"Houston, we have a problem" – Apollo 13 once radioed to Earth – and was brought back safely to Earth by NASA in a breathtaking operation. How wonderful it would be if our cities could solve their immense current problems with a simple radio message. But Houston is broadcasting on a different frequency. – A guest article by Joachim Goetz, published in MCBW Mag.
The "rescue" of cities sounds somewhat American: Smart City, Smart Mobility, Smart Governance, Growth, Grid, Home. Sure, the basic smartphone technology originates from Cupertino. But our historically developed European cities have little to learn from American cities. Rental bikes are laughed at across the pond, and car sharing is in its very early testing phase.
In this country, however, there's hardly a major car company that doesn't have a car-sharing program running. Why? Because the long-hesitant carmakers realized that the available space isn't sufficient for a functioning car traffic system (anymore for much longer).
Our cities are becoming increasingly crowded within, spiraling ever higher into the sky and ever deeper into the earth. Green spaces and open areas are shrinking, land prices are rising. Infrastructure is barely keeping pace, but traffic continues to grow – and is becoming more confusing thanks to innovative means of transportation such as e-bikes, Segways, scooters, and scooters. Other problems include urban heating, rising groundwater levels, and poor ventilation. The increase in air pollution is endangering the health of city dwellers and worsening living conditions.
Wanted: the jack of all trades
Smart technologies are now supposed to fix it. This is reminiscent of the belief in progress of the 1960s. Since the turn of the millennium, the term "smart city" has been floating around – without a clear definition. Digitalization and diverse networking play the most important role. Holistic development concepts are intended to make the city smart: more efficient, more technologically advanced – and also greener, more sustainable, and more socially inclusive. These concepts incorporate technical, economic, and social innovations. In light of climate change, they should also be sustainable and CO2-neutral. In short: the smart city is intended to be a jack of all trades. It offers less space for the individual – but should not constrain them. New ideas please!
About ten years ago, Masdar, a currently stagnant smart city project, was launched in Abu Dhabi. Its architecture was designed by Norman Foster. Numerous innovative technology companies are involved: Siemens, BASF, Bayer, Shell, Rolls-Royce, Fiat, etc. The initial euphoria promised to attract up to 1,500 innovative companies to the city, which has a population of 50,000.
Smart City – Ideal city in the desert
The plan was for a utopia without waste, without CO2 emissions, and without cars. The first phase of construction was completed, including the university campus, the technical center, and residential buildings—for example, for the 170 postgraduate international students studying renewable energy. In the technical basement, on which the city rests, waste is sorted and prepared for recycling. An impressive public transport system is also being tested here. Driverless four-person cabins on rails, developed by the Dutch company 2getthere, transport passengers at speeds of up to 40 km/h to the exit point, which is selected at the push of a button and is no more than 200 meters from the actual above-ground destination.
Many things worked, some went wrong
And many are disturbed and frightened by the idea of eking out their (unfree, technology-dominated) existence in such an artificial, regulated environment.
This is fodder for the critics. They consider the construction of a "smart city"—as pursued by other urban startups such as Songdo City in South Korea or PlanIT Valley in Portugal—to be misguided. Adam Greenfield (in his polemic "Against the Smart City") speaks of technocratic visions and laboratories in which people are shuffled around like a chessboard and smart city technologies are tested, with the aim of offering them turnkey solutions worldwide. Greenfield doubts the success of networked information technology for the established urban fabric and its relationships.
Cities are multifaceted, heterogeneous organisms; what exactly should be optimized must be determined very precisely. In advance.
This makes the Fraunhofer Institute in Stuttgart with the project »Morgenstadt«To put it bluntly, the future is not being built in concrete, but rather an intensive and precise analysis of the current urban situation is being carried out first.
Fraunhofer focuses on “tomorrow’s city”
The focus is on a more cautious approach to development with the help of the population – although skeptics complain that too few civil society decision-makers, citizens' initiatives, and NGOs are involved. Anthony Townsend believes that we shouldn't rely solely on IT specialists when creating smart cities. They might downplay the dangers that could arise from data misuse, unreliability of technology – such as the cloud – or even sabotage.
Cloud computing outages can turn cities into zombies: Residents are no longer allowed into their smart homes, employees are no longer allowed into their offices or smart toilets – which would, of course, be worse…
Smart governance and smart growth – that is, the involvement of many different stakeholders and well-considered urban planning decisions – can provide a remedy. This is what Munich is trying to achieve. Within the framework of the EU's "Horizon 2020" program, the "Smarter Together" project (together with Vienna and Lyon) aims to involve citizens in the planning of the Freiham district and the energy-efficient renovation of Neuaubing, "going far beyond the current formats." District labs are planned in which users will develop solutions "together with companies and local implementers." Let's see what comes of it.
