Позитивные изменения. Города будущего. Тематический выпуск, 2022 / Positive changes. The cities of the future. Special issue, 2022

Cities of the Future in the Present: 10 Projects of Innovative Cities Worldwide

Sergei Grudtsyn

DOI 10.55140/2782-5817-2022-2-S2-74-95

Cities are changing right before our eyes. According to the UN forecasts, two thirds of the global population will be living in the cities by 2050. At the same time, many find it hard to imagine what the cities of the future will look like. Global issues such as epidemics, the housing crisis, and climate change are encouraging architects and planners to look for ways to design the cities of the future. At the intersection of these issues the primary goal evolves: making the cities more sustainable, humane, develop interpersonal relationships and take care of the people.

Sergei Grudtsyn

Design thinker, founder of the Urban Design Laboratory "The Thirteenth", lecturer at the IKRA School of Innovation

The Line, a 500-meter-tall, 170-kilometer-long skyscraper accommodating nine million people, will appear in northwestern Saudi Arabia. This is one of the most recent examples of the cities of the future, but not the only one. Renowned architectural studios such as BIG, Foster + Partners, OMA, MAD Architects and others help plan cities of the future, and often claim to design them with a focus on sustainability and humane attitude towards the nature. Below are a few examples of the ambitious projects to be built in the coming decades.

The UN estimates that by 2030 the world will have 43 megacities with a population of 10 million or more, most of them in developing countries. This is a substantial increase, given that there were only 10 such cities on the planet in 1990.

OCEANIX, BUSAN

https://oceanix.com/busan/

COUNTRY – South Korea

Danish architecture firm BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) took on the concept for the first-ever Oceanix floating city in 2019. The project was supported by the United Nations.

To accommodate rapid population growth, coastal city dwellers create mounds of sand in the ocean, on which they erect new buildings. Such projects often destroy fragile marine habitats and can be partially submerged within a decade due to rapidly rising water levels. The modular design of the Oceanix floating city solves both problems, Elle.ru reports^[49].

"Sustainable floating cities are a part of the arsenal of climate adaptation strategies available to us. Instead of fighting with water, let us learn to live in harmony with it. We look forward to developing climate adaptation and nature-based solutions through the floating city concept, and Busan is the ideal choice to deploy the prototype," said the Executive Director of UN-Habitat, Maimunah Mohd Sharif^[50].

As stated on the project website, the city will span over 6 hectares and provide accommodation to 12 thousand people. The city will be built on top of three platforms connected by bridges. Each platform will serve a specific purpose – lodging (eco-hotels), research, and living. Each platform area is 30,000 to 40,000 square meters^[51].

The city will have integrated systems for generating electricity, reducing waste and recycling resources, and providing a comfortable temperature for growing various crops.

"9 out of 10 of the world’s largest cities will be exposed to rising seas by 2050. The sea is our fate – it may also be our future," says Bjarke Ingels, founding partner of BIG.

The first modular maritime metropolis is planned to be built by 2025.

WOVEN CITY

https://www.woven-city.global

COUNTRY – Japan

In 2020, Toyota announced that it would build a city of the future at the foot of Mount Fuji.

It is being designed by the Danish architect Bjarke Ingels.

The city is expected to be completely environmentally friendly, with buildings made mainly of wood, following the style of Japanese wooden architecture combined with robotic production methods. The roofs will be covered with photovoltaic panels to harvest solar energy in addition to the electricity produced by hydrogen fuel cells. The houses will be fitted with smart technology and artificial intelligence.

Only fully autonomous, zero-emission vehicles will be allowed to move residents around the city on major thoroughfares, according to a press release from Toyota^[52].

"Building a complete city from the ground up is a unique opportunity to develop future technologies, including a digital operating system for the city’s infrastructure," said Akio Toyoda, president, Toyota Motor Corporation.

