FutureCityLab (ftr.ct.lb)
ftr.ct.lb is a collaboration of leading engineers, universities and scientists worldwide in or- der to elaborate a (positive) urban vision for the next generations.
This vision should help to establish the planning directions that we need to take today.
See more visions and join the discussion here ftrctlb.com
We love 2050!
A New Cycling Superhighway to Open in Sweden:Many would not assume that the towns of Lund & Malmö, Sweden would be big biking cities, and it’s because they do not advertise it. Around 60% of Lund’s citizen either cycle or take public transit to get to their destination and Malmö is known as the best bicycling city in Sweden.
Now Malmö is upping the stakes by putting up 30 million Swedish crowns (about US$4.1 million) toward the building of a four-lane super cycling highway between it and its northern neighbor city Lund.
The Swedish Traffic Authority (Trafikverket) has already studied the feasibility of building the bicycle superhighway between the two cities. All that remains is for the central government and smaller municipalities to approve and fund the plan. The route for the superhighway will run roughly parallel with the railway tracks, which makes it easier and less expensive to build, and the right of ways already exist.
The proposed bicycle superhighway would, in addition to four lanes (2 in each direction) have exits but no intersections, two types of wind protection (low bushes as well as solid fencing) periodic bicycle service stations, and would take eight years to complete.
The estimated cost of the superhighway is estimated to be about 50 million Swedish crowns (US$ 7.1 million).
via studio630:
UPGRADING BRITAIN
via blah-city:
Lord Foster Humanitas Oxford University Lecture November 2011
Lord Foster:
“Imagine how differently we might understand the modern world if we could travel back in time. We would discover that the cathedrals, the castles and the viaducts that form our ‘heritage’ were once new themselves and were seen as quite alien at the time; and that many of the landscapes we revere as ‘natural’ were in fact shaped subtly by man — some the outcome of the Industrial Revolution itself. We would also find that many of the challenges we face now have been met before.
Given the need to upgrade Britain’s infrastructure for the 21st century, and in the absence of a time machine, we have to try to recapture the foresight and political courage of our 19th century forebears and to revive our traditions of architecture, engineering and landscape design. We have to draw lessons from our heritage, as well as inspiration from our Asian counterparts.”
This city life: Walkable Communities are the Happiest
Earlier this year, I wrote a post about how where I live makes me happy.
Since writing about this, I noticed that a lot of visitors to my site were interested in the topic (the most popular search term people Google to get to my blog is “how does where you live affect your happiness”).
So, I…
Of course, the smart thing to do is not to wait for environmental problems to become worse before transitioning to cleaner ways of getting around: We need to walk, bike, take transit, and use plug-in cars now to get off fossil fuels, not at some distant point in the future. The faster we stop pumping so much CO2 in our planet’s atmosphere, the better off we and our kids will be in the long-term.” via treehugger / NPR http://www.treehugger.com/cars/100-years-electric-car-history.html100 Years of Electric Car History
Coming Full Circle
“This timeline of the 100-year plus history of the electric car shows how despite a promising beginning, the EV technology simply couldn’t compete with the internal combustion engine for most of the 20th century. But that’s starting to change, as each new generation of electric car has a longer driving range, a faster-charging battery, and a lower cost. This trajectory will at some point cross the rising cost of gasoline thanks to peak oil and global warming problems, and make EVs the obvious choice for the cars that will be left on the road.
4 Cities Using Tech to Alleviate Traffic | Mashable
There are one billion cars on the road, and that number could reach 2.5 billion by 2020. That auto congestion not only wreaks havoc on the environment, but also frustrates the commuters sitting in traffic on their way to work. The IBM Commuter Pain Index compiled traffic angst data by city and found that 87% of people had been stuck in traffic in the past three years, and 31% said the traffic was so bad that they turned around and went home. Clearly, traffic is a major issue when it comes to metropolitan living and urban mobility, but help is on the way.
2019: A Future Imagined
Visual Futurist Syd Mead (“Blade Runner,” “Aliens,” “Tron”) reflects upon the nature of creativity and how it drives the future. This featurette provides insight into the fascinating mind of one of the most influential artists of modern cinema and transportation design. Mead discusses how design, mobility and creative innovation will shape future cities. [via Tribeca Film Institute]
(via opensourcecities)
The electirc future of our transportation looks promising and sexy. At least in this studies by BMW. Also this particular future does not seem to be so far away since the company is already testing working prototypes in the extreme conditions of Sweden as the following video proves.
