X CITY REPORT

ENBE | Final Project | Part A – Report | The Future City Representation

Better Cities of the Future

THE NEW FLIGHT: SKY HIGH

Tee Su Ann| 0318414

FNBE FEB 2014 | Taylor’s University

Tee Su Ann | 0318414 | Group i | FNBE Feb 2014 | Taylor’s University1


Content:

1. Introduction (describe the project brief, the things that you have to do etc)

2. A City (describe the definition, your findings and information on what is a city-characteristic etc) Investigation on Better City Guidelines and Issues (Information that may help you with your city proposal)

3. Investigation & Data Collection: Ancient and old cities (describe the city.. give a conclusion. 1-2 cities preferably almost similar to your selected future city )

4. Investigation & Data Collection: The present city/cities (describe the city.. give a conclusion. 1-2 cities preferably almost similar to your selected future city )

5. Investigation & Data Collection: The future city/cities (maybe find information through movies and competition. Describe the city.. give a conclusion. 1-2 cities preferably almost similar to your selected future city )

6. Case study on the selected type of the future city (describe and describe the characteristic)

7. The New “X” City / Or the new name (describe the new facilities, characters etc of the new city)

8. The Conclusion (describe what was important and others should follow or perhaps should know and what did you learned)

9. References list



1. Introduction

The last project was to propose a new future city, the X city. The main purpose of this assignment was to allow us students to understand the component and elements of a city and what makes a better future city.

In order to survive from a doomed city, we as mayors were to propose a new and well-structured city plan for a future city that would be able to uphold a sustainable living environment assisted with proper future technology for our people to enhance the way of living in the future.

We were required to carry out an in-depth research on what makes up a city, city planning, sustainable living environments of a city, the definition and elements of sustainability itself and other elements that contributes to building a city and then come up with a proposal of a future city.



2. The City

2.1 THE CITY DEFINITION.

Cit-y (sĭt′ē

A City is generally defined as a large populated urban center of commerce and administration with a system of laws and, usually, regulated means of sanitation. The concept of a city in each country varies and there are differences between how one defines a city. However, all cities do display a various degrees of forethought and conscious design in their layout and functioning.

The designation `City' can be based on such factors as the:

population of the settlement height of buildings

density of buildings/population

presence of some kind of sewer system

level of administrative government

presence of walls and/or fortifications

geographical area of the settlement

or whether a `settlement' was called a `city' in antiquity and fits at least one of the above qualifications.

Cities house a large community and have complex systems for utilities, amenities, zoning of areas, land usage, transportation networks, sanitation, road systems, education systems and etcetera. They create opportunities for the constant development of sustainable land-use and it is where communities interact with the space to live, learn, explore and continuously grow its population size.


http://www.ancient.eu.com/city/


2.2 BRIEF HISTORY

In ancient time, a ‘city’ was often known as an urban center of dense population and a certain pattern of buildings spreading out from central religious complex such as a temple.

The word ‘city’ was derived from the Latin word civitas. Professor M. E. Smith of Arizona State University writes in The Sage Encyclopedia of Urban Studies, that, "The demographic definition, based on the concepts of Louis Wirth, identifies cities as large, dense settlements with social heterogeneity" (26), meaning that they are defined as large communities of people who have decided to live together for a common purpose under laws observed by all. This definition, however, could apply equally well to large villages as to cities.

On the other hand, Professor George Modelski, of the University of Washington, encourages a definition based on the word ok the historian Tertius Chandler ( in his book Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth ) which defines a city, as distinct from a village, based upon population. Modelski also concludes that this is still the best way to distinguish a large settlement from an actual city because population density is considered the most accurate factor in making such a determination.

The first cities which fit both Chandler’s and Wirth’s definitions of a ‘city’ developed in the region known as Mesopotamia between 4500 and 3100 BCE. First settled in c.4500 BCE, the city of Uruk is considered the oldest in the world today. Uruk is the only contender for the title of ‘oldest city’ among other ancient cities as it has physical evidence and written documentation, in the form of cuneiform texts, dating the activities of the community from the earliest period.


http://www.ancient.eu.com/cities/


2.3 WHAT MAKES A CITY1. Buildings ( Geographic centre of the city)

- Symbolizing religious and absolute power

- Symbolizing Civic and Regal Power

- Symbolizing Military/Police power

- Symbolizing Legal Power

- Symbolizing Financial and Administrative

- Symbolizing Knowledge and technology of the society

2. Areas

- Professional/Administrators Accommodation

- Storage-Goods-Warehouse/Distribution

- Workers/Slaves Accommodation

- Markets

- Industry

- Central Common ground

3. Systems

- Public Service Administration System

- Legal Justice System

- Military/Police system

- Roads/Transport System

- Food/Produce/Market/Distribution System

- Water & Sanitation System

- Power System

- Public Standard of Living

a. Health System



b. Education System

c. Public Welfare & Entertainment System

2.4 WHAT MAKES A GOOD CITY

One of the frequently asked questions, how does we define a good city? What makes an urban environment desirable and what influences a city to be livable?