AKON CITY

https://akoncity.com

COUNTRY – Senegal

Back in 2018, rapper and businessman Akon Thiam took it upon himself to build an African city of the future. He was inspired by Wakanda, the fictional African country from the Marvel Comics superhero movie Black Panther.

Akon comes from Senegal. Several years ago he was donated 800 hectares of land by Senegalese President Macky Sall. According to the rapper, the city should become the world center of ecotourism.

Akon City will be solar-powered. The city will be surrounded by artificial islands and eco-resorts. Inside, there will be a port for cruise ships, skyscrapers with apartments and business centers, shopping centers, condominiums, a hospital and a university. The city will even have its own cryptocurrency – Akoin, according to RBC^[53].

The city is expected to be completed by 2025.

TENGA

COUNTRY – Singapore

Singapore is building an eco ‘smart’ city of the future. The project is being implemented by the Housing & Development Board of Singapore. Giant solar-powered air conditioners, vacuum waste collection, underground roads for electric cars, urban farms, and lots of green spaces – this is what the country’s most ambitious project will look like.

According to studies, the average temperature in the tropics is about 27 degrees Celsius.

The amount of electricity needed for cooling in Singapore is projected to increase by 73 % between 2010 and 2030.

In the new city, air conditioners will be solar-powered and installed on the roofs of residential buildings. This will cut energy consumption by 30 % – this will generate emission savings equivalent to taking 4,500 cars off the roads each year, Bloomberg reported^[54].

Each of the 42,000 apartments will be equipped with a smart control panel that will allow homeowners to control their energy consumption. Railroads, driveways, and parking lots will be moved underground for most part, making room for gardens, urban farms, and walking and biking. Houses will also have a system for vacuum garbage collection via underground pipes. A gasification plant will turn garbage into energy – a more efficient way to produce fuel than incineration.

"Developments like this, in addition to efficient design of amenities, will have a far greater effect on reducing long-term carbon footprint than the actual greenery," said Lahiru Wijedasa, co-principal investigator and senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Environmental Research Institute in an interview to Bloomberg.

MASDAR CITY

https://masdarcity.ae

COUNTRY – UAE

A city of the future in the middle of the desert is a project launched back in 2006, but the construction ran into a number of problems since then. The works are scheduled to be completed by 2030.

According to the project website, Masdar City is a sustainability pioneer and research and development center^[55]. The city is located near the Abu Dhabi airport. It combines traditional Arabic architecture with modern technology and design. Buildings made of eco-friendly materials are designed to cut water and energy consumption by 40 %.

Residential areas, business center, parks, pedestrian zones, manned and unmanned electric vehicle parks will make the city accessible to all.

THE LINE

https://www.neom.com/en-us/regions/theline

COUNTRY – Saudi Arabia

The Line is a city stretching 170 kilometers from the Red Sea coast to the provincial capital of Tabuk. It will be home to 9 million residents on an area of just 34 square kilometers.

The Line is a city of innovative transport infrastructure hidden underground and controlled by artificial intelligence. With no roads, cars or emissions, the city will use 100 % renewable energy, and 95 % of the land will be given over to nature. Unlike conventional cities, the priority here is not transport and infrastructure, but the health and well-being of residents, the project website states^[56].

All the necessary amenities will be located within 5-minute walking distance, and the other end of the city can be reached in 20 minutes by high-speed rail.

"The Line will tackle the challenges facing humanity in urban life today and will shine a light on alternative ways to live. We cannot ignore the livability and environmental crises facing our world’s cities," His Royal Highness Mohammed bin Salman said in a statement.

CITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, CHENGDU

https://clck.ru/32jceW

COUNTRY – China

Chengdu is among the most innovative cities currently under construction in China. Urbanization process in China is accelerating rapidly. As of 2022, it stands at 64.7 % and is expected to reach 75–80 % by 2035, when about 1 billion people will live in cities. China’s most populous cities are Beijing and Shanghai.

Another high-tech city is to appear in China’s Sichuan Province. Its construction was scheduled for completion in 2023, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the deadline has been pushed back indefinitely.

