Aug 16, 2021

The Cities of Tomorrow Already Exist

The 21st century is the century of major changes. These changes, which occur due to the fast development of technology, can be felt both on the micro and on the macro scale, in every branch of knowledge and almost all around the globe. Technology is a powerful tool that can transform not only urban planning, but also architecture, as these disciplines ought to always keep up with the technological innovations. Although there still are a plethora of urban areas with traditional tissue and historical buildings, there are also some areas where people have asked themselves: do these cities still satisfy the needs of the contemporary man? There are multiple answers to this question, however, this essay aims to illustrate two urban areas that provide a clear answer to the question, becoming thus manifesto-examples for principles that could greatly influence designing future cities.

The first such example is Singapore, a city-state situated in the South-Eastern Asia. Through the city’s design, the architects, urban planners and everyone who had a contribution to configuring it as it is today, have observed and replied to the human needs of the contemporary society. These needs have been resolved by using certain urban design principles, such as diversity and accesibility. Diversity is one of the principles that stands at the core of the society in Singapore, for the reason that this city is located at the crossroad between multiple cultures, minorities having therefore the need to feel included in the tradition and spirit of the city. For instance, as the Indian and Chinese communities represent quite a big number of Singapore’s population, neighborhoods such as “Chinatown” or “Little India” were born exactly with the aim to make these minorities feel that they belong to the city. In a century in which urban mobility is very high, and the possibility of working remotely is increasing, the cities ought to offer a temporary or definitive home to everyone who finds it an appropiate city for personal and professional growth. Singapore encourages diversity also by offering all of its inhabitants the possibility to achieve performance, offering not only a high quality education, but also very well-paid job and career opportunities. This can be translated to the development of the human resource’s diversity, which in the century of information has to be prepared to take up new challenges with intelligent and enthusiast approaches to contemporary problems from all areas of knowledge and from anywhere in the world.

In the 21st century, sharing information freely is facilitated and encouraged, an aspect fully embraced by Singapore through promoting the informational transparency. Accesibility is an urban design principle used by Singapore, as all the updates and news regarding the upcoming projects of the city, the new investments and development plans are constantly being published. Moreover, the good organization of a city is a concept that is closely related to its accesibility. In contrast to the functionalist city, that proposed the functional segregation of the urban tissue into four distinct areas (living, working, loisir and circulation), Singapore took over a new approach that adapted the functional zonification of the city into a principle called “transect”. The transect represents a system that illustrates the transverse disposal of urban areas, transposing into reality the principles of a new urbanism. These areas are carefully-planned, taking into consideration the humane, environmental and aesthetic elements of the city, gradually ranging from a highly rural area, to a highly urban one. Singapore is therefore a very successful city, in contrast to the functionalist city that failed because of its lack of domesticity specific to the traditional city and also because of its lack of elements that form the image of the city (the way that they were theorized and illustrated by Kevin Lynch in “The Image of The City”).

The second example of a city of the future that perfectly illustrates the requirements of contemporary cities by embodying them is Masdar City, the first completely sustainable city in the world. This city’s main urban design principle is sustainability, this one being the defining element that ought to differentiate 21st century cities from traditional ones. Located in the United Arab Emirates, 5 minutes away from the Abu Dhabi airport and 40 km away from Dubai, this city is very well-connected to other important urban nodes, which enable its inhabitants to gain the connection they need in order to access job opportunities from all around the world. Accessibility inside the city is going to be further developed by introducing a sustainable green system for the common means of transportation in order to satisfy the mobility need of the inhabitants.

Masdar City is a sustainable city because it is based on the three pillars of sustainability: environment, society and economy. That encourages building architecture that has a positive impact on the environment, based on renewable energy sources, such as the solar energy that can easily be exploited in the area. This way, the design of the buildings is ergonomic and functional, built on the future aspirations of their inhabitants that wish for a healthy living environment both for them and for their children. The society’s needs are satisfied by ensuring an environment favorable for dwelling, but also by ensuring career development prospects and by supporting the urban mobility. Masdar City hence supports the post-petroleum future, utilising renewable sources of energy and sustainable building materials. It also has a strong connection with its context, since the architecture that can be found inside the city, but also its architectural and urbanistic programs, are specific to the Arabian area. Therefore, it becomes evident that Masdar City is a pioneer in the development of sustainably developed human settlements in all of its complexity, succeeding to be the first zero carbon consumption city in the world, thus being an example of a future city.

To sum up, Singapore and Masdar City are only two of the cities of the future that already exist today. They embrace urban design principles that are indispensable to well-designed cities that strive to exist many years from now, becoming examples both for the future design of new urban areas, but also for the design of buildings that would live in these cities.

references

Related Posts