A good city for talking, watching and experiencing includes:

low level of noise and few disturbances intimate public spaces fine views and good details interesting facades, window displays and exhibits a lively, diverse and safe city to move around in a wide variety of uses both day and night residences to ensure a 24 hour city educational institutions to ensure life and vitality open in the evenings with lit window displays safe places and streets day and night.

A good city needs walkability that includes:

room to walk with dignity, integrity and without overcrowding comfortable climatic conditions – sun and shade depending on the season and

protection from the wind pleasant facades at street level to stroll alongside and observe good conditions for people with disabilities and people with prams clear structure in the pedestrian system – it should be easy to find your way around a pedestrian system that connects important destinations ability to promenade through the city good walking rhythm with few interruptions few and short waiting times at intersections many well-placed benches widespread secondary seating – such as steps and edges of planter boxes well-situated cafes and outdoor restaurants beautiful and effective lighting

A good city needs social and cultural exchanges such as:

space for cultural activities and communication space for street theatre, clowns and jesters, music and small-scale commercial

activities Democratic public spaces for all.



2.5 WHAT IS THE FUTURE CITY?

There is no definite way to define a future city or visualize a futuristic life as we now live in the present and our opinions of a future city may vary from each other. In my opinion, everything that a future city needs to acquire is to achieve the title of a sustainable city.

A sustainable city is also a city that is green and clean, where renewable energy resources to generate our city without causing any conflict such as pollution to our city. Renewable energy resources such as solar power, wind power, hydrolytic power, wave power should be taken into consideration to build a clean future city (zero carbon emissions). The city has to be a place where a new generation of life can be developed along with a well-planned system of the city. This is so that energy does not run out and the city uses clean energy daily.

Walkability should be considered in the planning of the future city as it contributes to a sustainable lifestyle of a city. Transportation like maglev trains and cycling should be applied in the transportation network to allow easy movement around the city.



3. Investigation & Data Collection:

ANCIENT CITIES

The Oldest Skyscraper city in the World : Yemen’s Shibam

Standing out of the desert in the South Arabian Peninsula, ancient high-rise apartment buildings made of mud meet the eye. Centuries before the modern age of skyscrapers, the Middle East claimed the title of having the oldest skyscraper on the earth. Shibam in the central of Yemen is a place thought to have existed since the 2nd Century AD. Mainly constructed and built with mud bricks made from local clay, around 500 if Shibam’s buildings are tower houses standing between 5 and 11 storeys tall. These are known as the tallest mud buildings in the world (some even over 100ft high). The building practice was employed to protect inhabitants from attacks by enemies.



An interesting fact from the urban planning of Shibam is such that the streets are too narrow for traffic to pass through as houses in Shibam have the nature of being tightly-packed together. This not only creates a mirage but it also prevents pollution as inhabitants do not use cars to pass through the streets.

However, there are disadvantages to the built form of Shibam. As it is built by mud clay, the stability of the buildings in Shibam does not last long. Rain and erosion has been a constant factor to the downfall of Shibam. The city had to be restored and saved several times as the built form of Shibam’s city was unable to survive long.

From the study of this ancient city, I can conclude that the city planning of Shibam city was not well planned as it was not able to survive from several natural disasters and it has also experienced a few. However, the mirage created by the city was really fascinating and I learned that the arrangement of buildings can produce such a result. Therefore, I learned that a city needs to be able to withstand attacks from natural disasters or war and the materials used in the construction of buildings need to be strong enough to sustain itself from any disastrous threat.



One of the things I would like to include in my X city from what I have learned while gaining knowledge about this Skyscraper city is to build my residential houses close to each other. I found it interesting how the narrow streets restricted any space for traffic. This means that less vehicle can pass through these streets. It would be an ideal thing to allow inhabitants of my city to be able to experience walkability in their residential area. The narrows streets between the buildings will encourage walkability in neighborhoods of my city and this leads to a sustainable living environment.




