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At the time of writing, more than half of mankind, some 3.3 billion people, are living in urban areas. By 2030, this is expected to swell to almost 5 billion. We are simultaneously experiencing a global food crisis resulting from low productivity, government policies diverting food crops to the creation of biofuels, climate change and growing food demand brought on by an exponentially expanding population. The world is heading for a drop in agricultural production of 20 to 40 per cent, depending on the severity and length of the current global droughts. Developed nations have abandoned all notion of self-sufficiency and are hugely dependent on imported food, while food-producing nations are imposing food export restrictions. Food prices will soar and, in poor countries with food deficits, millions will starve.
In a globally sensitive climate, design needs to offer intelligent solutions that focus on need and demonstrate added environmentally sustainable value to regain public and political confidence. Cities are calling out for a new, sustainable co-existence with nature. The Smartcity differentiates itself from the “Eco-city” by embracing new paradigms of programme, form and sociological interaction. It is not a creation from a blank slate, but an evolution of long-standing sustainable principles. It is neither a fixed place nor a singular approach but rather a manifesto for the production of a space relevant for the 21st century.
At the forefront of the Smartcity manifesto is urban agriculture. The hybridisation of agriculture and urban fabric can lead to an association that is symbiotic rather than parasitic, reducing carbon emissions and food shortage in addition to providing less tangible but equally significant environmental and social benefits. Food in most cultures is the glue that binds families and communities, and restoration of the primal link between the town-dwellers and their sustenance would constitute an important foundation to an increasingly ungrounded universe.
The desire for fresh healthy food has been in existence since time immemorial. Refrigeration and rapid transport systems have, to a certain extent, made time and distance an irrelevance. However, processing, packaging, transportation and storage account for 80 per cent of the energy used to place food on the kitchen table. Produce travels an average of 2,092 to 3,219 kilometres (1,300 to 2,000 miles) from farmer to consumer. A new breed of individual, the citizen farmer, harvesting crops from the concrete jungle, will cut unnecessary carbon emissions in a single stroke, while providing ready access to nutritional, seasonal and flavoursome produce. There will be no second, third and fourth parties responsible for the commoditisation, giving a new meaning to hand-to-mouth existence.
Urban agriculture is not a new phenomenon; its popularity and adoption has waxed and waned over the millennia, from the recycling of urban wastes and tunnel irrigation networks in Ancient Persia for agriculture, to the stepped cities and farming terraces of Machu Picchu that can be considered as a precursor to hydroponics. Proposed intervention sites vary considerably in scale and context. Within dense urban areas, rooftops, windowsills, balconies and walls can be appropriated for the growth of edible crops, evoking the spirit of the Second World War British victory garden when America was still in the midst of the Great Depression. In a remarkably ambitious programme, gardening classes, literature, seeds, fertiliser and committees were organised, yielding 40 per cent of the country’s non-military produce at the time.
The notion that the efficiencies achieved through technology and good design result in increased unemployment is a fallacy – the logical corollary of improved efficiency is increased productivity. In this technologically advanced age we live in, there are shortages in food, shortages of basic living standards, shortages of education and literacy. There should be no shortages of jobs. The Smartcity programme comes with a host of fresh employment opportunities that are cross-sector and require a range of skills in renewable energy, recycling, agriculture, construction and transportation industries.
The business case for “greening” the economy is robust. A UN report on green jobs indicates that with energy and commodity costs soaring and growing pressure to adopt greener practices, the global market for environmental products and services is projected to double from $1,370 billion per year at present to $2,740 billion by 2020. Half of this market is based in energy efficiency and the balance is in sustainable transport, water supply, sanitation and waste management. The potential for improving labour markets is greatest in developing nations, where over 40 per cent of the global workforce and their dependants are condemned to a life in poverty and insecurity.
For the Smartcities programme to be identifiable and to successfully foster societal cohesion, the public realm must be fully reclaimed. Tired existing cities can be re-energised and new sustainable developments flourish through exuberant greening and the cultivation of green open spaces. Plazas, parks, waterfronts, boats, car parks and greyfield sites where appropriate sunlight levels are available are all viable locations for cultivation. The metrics of urban exuberance will be clearly manifest, growing before our eyes while beautifying our environment, providing nutrition and facilitating social interaction.
In peri-urban areas, the intervention is more profound and far-reaching. New housing developments can be planned to integrate farming at the scale of landscape. Buildings can be planted into the natural topography, surfaced in growing media, oriented to receive or protect from sunlight, and integrate water conservation and waste recycling components. In addition to supplying food for consumption and commodity, energy demand can be dramatically reduced. With food production concentrated in urban and peri-urban areas, agricultural land in outlying areas can be used for the growth of biofuels, without causing deforestation abroad.
Smartcity strategies are inclusive, engaging all age groups, cultures and ethnicities. It is a mindset questioning the way we live, driven by its inhabitants and prioritising human sustainability above all else. Smartcity living does not ask for “more” but determines how to use less to create a more healthy mental and physical existence.
by CJ Lim
From the Glass Archive – Issue Three – Promise