
On what she loves about cities
“The energy is what keeps me here. The thinking, the ideas, the opportunities. Every now and then I toy about moving to the suburbs with my family but then I think about the opportunities that my kids have here. I think cities are really the best that mankind has put together.”
At Siemens, Elaine is a Director of Urban Development and an Infrastructure Economist at The Crystal, one of the world’s most sustainable buildings and a hub for urban innovation. She lives in London with her husband and three children. Find out more about working at Siemens.
Words: Vanessa Keys
Illustration: Harry Tennant