PRESENT CITIES

The Green City : Amsterdam

Known as Netherlands’ largest city, with just 750,000 inhabitants, Amsterdam is the business and financial centre of the country, with a wide range of business services.Amsterdam is placed fifth overall in the European Green City Index, with a score of 83.03 out of 100. The city ranks highest out of all cities for water, waste and also land use. The focus of addressing environmental concerns strengthens with a fairly small population in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam achieved the title of a smart city through many efforts made by their green environmental government. In mid-2009, Amsterdam launched Smart City Amsterdam, a collaborative project with its inhabitants, authorities, research institutions and businesses. This included a series of environmental pilot schemes for a period of two years. The main goal was intended to reduce energy consumption and reduce CO2 emissions while focusing on the themes of living, working, mobility, public facilities and open data. These schemes were to take place in 3 areas in the Amsterdam Metropolitan region – Nieuw West, Zuidoost, Ijburg.



There are many projects that took place in efforts of pursuing the smart city that Amsterdam is now. Applications were created, climate street was developed, Geuzenveld- a sustainable neighborhood now exists with energy feedback display smart meters, smart traffic management was encouraged, smart schools and smart work, free wifi was offered all around Amsterdam, flexible street lighting was introduced, a smart parking system was enabled and many other efforts were introduced in order develop Amsterdam into a smart city.

Besides that, Amsterdam is popular for taking great efforts to promote greener means of transport and has made it successful. The citizens of Amsterdam shows a higher preference of bicycle over cars when it comes to moving around the city from one place to another. Studies prove that in the period 2005 to 2007, residents used their bicycle an average of 0.87 times a day and their car 0.84 times. Approximately three out of four of Amsterdam residents own a bicycle, and bicycles are the most commonly used form of transport. However this was not achieved overnight, the municipal authority of Amsterdam made it possible through 30 years of encouraging bicycle use by providing cycle paths and lanes; bicycle and pedestrian friendly roads and an extensive network of parking facilities for bicycles. ‘Hoofdnet Fiets’ bicycle network provides the main bicycle routes through the city and ensures the safety and comfort of every citizen accessing Amsterdam by bicycle.

After studying about Amsterdam city, I now understand that to achieve a smart and green city, the government has to be very firm on addressing environmental concerns. The plans for



working out a green city has to interact with the city’s inhabitants, authorities, business and research institutes in order to successfully develop a green city.

From this case study, I would like to imply my city to be green and sustainable like Amsterdam. Amsterdam inspires me to develop my X city into a green environment whereby energy consumption can be saved and reduced and my people will learn to appreciate the importance of a sustainable and green lifestyle. Other than that, I would encourage walkability in my X city by building many accessible pedestrian walkways, developing pedestrian friendly roads, bike lanes, and facilities for bicycle parking. This will allow my city to be free from carbon emissions as I restrict the usage of vehicles.




FUTURE CITIES

The Ideal City: Masdar CityMasdar City is a $22 billion project of the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company ( Masdar) which is currently under construction and is due to be completed in 2016.It aims to be the first zero-carbon emissions and zero-waste city, the master plan for Masdar City integrates many passive design and planning strategies with renewable energy production to achieve its ambitious sustainability goals.



Masdar city has made many efforts to design the Masdar city’s Headquaters into the world’s first mixed-use, positive-energy building. Several sustainable design strategies and systems would be integrated into the very form of the structure to create a building that would achieve the lowest impact in terms of energy, water, and waste, while maintaining occupant comfort.



One of the main form-making strategies is a ventilation strategy derived from the region’s traditional ventilation elements. One of the ventilation elements used in this environmentally responsive architecture was the wind tower. Besides installing wind towers around Masdar’s HQ, the building form was also built so that it shades the entire building structure to reduce its solar heat gain. A seven-acre large canopy was used to create a super structure around which the building spaces and functions are arranged in order to achieve this.

In addition to its role in shading, the roof canopy also serves a purpose of being one of the world’s largest photovoltaic and solar thermal arrays, simultaneously producing electricity solar energy and providing thermal energy for solar cooling. This concept was inspired by local and regional traditional buildings where screens and shading played a dominant role.



