It’s a lot more common in recent years to hear how we need to reinvent the economy, change cities, rethink how we live within planetary boundaries. However, actual examples to follow seem to be very small-scale and dreams of change project large-scale visions. “Real life” examples beyond hobbies or purely volunteer models are a bit harder to find.
Intriguing project led by the Adel Design Research (ADR) Laboratory at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. Called a “Robotically Fabricated Structure,” it might actually be more interesting for the algorithm component than the robots.
Today let’s look at some ideas that are perhaps a bit further afield than our usual focus but that can inform our thinking on cities from a broader perspective.
Within REFLOW, six pilot cities tested diverse approaches to circularity in cities by focussing on the flow of resources in urban settings and on the “making” aspect to empower citizens and engage various governmental and industrial partners.
There are a lot of ways to transform cities, and people often focus on new technologies, changing streets, adding parks, building differently, and all of these can work. However, there’s a way that might sound simpler but can actually have a huge impact and change how all the other ones are implemented: governance. How are governments run, by whom and for whom? A growing number of cities and nations are hoping to repair dysfunctional democracies with citizens’ assemblies.