In many areas, the smart new world has already hatched, for example in mobility. A glance at the sidewalk reveals that today's smart pedestrians rely on their 4-inch displays for directions – instead of asking others for directions as they once did. Ride-sharing and car sharing work effectively (only) thanks to smartphone technology.
Smart Mobility as a pioneer
The same applies to rental bikes, such as those offered by Munich's MVG (or the train), which are intended to encourage more people to leave their cars and switch to public transport as a way to get to their final destination. Tickets can also be purchased via an app.
Intelligent highways are intended to get us to our destinations faster – sometimes with detours, but without traffic jams.
The parking app guides users directly to a free parking space. Since 30 percent of car traffic in Munich's city center is spent searching for parking spaces, users of this app save time and fuel, protect the environment, and clear the often congested streets.
Impressive: This clever street lamp only dims when cars are approaching. This multi-talented device also functions as an electric charging station for e-bikes and e-cars. The lamp becomes a Wi-Fi hotspot, measures CO2 and particulate matter, and can use a thermal imaging camera – even data-neutrally – to determine traffic volume and control it via further networking, such as with a traffic light.
Living visions – bottom up
When it comes to housing, citizens often think more visionarily and at the same time more practically than administrations – and simply implement their future projects with smart city potential. For example, the cooperative Art Living Works in Munich, the goal was to create permanent living, working, and exhibition spaces for creatives—who are often shuffled around with "temporary solutions" like wagons in a freight yard. The acquisition and conversion of a former clothing factory followed. Communal use here ranges from the vehicle to the exhibition space on the ground floor and the roof terrace with an adjoining communal hall and kitchen.
»VinziRast – right in the middle" is a unique social housing project in Vienna. Formerly homeless people and students live and learn together under one roof. With the help of many private donors, companies, and volunteers, the building was completely renovated. A similar project is underway in Munich. "Bellevue di Monaco« realized.
Plants for the city
Also at »Type of ventureIn Munich's Domagk Park, designed by Bogevisch's Büro and Schindler Hable Architekten – recently awarded the 2016 German Urban Development Prize – experimental new forms of housing are being tested under the motto "Building Community!" Unusual: cluster apartments, in which up to eight apartments are grouped around a kitchen and living room. Also included: a huge village square, a laundry café, a sewing room, and a communal studio. All residents are welcome to use the terraces surrounding the house, urban gardening areas, and the landscaped gardens at the top, all under the open sky. All of this is done out of conviction.
Every green roof stores rainwater, relieves pressure on the sewer system, and prevents flooding. Plants at the top reduce roof heating in summer and insulate it in winter.
In addition, plants – trees, of course, primarily – store the CO2 responsible for global warming. The transpiration of their leaves also creates evaporative cooling, which can noticeably lower air temperatures in summer. Extensive vertical facade greening, so-called green walls, are also becoming a hit. With the help of complex technology, their dense, bushy growth transforms once unsightly fire walls into chlorophyll-soaked, artistic reliefs.
Urban gardeners use vacant land and rooftops to grow vegetables. Urban farming involves producing food close to where it's consumed. This saves energy because it's not trucked in from Spain. The lettuce is also richer in vitamins because it's stored for less time. Such organic, bottom-up initiatives naturally give hope that we'll succeed in developing our cities independently and making them smarter. Without Houston's help, which could only promise us cities on some distant Mars.
Prague – the first “city of tomorrow”
The Fraunhofer Institute developed the "Morgenstadt" model for sustainable urban development and initiated the "City Challenge" urban competition. Winners: Prague, Chemnitz, and Lisbon. A benchmarking exercise and the resulting graphic show deficits and fulfilled expectations in the form of differently colored tiles.
Important factors were whether goals were developed jointly with the population, whether municipal budgets were specifically oriented toward sustainability, and whether planning was long-term. 120 indicators, some of which were individual, measure the urban systems. These include unemployment, gross domestic product, public transport usage, and conscious decision-making for renewable energies, as well as boundary conditions such as geographical, sociocultural, or political characteristics. Prague's shortcomings: "Smart governance" is lacking, as is an energy balance of buildings. There are problems with the expansion of renewable energy. Goals for 2050: Development of an energy atlas, intermodal transport hubs, and a virtual power plant.
About the author
Joachim Goetz is an editor and graduate engineer in architecture. He runs the editorial office for Architecture + Art + Design in Munich, writes about design topics, and also advises small and micro-enterprises on marketing and publishing issues. In 2016, he was awarded third prize in the Architecture and Urban Planning Media Prize by the Federal Chamber of Architects.
You can find out more about innovative ideas and products at the MCBW Startup Demo Night.