Other than focusing on ventilation, Masdar City has also worked hard to achieve reduction of temperature. No cars which meant no hydrocarbon produced. This ultimately needs to a drop in temperature as Masdar city achieves zero carbon emissions by doing this. Instead of using cars to for transport, Masdar City allows its inhabitants to move around the city with PRT ( Public Rapid Transport ) which is completely free from carbon emissions. PRT is a electric pod that works on electrical power which comes from a renewable energy source. Not only does this method prevent air pollution, it creates a very sustainable lifestyle for the residents of Masdar City.

A sustainable city would be incomplete without renewable energy resources. In this case, Masdar city has planned and designed its city in a way that renewable energy resources are fully utilized and recycled to generate the city. Photovoltaic panels are installed on buildings, open areas are also covered with photovoltaic panels to

generate electricity to the headquarters and throughout the city. From this case study, I can conclude that a city can actually be generated by renewable and clean energy. This gives us hope in building a green and zero carbon emission city which could lead us to a better future.

One of the many things I would like to include in my future X city is, wind towers to reduce the temperature of my city on a hot day. This allows my city to regulate air ventilation around my city. Next, I would incorporate renewable energy use with installing numerous solar panels around my city to generate electricity and also to provide thermal energy for solar cooling. Besides that, public rapid transport is one of the elements that I would want to include in my city’s transportation network in order to allow easy movement around my city without emitting carbon that will pollute my city.



6. Case study on the selected type of the future city

Basically, I did most of my research online, browsing from pages of texts and pictures to videos of any relation to my case studies. I focused on anything that was connected to planning for a green, sustainable city and what were the elements of a green city.

I also searched for definitions and terms I did not understand in order to learn more about how to build a city, what more a future floating in the sky city. I watched a lot of videos that taught me how a future city would look like and what kind of requirements a future city would need to acquire.

As for important considerations for my future city, I would acknowledge the issue of a possibility of overcrowding my city. Therefore, I would have to build a city whereby my city itself can grow with the population of my people. I would also ensure that my city consists of spaces for human activities and interactions. I need to also address the concerns of the



environment by building eco-friendly spaces and using clean renewable energy to generate my city.

Besides that, the transportation network around my city should be built such that it is easily accessible and fast. There would be no cars with hydrocarbon my city to prevent carbon emission that will pollute my city.

I will also consider the zoning of the city such as government buildings, commercial area, recreational areas, educational areas, agricultural areas, industrial areas, hospitals, services areas, green areas, religious and cultural areas, residential areas, port and shipping areas, hospitality and tourism areas. Other than that, I will also have to consider the sustainable approaches to my city, climate change to my city, and other services such as military, security, research centres and technology used)

7. The New “X” City / The New NAME?

The New Flight : SKY HIGH

After a series of earthquake and floods has been detected to overtake lands of Subang Jaya in Malaysia, residents of Subang Jaya had nowhere to go. A solution was proposed in order to solve this issue, that solution was a city in the sky, Sky High.

Why a city floating in the air instead of a city underground or a city on water? Because as mayor I



thought of going up into the sky where land was unlimited and space was in abundance. And that is how I thought of proposing a city in the sky.

When the city is on air, we don’t have to worry for lack of space or land for citizens. Renewable energy can be used to generate the energy such as wind energy, solar power and water energy. These are all renewable energy available up in the sky. The wind can be collected from the air movement, solar power from the sun and water from rainwater.

One of the few elements I would like to include in Sky High is to have my city generated by renewable energy resources as stated above. I would design my city to have solar panels, wind turbines, rain water catchers in order to gain energy to generate my city.

As for transportation means, I will design the transportation network such that it is easily accessible and convenient to move around the city. There will be four levels in my future city and there will be a transport tube connecting to all these four levels. The transport tube will carry all the supplies, people and waste to each level of the city.

The first level will represent the military centre and airport, the second level of the city will represent the main city, the third level represents the agricultural area whereas the last represents the industrial area. I will incorporate walkability in my city and design my city to have numerous bicycle lanes, pedestrian-friendly walkways and facilities for bicycle uses. The design of the buildings will be such that it will shade each other in the residential area. Other than that, I would also build wind towers around Sky High to reduce temperature each zones.





