FUTURE CITY: VISIONS AND BEYOND

FUTURE CITY SERIES: PART 4

TECHNOLOGICAL AND INFRASTRUCTURAL ADVANCEMENTS

THE FUTURE HAS ARRIVED: FUTURISTIC REALITIES IN PRESENT DAY

BY 

NEHA JAISWAL AND SAGAR KHETWANI

Introduction

Cities have always been concentrations of innovation and knowledge with the promise of freedom. With cities getting ever larger, the question arises whether they will become unmanageable or whether they will remain centres of innovation and freedom?

Past predictions about the future of cities have almost all been wrong because they were often US- or Euro-centric and erroneously extrapolated the future from the present or the past. Predictions were most often solely fixated on technology and failed to address the possibility of social change. 

‘Our cities possess unique cultural and architectural qualities, strong forces of social inclusion and exceptional possibilities for economic development. They are centres of knowledge and sources of growth and innovation. At the same time, however, they suffer from demographic problems, social inequality, social exclusion of specific population groups, a lack of affordable and suitable housing, and environmental problems.’ Cities play a key role in the lives of everyone in world. Not only does a majority of the population live in cities, but cities also play a key role in the social and economic development.

                    

The unquenchable obsession among the people to become city dwellers has played an acute role in the deterioration of city resources and culture. The opportunity to live a good and resourceful life has caused huge migrations of people from village to cities thereby depleting the already vulnerable and scarce resources. The cities were once considered as storage of good job opportunities and money but today it has so much become the necessity of upcoming generation that villages seem to be losing their identity. The cities have become the ultimate destination of the new generation. Ever since the new generation starts to understand things, they long to move to cities. Such is the aura of city life from distance, that an individual can give up its parental land, can desert its family to settle in a city. It’s a magical town that fascinates people by its outwardly glitter and brightness.

If the immigration to cities continues at this brisk rate, I fear this might threat the very existence of human life. The urge to occupy self- owned houses has led to the destruction of natural habitat of wildlife and plants thereby disturbing ecological balance. The urge of people to have their own vehicles has led to the depletion of our atmosphere through the vehicle exhausts and the smoke which causes lethal damage to life on earth. The exhausts of the vehicles deplete the ozone layer and exposes to harmful ultra violet radiations. Also, it is the chief cause of lethal respiratory ailments like bronchitis, etc. It makes me sad to see that man through his actions is digging his own grave. He seems to be so busy with his diurnal that he seems to have lost sense of right and wrong, beneficial and harmful, useful and waste.

The man of today who is oblivious to the happenings in the society; passes the same trend to his children thereby disrupting and diluting the social values of life. He fails to understand that until he grows socially, his growth would be incomplete and futile. Thus, he needs to focus on various aspects of life to have city life truly worthwhile.

Man in the city has indeed become a slave to his desires which increases incessantly which ultimately means more diversion from our families, friends and ethics or virtues. We live like a machine, with machine at our beck and call for our household and office tasks- whether it’s cooking a chapatti or doing something for entertainment - we are so dependent on machines that we find ourselves paralyzed without them. The increasing dependency of human beings on machines is having a telling effect on them - be it in terms of health or emotional growth. He lives the life of isolation limiting his feelings, emotions, happiness and sorrows to himself.

The fact that big corporations are becoming so heavily involved in designing city infrastructure has led critics to question how quickly such a city may, like the computer systems they are relying on, become obsolete.

       

Every coin has 2 faces. Similarly, while we see several downsides of the city life, city life in itself has lot to offer an individual which can change his life and make him more effective. Talent needs recognition and opportunity. In dearth of opportunities in the village, many talents die a silent and unnoticed death. The cities provide these talents with a platform to showcase their talent and unleash their potentials. In addition to this, it equips him with all the necessary resources that can aid him increase his productivity and his effectiveness. The life in the city exposes an individual to plethora of comforts which are a distant sight in villages. It adds more meaning to life in the sense that we get acquainted with many truths and experiences of life that a village dweller might never witness. Cities house several amenities that add more value to our life and work.

Cities have been looked as the fulfiller of dreams from the past. A common man can walk into city and make his fortune. It can provide us with everything that the today's generation aspires for - education, money, night life and many more. City has the power to make or break an individual. It depends on an individual which avenue he chooses. City exposes an individual to multitude of opportunities from which he can choose an area of interest and shine in his profession. Such liberty can never be achieved in a village. A city has seen a toddler become a king, a beggar become a millionaire, a novice become an expert. It is the inherent prowess of the cities that changes the life of an individual and helps him scale great heights together with his motivation and dedication.

Almost half of the world's population currently lives in cities, and by 2050 that is projected to increase to 75%, but what kind of city will they be living in? The time is ripe, say experts, to start designing smarter urban environments for both new and old cities. The newer cities will need to sustain an ever-growing population, and retro-fits will be required on the older ones that we have lived in for centuries.

