According to many experts, the current construction trend puts disaster prevention on top. Therefore, architects and designers around the world are hard at work looking for alternatives to traditional construction to ensure cities can be safe when climate change is becoming more and more complicated. , sea level rises, pollution gradually worsens and population increases rapidly.
In this context, the Independent (UK) has proposed three model city models of the future, with the belief that the outstanding development of science and technology will help people increase their ability to cope with environmental problems. danger in the future.
Recent reports show that 90% of the world’s largest cities will be in danger from sea level rise by 2050. Well aware of this danger, the Independent believes the time has come. consider building floating cities, especially for areas facing the risk of sea encroachment.
The idea of a floating city Oceanix is very welcome, with a structure that integrates floating floors through a bridge system, from which to build housing, work, entertainment and business facilities above the floating floor. The entire floating floor will be firmly anchored on the seabed, and strictly tested for the level of response to weather conditions at sea.
Oceanix floating city is considered as a solution for areas facing the risk of sea encroachment.
According to the design, inside Oceanix will include many township complexes, each town has 6 villages linked together, creating living space for at least 10,000 residents. Oceanix will connect to the mainland thanks to a modern transportation system using electricity and solar energy, allowing travel between towns and out to the neighboring coast.
In terms of ecology, Oceanix uses “biostones” that act as artificial corals attached to the bottom of the floating floor, thereby creating a habitat for many marine species, helping to promote the process of water purification as well. to ensure sustainable ecological development.
Besides Oceanix, a smaller floating city model has been tested in a number of countries, in order to make full use of the water space. In Denmark, the completed Urban Rigger dormitory, with its unique ability to float on water, is made up of containers assembled in a triangular shape.
This unique building also comes with a ‘floating garden’, which allows vegetables to be grown on a movable barge. The “floating super island” model is also being implemented in the first phase in the Netherlands, with 87% being multi-sized floating triangles made of steel, which can span 1.5-2km, containing houses, ports, farm and park. Meanwhile, the idea of prefab floating city to solve the problem of China’s population explosion creates a vast land in the sea thanks to the combination of separate hexagonal islands.
Currently, the United Nations has launched the “Space at Sea” project, and has received about 200 million USD to support the conduct of research on the floating city, to assess the resistance to weather – tides and weather. energy use of floating designs, as well as the ability to affect the habitat of sea creatures and the operating mechanism of agro-fishery farms to ensure self-sufficiency.
It is predicted that floating city technology can be deployed in the next 10-20 years, becoming part of a “green future” towards sustainable options to take advantage of the ocean and sea that cover 70% of the population. surface area of the Earth.
The reality of serious urban pollution has given rise to the idea of building low-carbon cities. One of the most prominent projects is Masdar, a carbon-free city in Abu Dhabi expected to be completed in 2020.
Experts say that Masdar will become the first place in the world to have a carbon concentration close to zero thanks to the mechanism of completely using renewable energy. In Masdar, tall buildings will be grouped together to provide shade in narrow passageways leading to large courtyards. In addition, a wind tower was built to take in the air from above, bringing a cool breeze into the city, making the average temperature of the city of about 40,000 people only about 35 o C (different from the heat of summer). can reach close to 60 ° C in Abu Dhabi).
Cities like Masdar or PlantIT Valley have a carbon concentration that is close to zero thanks to the complete use of renewable energy.
The unique feature of Masdar is that recycling and energy conversion are fully utilized to reduce waste to near zero, carbon emissions and industrial emissions are almost negligible. The city will have a pedestrian system and a public transport network powered by solar energy, or electric cars.
An underground transportation system is also invested, with more than 1,500 car and tram stops. The city of Masdar also plans to harvest energy from large solar cells shaped like flowers. During the day, the cells will open, store energy and provide shade for pedestrians, and they will close at night to generate electricity. This can help Masdar produce excess electricity, thereby selling the surplus to the Abu Dhabi city grid.
Masdar was developed with the vision of a global hub for renewable energy and clean technology, inspiring many carbon-free urban ideas around the globe. At the end of September 2019, a zero-carbon housing development project was approved by the Peterborough city government (UK), in response to the green urban development program.
The design includes a sustainable urban drainage system, a carbon-free power generation system along the retail stores and public buildings. The apartment complex will have a grass roof and green walls, located above a supermarket with an area of 300m².
Meanwhile, the Portuguese government plans to build an eco-city PlantIT Valley in the south, using a computer “brain” to manage processes of water use, waste treatment and energy consumption. quantity. PlanIT Valley will operate in an efficient loop, recycling or reusing waste, aiming to become the greenest city in the world.
According to experts, the vertical city will save an extremely effective area, which can completely solve the problem of lack of accommodation due to an increasing population. This is explained by the vertical development structure, allowing hundreds of thousands of residents to live in a single architectural block.
By design, the vertical city consists of many buildings, used for many purposes such as apartments, hotels, or shopping centers. Residents will move by horizontal and vertical sliding elevators, completely free of noise and pollution of vehicle exhaust. When cities only “grow” high, not horizontally, it is possible to reduce the amount of wasted farmland.
The vertical city concept helps to solve the problem of lack of accommodation due to population explosion.
The vertical city is approaching the most sustainable lifestyle that developed countries are aiming for. An architecture firm in Italy has sketched out a project of a 180-storey tower in the United Arab Emirates, promising to create green living space for nearly 30,000 residents.
The city will use solar cells, made of photovoltaic glass panels that can fully supply electricity and water for the whole building, promising to reduce up to 50% of CO2 emissions that are polluting the environment.
Besides, the vertical city is a new trend in the creation of buildings for the 21st century with ecological designs inside, most clearly seen through the concept of building Bionic tower in Shanghai. The tower has a capacity of over 100,000 people and has a height of 1,200m, equivalent to 300 floors, located on an artificial island connected to the mainland.
More daring, Paris-based architecture firm OXO prepares to realize the vertical city of City Sand in the middle of the Sahara, with the ambition to provide high-density residential housing in the arid climate of the desert. The desert includes residential areas, offices, hotels, entertainment centers and a museum.
According to the design concept, the vertical tower will have a height of 450m with an area of about 800,000m², installed with rainwater collection systems, generating electricity from solar energy and geothermal energy. Inside City Sand, the architects intend to create a diverse vegetation at the very center in the form of a vertical garden, which acts as a shield to protect residents, and helps withstand the harsh climate. harshness of the desert.