Urban innovations: Cities of the future

WE are planning, designing and building our future cities today. As the Philippines enters the “golden age of infrastructure,” I urge government, architects, engineers, private corporations, and emerging entrepreneurs, among others, to dream bigger. And to plan with a grand vision! We should no longer settle for what the First World countries have today, because by the time we build them, it will have been the

The investments that we are making are for the future generation, and for that reason, we have the responsibility to do it right, with vigor, with passion, and with grandeur. Let us build the Philippines of tomorrow, today.

Megatrends of the future

Earlier this month, I had the privilege to speak at the 12th Global Congress and Conferment Ceremony, with the theme “Megatrends in Education, Business & Industry and Public Administration in the 21st Century and Beyond,” on June 8-10, 2018 at the Marina Bay Sands, Singapore. In my presentation, I shared what I saw and observed after traveling to more than 2,000 cities and 70 countries, and having worked with 39 countries. I also shared what I learned when I was part of the team that planned Dubai in the late 1970s that catapulted the country into one of the most innovative and smart global cities in less than 15 years.

One of the most important practices that Dubai embraced was to adopt new technological breakthroughs that came from all over the world,

engineering, horticulture, landscaping, and construction, among others. It built gardens out of the desert and increased its waterfront by developing the palm islands. Today, Dubai has more landscaped areas than most tropical cities wherein everything can grow more easily at less cost, and it is now home to one of the world’s largest and most strategic ports in Asia.

Dubai also invested in the internet, and in the digital economy and infrastructure. All permits are done electronically, and it was able to reduce the approval period – 30 minutes for land registration.

The ingredients of success for Dubai are not focused on specific innovations but on good leadership traits: strong political will, visionary leadership, good design, good architecture, and good governance. Through these leadership traits, they are always on the lookout for new technological breakthroughs and trends that would further propel the country’s progress to be a global leader in urban design, architecture, engineering and real estate development.

Today, elsewhere in the world, the most innovative and leading countries are developing tall buildings, vertical urbanism, vertical urban forests, net-negative skyscrapers, hyperloops, driverless vehicles, deep machine

these innovations put an emphasis on uplifting the quality of life, inclusivity and sustainability of cities.

Vertical urban forests in buildings are bringing back the importance of ecological balance in over-built cities. It is re-introducing the importance of forests and greenspace in cleaning the air and reducing urban heat effect. Net-negative skyscrapers are looking to new construction material selection and off-grid energy production and waste processing. It intends to produce more energy than it needs to supply the excess to neighboring communities. Hyperloops and driver-less vehicles are being developed to reduce travel time and reduce the very high number of car accidents brought about by the manufacturing practices.

Seven kinds of infrastructure

There are three kinds of infrastructure: progressive, hard and soft. Progressive infrastructure refers to the international airports and the seaports. The hard infrastructure includes the roads, highways and the like. Lastly, the soft infrastructure refers to the ease of doing business. The ruler of Dubai liked to say, what is good for business is good for Dubai. Later, I added four more; these are sustainable, institutional,

infrastructure. Even if you have the best plans in the world, without the right institutions to implement these, these plans would not come to fruition. And infrastructure should be sustainable in order to last for generations.

With the advancement of technology, the new infrastructures that will thrust the cities of the future forward are digital infra-

Through the internet, the world became flat, Thomas Freidman wrote. It connects people from all over the world despite geographical barriers. It has also become the foundation of collaborative learning and innovation.

Digital infrastructure has paved the way for international collaborations. National projects may now be done by a team of international individuals working in their own countries, allowing for greater synergy of thoughts and exchange of cultures. Data are being transferred via cloud storage; the team can access these data no matter

and reference materials are stored in

Cebu and Davao can access these data as well, allowing for easier exchange of information across the country. With cloud storage as well, projects can be readily produced, archived, and retrieved, allowing our teams more time for enhancing them, providing better output for our clients.

hand, will be used more for healthcare and smart city systems. Someday it can help doctors to better diagnose patients and movement of transportation of people and goods.

The future of PH cities

We need to invest more in new mass transportation systems. The growth of cars is exponentially growing faster than roads. We need more mass transportation systems that can move more people the fastest way possible. We should also invest in smart transport systems to be able

management. We should explore the potentials of digital learning as a form of alternative learning system

schools that lack teachers.

There is so much that the Build, Build, Build program can achieve but I hope that we also consider building better and building more sustainable developments that can last for generations. As Burnham says, “Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistence.”