Greenification

If the cities of the past were shaped by people, the cities of the future are likely to be shaped by ideas, and there are a lot of competing ones about how such a futuristic urban space should look.

Some of these revolve around the idea that smarter equals greener. Sustainability experts predict carbon-neutral cities full of electric vehicles and bike-sharing schemes, with air quality improved to such an extent that office workers can actually open their windows for the first time.

Visions of a green city often include skyscrapers where living and office space vie with floating greenhouses or high-rise vegetable patches and green roofs, as we try to combine urbanization with a return to our pastoral past. Behind such greenification of cities, lies a very pressing need.

Farmscrapers

Forget the skyscrapers that dominate our city skylines. Buildings will be multi-purpose and some even predict huge vertical farms. The eco-towers would provide space for residents, offices, retail and recreation as well as food production.

Thus, city in itself is not bad. It will shape up the way we shape our life and interests and needs. A man can benefit as well as suffer a loss in the hands of the city. It is up to him to utilize his knowledge to understand the subtle difference between good and bad, draw a line of control and look at things with their holistic picture. If he succeeds to do that, future of city is in safe hands and humanity is bound to progress many folds by leaps and bounds. However, if a man continues to live in the captivation of his petty desires and makes no effort to change things around him; if he does not learn to see things and their value, we might be heading to a generation from where there would be no return. So, with all the comforts, technologies, equipment’s at our disposal, we need to be tactful and cautious to make cities and this world a beautiful place to be in.

So, it’s up to us to decide which path we want to choose - a glittery path that takes us to self-destruction or a wise and sensible choice that can help us reap the advantages of city without falling to the temptations of  it.

Urban Agriculture in Cities

                         

     (Vertical farming in Singapore)     (Future urban farm in Delhi)

By 2050, around 80 percent of the world's people will live in urban areas. To combat fulfilment of food, the vertical farms will get introduced to feed the expected number of world residents who will live increasingly in cities. Benefits of vertical farming will be easy to see. There won't be as many delivery trucks guzzling fuel and belching out exhaust and city dwellers will get easier access to fresh, healthy food.  Vertical farming, in which food and energy are integral to large buildings, could provide an entirely new economy for cities and fundamentally change architecture and building construction.

Cities like Tokyo, Delhi, Mexico city, Beijing will consist of intensive, high-yield urban farms on vacant lots. Urban farms will get introduced in almost all of the mega cities of the world to feed their billions of population in mega cities of world. With the help and knowledge of the developed countries of the concept of urban farms will get introduced in the mega cities of developing countries like Mexico, Egypt and many more. World Agricultural Research Centres will play a key role in future. Tokyo will become a leader in testing how farming could be integrated into residential, commercial, and retail centres, on roofs, in facades and on intermittent floors and in atriums. This will require additional venture capital, new regulations and again entirely different zoning. Food will also be produced and processed where people live and cities will be get benefited from it.

A network of sensors

The network of things could herald new developments that will give privacy experts nightmares, such as Minority Report-style digital signage - billboards that communicate with passers-by with personalized messages. But it will also bring unimaginable new services to citizens.

Technology companies such as Siemens, IBM, Intel and Cisco, believe that the cleverest cities will be those that are hooked into the network. IBM currently has 2,000 projects ongoing in cities around the world, from crime prevention analytics in Portland, Oregon, to water databases in California, to smarter public transport systems in Zhenjiang, China. Its flagship project is in Rio de Janeiro, where it has built an operations centre, which it describes as the "nerve centre" of the city.

Living Street Lights

Imagine instead of a row of street lights, the trees that line our cities could produce their own energy and light up.The principle of glowing trees predicts they could be one way of saving energy.

Transport system in cities in future

                    (Personal rapid transit [PRT] Pod car )

Personal rapid transit (PRT), also called Pod car, will play key role in future in cities. PRT is a public transport mode featuring small automated vehicles operating on a network of specially built guide ways. PRT is an efficient, affordable, safe and convenient public transportation system which is the most cost effective solution to tackle urban traffic congestion in cities.

Mega cities of India like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai will have driverless pod cars, which will reduce the traffic congestion to a great extent and it will also reduce the dependency on the road transport system.

                            (Rapid rail transit project in Delhi)

Rapid rail transit Transport system will become so efficient in Delhi it will connect Delhi with all cities of neighbouring states and it will reduce the barriers of distance for commuters of these neighbouring cities. It will completely change the face of Delhi. Transport system in Delhi will become so efficient in future that people in future will choose to live even in periphery of Delhi or NCR towns and cities like Panipat, Manesar, Murthal, Gannaur and Kundli in good environmental conditions, away from the congestion of core of cities. This efficient transport system will also help in reducing skyrocketing prices of lands in Delhi. The metro and mono rail projects will connect almost most of the colonies, workplaces, offices, important trading centres and universities in all mega cities.