CITY PLANS – LEVEL 1 : AIRPORT AND MILITARY CENTRE

Legends :Red : Transport tubeDark green : Research InstituteLight brown : Military check point Grey: AirportYellow : Solar power plant with panelsDark brown: communication centreBlue: Rain water drainage area

CITY PLANS – LEVEL2 : MAIN CITY AREA



Legends : (from centre to outer layer )Red : Transport tubePink: Government buildingLight brown: Religious and cultural areaPeach: commercial arealight grey: Public and service areaDark Grey: Business areaPurple: Tourism areaGreen: Recreational areaLight blue: Community areaYellow: Educational areaOrange: Residential areaDark brown: Police stationDark blue: HospitalBoxes with X : train stopRed arrows : transport flow

CITY PLANS – LEVEL3 : AGRICULTURAL AREA



Legends ( from centre to outer part )

RED : Transport tube

CIRCLE WITH X : Main train station

DARK PINK : Commercial area

PEACH: Public service area

LIGHT GREEN : Recreational area

ORANGE: Residential area

DARK GREEN: Agricultural area

DARK BROWN: Livestock area

LIGHT BLUE : Wind turbine power station

DARK BLUE: Rain water drainage area

YELLOW: Educational area

DARK GREY: Business area

LIGHT PINK: Police stations

LIGHT GREY: Hospitals

CITY PLANS – LEVEL4 : INDUSTRIAL AREA



LEGENDS ( From centre to outer part )

RED : Transport tube

CIRCLE WITH X : Main transport centre

DARK BLUE: Electrical industrial area

MEDIUM BLUE: Water supply station

LIGHT BLUE: Rain water drainage area

YELLOW: Solar power plant station

ORANGE: Residential area

BROWN: Waste management area

Boxes with X : Train stations/ pit stops for transportation



8. Conclusion

After studying the definition of a city and the elements of a city, I found it important that one understands how to plan a city, especially understanding terms and the requirements to build a city.

Elements such as transportation network, sewage network, energy supply network and zonings of the city. It is significant to design the city such that the citizens can interact with the spaces of the city and allow human activities to take place in a certain space.Besides that, sustainability and walkability are two very important elements in proposing a city. This is to ensure that the city is livable and the period of survival for the city lasts a very long time.

Another thing I have learned from this is that a city represents something significant; it centres a government or a zone that signifies something.

9. Reference Links



http://www.theguardian.com/what-future-urban-livinghttp://www.art.net/~hopkins/Don/simcity/manual/history.htmlhttp://www.activehealthycommunities.com.au/content/case-study-characteristics-good-cityhttp://c2.com/cgi/wiki?FloatingCitieshttp://www.ancient.eu.com/city/http://www.ucadia.com/me/m19/m190500.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/environment/europeangreencapital/winning-cities/previous-finalists/amsterdam/index.htmlhttp://www.thecrystal.org/assets/download/European-Green-City-Index.pdfhttp://www.amusingplanet.com/2012/05/manhattan-of-desert-shibam-yemen.htmlhttp://www.weather.com/travel/shibam-hadhramaut-manhattan-desert-yemen-20131028http://www.amsterdam.info/community/http://www.internations.org/amsterdam-expatshttp://bioshock.wikia.com/wiki/Columbiahttp://masdarcity.ae/en/30/sustainability-and-the-city/http://www.carboun.com/sustainable-design/masdar-headquarters-the-first-positive-energy-building-in-the-middle-east/


http://www.carboun.com/sustainable-design/masdar-headquarters-the-first-positive-energy-building-in-the-middle-east/

http://www.carboun.com/sustainable-design/masdar-headquarters-the-first-positive-energy-building-in-the-middle-east/

http://masdarcity.ae/en/30/sustainability-and-the-city/

http://bioshock.wikia.com/wiki/Columbia

http://www.internations.org/amsterdam-expats

http://www.amsterdam.info/community/

http://www.weather.com/travel/shibam-hadhramaut-manhattan-desert-yemen-20131028

http://www.weather.com/travel/shibam-hadhramaut-manhattan-desert-yemen-20131028

http://www.amusingplanet.com/2012/05/manhattan-of-desert-shibam-yemen.html

http://www.amusingplanet.com/2012/05/manhattan-of-desert-shibam-yemen.html

http://www.thecrystal.org/assets/download/European-Green-City-Index.pdf

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/europeangreencapital/winning-cities/previous-finalists/amsterdam/index.html

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/europeangreencapital/winning-cities/previous-finalists/amsterdam/index.html

http://www.ucadia.com/me/m19/m190500.htm

http://www.ancient.eu.com/city/

http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?FloatingCities

http://www.activehealthycommunities.com.au/content/case-study-characteristics-good-city

http://www.activehealthycommunities.com.au/content/case-study-characteristics-good-city

http://www.art.net/~hopkins/Don/simcity/manual/history.html

http://www.theguardian.com/what-future-urban-living

Technology

X CITY REPORT