Exploring Sustainable Innovations That Could Shape Our Urban Landscapes for Generations to Come
I have always wondered what futuristic cities would look like, especially as a science-fiction fan. I have been researching how our cities will evolve with changing tech, rurban landscapes—and climate change.
So, I have decided to create a series on cities of the future that would serve as a blueprint (more like a greenprint) of how responsibly, equitably, and inclusively cities should be built by countries for the earthlings.
United Arab Emirates
In 2018, I saw a video of Dubai’s Sustainable City, and since then, I have been obsessed with sustainable smart cities. The city is built with energy efficiency in mind, has dedicated space for food production (biodomes) and animal sanctuary, and has inclusive and low-carbon mobility and infrastructure options. The city also takes up extensive recycling and upcycling initiatives by managing its waste creatively.
Masdar City in Abu Dhabi is another one on the list, built over 16+ years. The city (hidden in a desert) surprisingly has an average temperature between 15–20°C, and its walls are terracotta. It houses many clean-tech companies and residential and commercial blocks and is powered entirely by renewables.
Japan:
After much research, I came across Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town (SST), which was built on an old Panasonic factory site and is known for building energy consumption tracking systems for individual residents.
Then I bumped into Kashiwa No-Ha, which is known for its unique renewable energy management system and for introducing innovative, cutting-edge, community-based solutions.
While all these cities are brimming with politics, undelivered promises, low functionality, and conspiracies, we couldn’t afford to condemn these so quickly.
They resonate with the urgency of climate change and the planet’s resources, which we have overconsumed to a level where we can’t run business as usual. We will be hit with more disasters when we do not have the resilience to recover from damages. Think of property damages, lives lost, and increasing insurance premiums (or worse, uninsurable properties). A looming threat of asset risk and insecurity is upon us.
These sustainable, smart city projects are still exploring the future of green and inclusive ecosystems. We could learn from their failures, replicate their best practices, and create more local, smaller models to leave future generations with a better world and give ourselves a better and dignified retirement.
I’ll cover more futuristic cities and townships in my upcoming pieces like floating cities and forest cities.
Credits
The article is written by Deepa Sai, the founder of ecoHQ.