Delivery Drone

There is nothing an urbanite values more than a fast-food delivery so how about a takeaway delivered by drone? One pizza manufacturer has already tested drone delivery and some predict these automated flying machines will fill the skies replacing the motorbike and cycle couriers of today.

Energy Requirement in Cities in Future

Energy will remain a central focus of liveability and survival in future and cities will play a valuable part in a more energy-efficient future. In addition to the already noted inherent energy efficiency of cities, integrated manufacturing, food production and buildings themselves will provide excellent opportunities for harnessing wind, solar, and biological energies as well as co-generation without the waste of the current “grid” where energy is produced far away from population centres in nuclear power plants, offshore wind farms, or solar farms in a desert.

In future Mega cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata will become self-power generators, these cities will produce their enormous energy through renewable natural sources like tides, solar energy.

                      

            (Energy efficient eco-friendly building in Kolkata)

Buildings will have taken on a life of their own, controlling heating, lighting and security with little human intervention. Architects envisage buildings becoming far more sustainable, producing their own power and reusing rain water. Buildings may be able to store energy in huge batteries, while homes put excess electricity back into the smart grid.

Millennium of Desalination plants and Rain Water Harvesting Projects in World's Cities 

                    

                             (Desalination plant in Mumbai)

Water crisis in megacities will be a major issue in future. More than two billion urban residents of Asia will face serious water shortages by 2050, with China’s two cities – Beijing and Shenyang, and India’s six biggest cities – Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad – among those most affected. But for combating this challenge government will introduce desalination plants in partnership with private sector in every port city of India. Sea water will be converted into fresh water to meet the domestic consumption of residents of cities of Asia like Mumbai, Chennai, Mangalore, Bhavnagar, Shanghai, Beijing, and many more. Almost in every mega city of India, water sector will be get Privatised.

                        

                        (Rain water harvesting plant in Nagpur)

In almost every city of India installing Rain water harvesting system and domestic water treatment plant in every building of city will become mandatory. Installing rain water harvesting will not be too expensive in future because these plants will be highly subsidized by government in future.

Future of African Cities

Future of most of African cities will not be as good. In future urban slums will emerge as one of the major threats to African urban stability in cities. African cities like Maputo, Kinshasa and Nairobi will emerge as world’s most inequitable cities, especially Sub-Saharan and Southern African cities. In almost all of the African cities, the richest will capture the largest share of income. Socio-economic conditions in African cities will be the most unequal in the world. This situation will threat systemic stability and will affect not only the continuity of cities as socio-political human ecosystems but also entire nations. The two pictures of an African city like Nairobi presents the extreme level of disparities; both economic and social which will occur in future. These two pictures are showing the two very different and opposite sides of same coin.

  

                                             

 (Kibera Africa’s largest slum in Nairobi) (Big bungalow in Nairobi)

                   

Cities of Africa like Cairo, Kinshasa, Lagos, Alexandria, Nairobi, Kinshasa and Luanda will not only become the most industrialised and mega cities of Africa but they will also become too much parasitic in nature. These cities will face dangerous problems like high percentage of slum population, heavy traffic congestion  and social & economic segregation within them.

Future of Small and Medium Size Cities in Developing Countries

The central administration structure based on the traditional hierarchical system (related to the industrialization era) will get severely affected by the scientific achievements in communication and remote sensing. The shift will be from hierarchy to network pattern which will allow small units to be directly linked to each other and to large units away from the mediator units, in brief the connection between base and top will be easier, faster and stronger. Consequently, small and medium cities especially in remote areas will have the chance to play an active role in the urban system throughout their direct interactions with large cities and other urban settlements.

Conclusion

The future cities will be characterized with mixed land use, local food production, clean factories and integrated decentralized energy production; the cities will be planned, attractive and clean. Even very large cities will be liveable and pleasant. Technology will replace many of the spatial needs for cities, human interaction, diversity, stimulation, innovation and access to nature will be the main drive for cities. Almost most of developed cities of world will boast of  good design & architecture and planning them will not be a luxury but an essential condition.

The Cities are foremost of and for people and the future of cities will completely depend on how well they will provide what people need most: information, knowledge, association, protection, and choice. It’s simply the knowledge, wisdom and innovativeness of peoples of cities that will make our future cities planned, hygienic, safe, environment friendly and energy efficient. Even also in future not every city of the world will become problem free, new problems and challenges will still emerge in future cities but people will search new solutions and ways for tackling new problems and issues. 

We should not forget that men are the master of all possibilities and it’s the principle of this universe that every problem is born with a solution. Hence cities have always been concentrations of innovation and knowledge with the promise of freedom and in future also cities will remain centres of innovation, knowledge and sources of growth. No-one really knows what the future holds, but the reality now is that our urban spaces are overcrowded and polluted.

Author’s Bio- Note:

Neha Jaiswal and Sagar Khetwani are currently pursuing Masters in Geography from Department of Geography, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi.