Today’s unpredictable weather pattern, polluted environment, and seismic activities make it difficult for us to live peacefully without fear of becoming victims of this changing world. An interesting thought is presented by Rachel Armstrong wherein mankind’s future depends on the creation of living cities.
The cities we’re living in now
Our homes, building infrastructures, and cities in general were built without any regard to the negative effects that they’ll incur to our environment. Aside from continually polluting the environment, the increase in population created a serious issue on water consumption. Harmful chemicals are produced daily causing our bodies to slowly deteriorate along with the deterioration of the environment. Our homes can’t even protect us from earthquakes and floods. When nature becomes our enemy, we are sure to lose.
What are living cities?
Armstrong suggests the idea of creating living cities to help with water supply issues, pollution, seismic activities, and inevitable disasters is certainly a wise concept. Using protocell technology and synthetic biology, buildings and homes can be healed. Protocell coating can make static buildings into a living one allowing them to repair themselves, filter water and gather morning dews, neutralize toxins in the air, and slowly cleaning the environment. These new materials will co-exist with the old infrastructures. The living cities will become guardians to those living inside their walls.
You can read the whole article here.
If the idea of the living city of the future becomes a reality, where would you want to live?