2.6 The city of the future

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• Leerjaar 3

2.6 The city of the future

Learning objectives

After studying this section, you will be able to:

• Describe what cities in the future might look like
  
• Formulate your own vision of the city of the future

The future of cities

Predicting the future of cities:

1. possible future > might just happen under certain circumstances.
2. probable future > most likely that are going to happen.
3. preferable futures > we would like to happen the most, the best possible scenarios.

While sometimes seeming really ambitious, most of the following scenarios are actually happening right now!

New York: the extraordinary number of billboards, street lights, offices, industrial sites, the metro system, the airports and the inhabitants – all consuming huge amounts of energy.

Creating a sustainable city

Future cities will be more sustainable than at present: they will produce energy from renewable energy sources themselves. 

• Solar panels
• Recycling
• Using waste material to generate heat and energy
• Sustainable transport functions (car-sharing, cycling, etc.)
• Less cars > less air pollution

Geothermal plants in Iceland, powering Reykjavík.

Feeding the city of the future

Cities are food-hungry: Lot of inhabitants > lot of food needed. 

Solution > urban agriculture: 

• crops are grown on green spaces in the city  (city gardens).
• Vertical farming = growing crops on the rooftops of skyscrapers, houses and designated areas.

Research > if every city could produce a part of its own food requirement, shortages of food around the world would decrease dramatically!

Urban farming in Milan, Italy.

The future of cities in LEDCs

Cities in LEDCs:

• Young population > growing population
• Economic growth > growing middle class

More wealth > more income > more wishes to consume:

• More cars, more traffic, more air pollution
• Not enough jobs, bigger informal sector?

Essence

Several future scenarios can be imagined for cities: possible, probable and preferable futures. Though the exact course of the future is unclear to us, in cities of the future, more renewable energy will be generated and efforts will be made to produce more food. While the exact future is unclear, it is up to us all to decide what cities of the future are going to be like.

Look at the planner in Teams for the homework