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Overpopulation and the Vertical City: Science Fiction Becomes Reality (part 2)
BY R ACH E L STA N L EY
When I was growing up, I used to play a game called S imCity (a city building computer game). Towards the end of the game, once your city became
overpopulated, you would develop the ability to build an Arco. These were
massively tall structures taking up minimal ground with enormous population
potential. In my childish daydreams I always thought they looked like awesome places to live. Recently, I’ve been getting excited that maybe these
daydreams were not so childish after all. Maybe now we have the innovations to build them, and to solve the challenges of overpopulation in the real
world, just like they do in the computer game.
Doing a bit of research I discovered the Arco is actually based on the idea
of Arcology (the fusing of “architecture” and “ecology”), first developed in
science fiction stories over a hundred years ago. These were hyper-dense
cities designed to minimize the use of energy, raw materials and land. So
this idea is not new. But the key difference between now and when the concept was born is that I believe that now, or in the near future, it can actually
become a reality, using the many architectural, scientific and sustainable
advancements that man has innovated over the last few decades.
Three core advancements make this possible:
1. Amazing steps forward in sustainable building and town planning
2. Skyscrapers in Dubai that have pushed our ability to build truly massive
structures to their limits
3. Scientific innovations that allows space stations to be self-contained and
sustainable closed systems for many months without external inputs.
The development of sustainable buildings and towns is an expanding global movement. The largest scale example, Lavasa in India, when complete will
have 300,000 permanent residents. This shows what kind of scale we are
capable of already, and the holistic approach of this city would be a crucial
input to the design of the vertical city.
Meanwhile, what has been happening in Dubai is phenomenal. From a sustainability perspective, one could look at the developments negatively, as the
extremes that man is prepared to push the Earth. However, this knowledge
and innovation can be harnessed. The Burj Khalifa, at a height of 829 metres
accommodates 35,000 people, and shows that the sky is the only limit. The
ability to build such tall, massive structures, together with the ingenuity that
is needed to create the systems to sustain such a building is essential knowledge for the creation of a vertical city.
The final area of inspiration and necessary learning transfer is from the
development of closed systems, as exemplified and pushed to extremes on
space stations. Recycling all water, air, and optimising waste management
and temperature control, the impact of these vertical cities can be truly minimised.
So, through this century old concept we have the ability to live sustainably
in a world that is would otherwise become unsustainably overpopulated.
Science fiction is now becoming potential reality because of the very ingenuity and innovative spirit that has got us into this “mess” in the first place.
Through this, we humans can save the world!
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※ I S S U E N O . 3 ※ AU G U S T 2 0 1 4
Venezuela’s Transition: Living in
Limbo
BY YESSIK A MONTIEL LEON
Venezuela is a small but rich country, known for
its beauty queens and large oil and gas reserves.
The country has more than just this to offer: there
are gold reserves, amazing beaches, and beautiful
national parks such as “El Salto Angel”, as well as
friendly and happy people.
Lately, Venezuela has reached global headlines
due to the leadership of controversial politicians
that have led the country into political and economic chaos.
The 1950s marked the “Golden Era” for Venezuela; the country did not have external debt,
its revenues exceeded its expenses, and it possessed the biggest gold reserve in Latin America.
Inflation was low and the Bolivar, Venezuela’s currency, was considered the most stable currency
in the American continent after the US Dollar. The
country’s economic growth occurred when it was
governed under the dictatorship of General Marcos Perez Jimenez, President at that time.
So, what happened to us? Everything started
16 years ago when Venezuelans were looking for
“change”. As a result, a former military man became popular through the slogan “The change we
want and need”, which promised Venezuelans a
poverty-free country where the poor were listened
to and taken into account by the government, and
which encouraged national small companies to
grow. In the 1998 elections this man, better known
as Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias, won the Venezuelan
elections and started a new political regime: the
socialism of the 21st century.
Chavez’s promises were all too appealing to
Venezuelans; and although he did take into consideration the poor, the rest of his promises were not
kept. Venezuela had ups and downs, but the latter
were worse. Progressively, the country’s currency
started to devalue, and as a result of its political
policy, foreign investors reduced investments.
In time, Chavez´ political policy made things
difficult for companies to operate normally. His
government took over several national companies,
leaving hundreds unemployed, and US Dollars became difficult to obtain for importing purposes or
for Venezuelans to travel and study abroad, further
harming the country and its economy.
Supermarkets’ shelves were, more often than
not, devoid of basic necessities. More and more
companies were taken over by the government.
The minimum salary was not enough to cover basic needs. Politicians from the opposition were imprisoned. Insecurity became the country’s “daily
meal”. Hundreds of Venezuelans were killed as a
result of cellular and car theft. Kidnapping became
part of the quotidian. Burglars entered universities
and assaulted students.