INTERVIEW 3
Most of us live in cities. Cities are as beautiful as they are terrible, as unique as they are similar and as liberating as they are limiting. They are vibrant, everevolving, complex ecosystems and demonstrate the extent and impact of our interconnectivity with each other and our planet at scale. The best of them are places for the people created by the people but, cities are also doing us harm.
The way we design, build and live in our cities has disrupted the natural systems on which all life depends, and in the face of rapid urbanization and devastating weather events, it is time for a serious rethink.
Moving towards a zero-carbon future is urgent, but the way we resolve this transition for the AEC sector is critical to its long term success. To an industry that employs around seven percent of the global working population and attracts over $US10 trillion of spending per year (Mckinsey 2017) change seems risky – fearing that a kneejerk reaction could do more harm than good. But there is no doubt that we need to act now.
Extracts from Architecture 2030 summarises the statistics from the UN Environment Global Status Report 2017 and various other sources as follows:
“We are adding about 1.5m people to cities every week for the foreseeable future.”
“Cities are responsible for over 70 percent of global energy consumption and CO2 emissions.”
“Buildings generate nearly 40 percent of annual global GHG emissions.”
“Embodied carbon (supply chain) will be responsible for almost half of total new construction emissions between now and 2050.” And the Australian context is just as scary. Extracts from A study by UNSW for the Sustainable Environment Conference 2016 state:
‘Australia is one of the highest emitters of
GHG emissions per capita in the world.’
‘.. the construction sector makes up 18.1% of Australia’s carbon footprint.’ almost 90% of which is indirect (embodied in supply chain and electricity use).
In a recent SMH article NSW minister of Planning and Public Spaces calls for a ‘National Settlement Strategy’ fearing ‘Australia is sleepwalking its way towards becoming a nation of three megacities.’
So, what can we do?
Cities have everything we need to facilitate real change; diversity of thought, ingenuity and innovation, interdisciplinary skills and expertise, and they provide the perfect environment for small-scale experimentation to find quality pathways to larger scale positive and enduring change but it is intelligent technologies that will enable real and lasting success.
Machine Learning (ML) can help us make sense of the mountains of complex and interconnected information and input required to understand the challenges, model, test, design and deliver the solutions, and continually monitor and improve the outcomes.
But what interests me the most is that Artificial Intelligence (AI), when combined with human ingenuity and other advanced technologies, has the potential to provide options and outcomes that were previously out of our reach, and solutions that are limited only by our imagination, and perhaps gravity.
At the Sustainability Awards held in November 2019, I had the opportunity to discuss this with fellow panellists. We were asked to consider three ways in which new and emerging technologies will contribute to city-based sustainability transitions, prioritising the importance of the human experience on which the success
of urbanisation depends and keeping in mind that any transition to a carbon neutral built environment must address both new construction and existing buildings.
Those who attended the event know that I have lots of ideas on this, and an incredible number of people reached out to me personally after the panel discussion, in order to continue the conversation. This is exactly how true innovation starts.
Throughout 2020, I will be working with
Architecture & Design to prepare a series of ‘Cities: Beauty or Beast? – It depends on what we do next’, interactive articles featuring the latest ideas, research, innovation and experimentation in this space.
I will investigate and showcase the incredibly innovative work emerging from the progressive universities, studios, labs and factories from across the globe and at home, and work through the implications for the Australian urban context and discover how we can all access and leverage these technologies to find the right solutions for our shared future.