The cities of the future

Welcome to explainingthefuture.com This time I'm going to talk about future cities. A modern citiy can thought of as a gigantic creature that depends on resources fed to it from around the planet. However, in the future such global supplies cannot be guaranteed. Cities have evolved into sophisticated cybernetic machines for keeping civilization alive. In some respects, cities are therefore humanities greatest achivement. Nevertheless, most cities would descend into anarchy in only 48 hours without a constant suply of food, energy and clean water. The industrial revolution saw a mass migration of people from the countryside. Those who remained on the land then had to develop increasingly intensive farming methods to meet the food requirements of urban dwellers who could not feed themselves. Canals, railways and roads allow the first industrial citites to be supplied with their daily nutrition. However this resulted on a food chain dependent not just on a complex transport infrastructure, but also fuel and modern fertilizers. As a consequence, today every calory we eat also requires the consumption of ten calories of oil. And within a few decades at best this addiction of the modern citiy to petroleum will no longer be sustainable. There are, however, possibilities that the farm might migrate from the countryside. So called vertical farming could involve multitiered city farms in future glass skyscrapers or pyramids. Such stacks of artificial fields would allow city dwellers to harvest crops all year round in areas without available land. They would also significally reduce the energy required for food transportation, would lower crop loss associated with shipping and storage, could recycle their own water and within their sealed environments they even use fewer pesticides. One vertical farm could potentially feed fifty thousand people. However, even before the construction of such massive projects, laws would be passed requiring all new buildings in large cities to have at least some space dedicated to food production. For example, new appartment blocks could be required to include hydroponical allotments on the roof. In addition to food, all cities currently require significant natural resources to meet their raw energy needs. However, alternative technologies, including solar cells, rooftop wind turbines, ground source heat pumps and methane power plants fuelled from domestic rubbish could see future citites becoming, at least, partly energy sufficient. Micropower generation might even extent to physio electric paving slabs to generate electricity from our footsteps, as well as hydrolic plates in road surfaces that would generate power as vehicles drive over them. In addition to producing at leat some of their own food and power, future cities will also have to use fresh water far more efficiently. In part, this is because treating and transporting fresh water is energy intensive. However, half of the world population now live in countries where the water table is falling. Future cities will therefore need to capture and recycle water wherever possible. Future food, energy and water supplies are at best uncertain. The global population of city dwellers also continues to increase. Future cities therefore need to become leaner and more self-sufficient. For more information please see explainingthefuture.com But now, that's it from another video And remember the future is in your hands