May 23, 2013 at 11:48Smart cities are here
At the last MBLT 2013 conference , the issue of developing urban infrastructure, the issue of creating Cities of the Future, was raised. It was this section that impressed me the most! After all, each of us dreamed of living in an ideal city in which there are no traffic jams, there is no need to wait for a bus for half an hour, there is no crime, and where in five minutes you can get to a cozy park and relax from the hustle and bustle.
I was interested to see how the age of modern technology has influenced the design of cities in the modern world. In this post I will try to consider examples of design and what they led to.
In all the cities, which will be discussed below, I managed to visit, so I will dilute the dry facts with my subjective impressions.
I could not find a more comfortable city for living in France. Of course, Paris can boast of its attractions, but in Bordeaux it is much more cozy and comfortable.
The first thing that catches your eye is a well-thought-out public transport infrastructure. Special trams have been developed for the city with unique non-contact rail technology , which allows not to disfigure the image of the historical part of the city: Bicycle
paths are equipped everywhere, if you don’t have two wheeled friend means, then renting a bike is not difficult, because rental stations are scattered throughout the city city bicycles:
For residents of the historical part of the city, the city distributes bicycles absolutely free. Both French institutions and large corporations are involved in the improvement and development of urban infrastructure.
Naturally, the problem of electricity consumption is quite relevant, especially against the backdrop of the rejection of nuclear power plants. A plan for the development of the city until 2030 was also developed in this direction , implying the active deployment of alternative sources of energy .
I managed to visit this place quite recently, so my impressions are still fresh. Naturally, I was not driving in pursuit of a smart city, but after a unique panda reserve. But, during the stay, it turned out a lot of interesting things. First, there are only two metro lines in Chengdu, but by 2015 it is planned to build three more lines . By the size of the work - this is the St. Petersburg metro, which they are going to do in 5 years! As it turned out later, the Chinese have their own five-year plan with a global development plan for the city, which, in addition to the metro, includes projects to develop green areas, provide the city with quality infrastructure and efficient use of electricity.
The city administration has a separate plan for the development of green areas, taking into account the explosive growth rate of the city:
In addition to the development of the metro, two transport rings are being actively built, which will reduce the load on the existing infrastructure.
Special attention deserves the design of energy supply of such a metropolis. Naturally, this moment was not missed either:
pink indicates areas with energy efficiency and renewable energy sources, yellow indicates major energy consumers, and orange indicates areas with a high level of greenhouse gas emissions.
Now the city is a large construction site, but in cooperation with large corporations the management is constantly improving and re-planning, so from China in the near future you can expect a bunch of innovations in these areas.
I think a lot of people living in St. Petersburg and Moscow were in Helsinki and can appreciate the transport and environmental status of the city. And it is at the highest level!
Recently, a plan for the further development of the city was adopted, focused on the following areas:
As we know, the city is consistently ranked in the top rating for living comfort, so I won’t produce proposals, but just leave the following video here:
But all this is in distant foreign countries, but how are things going in our homeland? Are there any smart cities in Russia?
When it comes to Russia, the first thing that comes to mind is, of course, Skolkovo : the
authors of the project promise an atmosphere of creativity and innovation, but until the project is completed, it is difficult to draw any conclusions. But, in my opinion, everything looks promising .
But, of course, this is not the only example, now many interesting initiatives are being gradually introduced: contactless travel cards, traffic flow analysis, and so on.
I hope that someday our cities will also combine the power of modern technology and will not yield to the comfort of Helsinki or Bordeaux ...
I think the list of cities, projects and technologies can be continued further. Indeed, in this post neither Japan with the wonders of automation, nor the UAE with an unmanned subway, nor Singapore with its wonderful infrastructure, nor the United States were touched.
The author of the title photo is blogger and traveler Sergey Dolya .