According to the master plan, the city will be divided into six clusters, each having its own architecture and relationship with nature. For example, the University Cluster will consist of buildings with landscaped terraces for classes, resembling hills. This cluster will also include a biofiltration system, with the roofs turned into gardens that filter water and collect it in tanks. The shopping cluster will contain commercial and public facilities, as well as residential areas and offices. The city will use hydroelectric power extensively.

All clusters of the city will be car-free, and all businesses in the service sector and social amenities will be reachable in ten minutes.

"With this project, we hope to provide an alternative to the typical urban master plan," says Chris Van Duyn, a partner in the international architecture firm OMA^[57].

BIODIVERCITY

COUNTRY – Malaysia

Malaysia plans to build its own "islands of the future" by 2030. BiodiverCity, with a total area of 18 million square meters, will consist of three man-made islands, each home to 15–18 thousand residents. The idea proposed by a group of architectural bureaus – BIG, Hijjas and Ramboll – is that the people should coexist in harmony with the nature. The residents will be able to move freely through the city.

The city’s master plan states that "a water, air and land-based autonomous public transportation grid is intended to create a car-free environment, where streets serve as a safe and welcoming environment for cyclists and pedestrians."

In addition to educational and administrative centers, research institutes, and digital parks, BiodiverCity will have public beaches and a 25 km long promenade. A nearby oasis will feature a miniature archipelago with floating houses on stilts and terraces, according to ArchDaily^[58].

The buildings are planned to be built mainly from low-carbon materials such as bamboo and Malaysian timber, combined with "green concrete," using recycled materials as the filler.

AEQUOREA

https://vincent.callebaut.org/object/151223_aequorea/aequorea/projects

COUNTRY – Brazil

Off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a city of the future will be 3D-printed. Up to twenty thousand people will live here. The purpose of the project is to study the ocean.

The Aequorea project was proposed by the visionary architect Vincent Callebaut. According to his idea, the jellyfish-shaped buildings of the city will be submerged in water. Each building will be complete with recycling plants, production laboratories, offices, co-working spaces, workshops, research centers, marine farms, organic farming, community gardens and vegetable gardens.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is called the seventh "continent" of the planet. Approximate estimates of its area range from 700 thousand to 1.5 million square kilometers at least. Aequorea will be built of recycled plastic waste and algae, using 3D-printing technology.

The project author’s concept envisages people travelling in ships and submarines powered by biofuel. Energy and food will be provided by algae, plankton, and shellfish, which are planned to grow on the island.

"Never forget this: the oceans produce 50 % of our planet’s oxygen. They are its most active lungs!" the project’s website states^[59].

MALMÖ, SWEDEN, THE REAL CITY OF THE FUTURE

https://clck.ru/32jciw

COUNTRY – Sweden

The city of Malmö, Sweden, is already being called the city of the future, because this is where you can see a synergy between different approaches to urban problems.

Malmö has more than 400 km of bicycle paths and several thousand parking spaces for bicycles. Bicycles are used for 40 % of all trips to work. By 2030, the city wants to achieve full energy independence, increasing the share of alternative energy use to 100 %, according to the city’s municipal program.

In the 1990s, Malmö was known as a port in Southern Sweden; today it is an IT, innovation, ecology and tourism hub. It is all about biofuels, bicycles, and green roofs. The city took over its own restructuring and renovation. The harbor was rebuilt, the labyrinths of industrial shipyards were cleared away and redeveloped with 600 houses, stores, and office buildings equipped with solar panels and wind turbines made of eco-friendly materials.

All homes are connected to a circulating water system, where the same medium is used for heating in the winter and for air conditioning in the summer. Garbage shredders are installed in every kitchen in Malmö. The resulting material is then used as biofuel for cars and urban transport. Food waste is also transformed into biogas, which replaces the traditional natural gas at home. The Malmö authorities even put ashes to work, the Futurist portal reports^[60].