PS An interesting film about the development of smart cities (in six series, the rest are easy to find on youtube)
PPS An error crept into the article, as the RocknRolla user correctly noted during the illustration, a photograph is posted; there is a Skolkovo business school , which is not related to the Skolkovo innovation city . At the moment, one building is completed - Hypercube:
I was interested to see how the age of modern technology has influenced the design of cities in the modern world. In this post I will try to consider examples of design and what they led to.
In all the cities, which will be discussed below, I managed to visit, so I will dilute the dry facts with my subjective impressions.
Bordeaux
I could not find a more comfortable city for living in France. Of course, Paris can boast of its attractions, but in Bordeaux it is much more cozy and comfortable.
The first thing that catches your eye is a well-thought-out public transport infrastructure. Special trams have been developed for the city with unique non-contact rail technology , which allows not to disfigure the image of the historical part of the city: Bicycle
paths are equipped everywhere, if you don’t have two wheeled friend means, then renting a bike is not difficult, because rental stations are scattered throughout the city city bicycles:
For residents of the historical part of the city, the city distributes bicycles absolutely free. Both French institutions and large corporations are involved in the improvement and development of urban infrastructure.
Naturally, the problem of electricity consumption is quite relevant, especially against the backdrop of the rejection of nuclear power plants. A plan for the development of the city until 2030 was also developed in this direction , implying the active deployment of alternative sources of energy .
Chengdu
I managed to visit this place quite recently, so my impressions are still fresh. Naturally, I was not driving in pursuit of a smart city, but after a unique panda reserve. But, during the stay, it turned out a lot of interesting things. First, there are only two metro lines in Chengdu, but by 2015 it is planned to build three more lines . By the size of the work - this is the St. Petersburg metro, which they are going to do in 5 years! As it turned out later, the Chinese have their own five-year plan with a global development plan for the city, which, in addition to the metro, includes projects to develop green areas, provide the city with quality infrastructure and efficient use of electricity.
The city administration has a separate plan for the development of green areas, taking into account the explosive growth rate of the city:
In addition to the development of the metro, two transport rings are being actively built, which will reduce the load on the existing infrastructure.
Special attention deserves the design of energy supply of such a metropolis. Naturally, this moment was not missed either:
pink indicates areas with energy efficiency and renewable energy sources, yellow indicates major energy consumers, and orange indicates areas with a high level of greenhouse gas emissions.
Now the city is a large construction site, but in cooperation with large corporations the management is constantly improving and re-planning, so from China in the near future you can expect a bunch of innovations in these areas.
Helsinki
I think a lot of people living in St. Petersburg and Moscow were in Helsinki and can appreciate the transport and environmental status of the city. And it is at the highest level!
Recently, a plan for the further development of the city was adopted, focused on the following areas:
- Urban design
- Infrastructure
- Service
- Communication with residents
As we know, the city is consistently ranked in the top rating for living comfort, so I won’t produce proposals, but just leave the following video here:
Russia
But all this is in distant foreign countries, but how are things going in our homeland? Are there any smart cities in Russia?
When it comes to Russia, the first thing that comes to mind is, of course, Skolkovo : the
authors of the project promise an atmosphere of creativity and innovation, but until the project is completed, it is difficult to draw any conclusions. But, in my opinion, everything looks promising .
But, of course, this is not the only example, now many interesting initiatives are being gradually introduced: contactless travel cards, traffic flow analysis, and so on.
I hope that someday our cities will also combine the power of modern technology and will not yield to the comfort of Helsinki or Bordeaux ...
I think the list of cities, projects and technologies can be continued further. Indeed, in this post neither Japan with the wonders of automation, nor the UAE with an unmanned subway, nor Singapore with its wonderful infrastructure, nor the United States were touched.
The author of the title photo is blogger and traveler Sergey Dolya .
PS An interesting film about the development of smart cities (in six series, the rest are easy to find on youtube)
PPS An error crept into the article, as the RocknRolla user correctly noted during the illustration, a photograph is posted; there is a Skolkovo business school , which is not related to the Skolkovo innovation city . At the moment, one building is completed - Hypercube: