Metabolism of Future Cities - Towards an Ecosystemic Urban Morphology

Metabolism of Future Cities Towards an Ecosystemic Urban Morphology

Copyright © 2022 Abdul Wehbe - All rights reserved.

Metabolism of Future Cities Towards an Ecosystemic Urban Morphology by Abdul Wehbe A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Brussels, Belgium 2022

Preface

Master Thesis: Metabolism of Future Cities Towards an Ecosystemic Urban Morphology Student: Abdul Wehbe Supervisor: Caroline Sohie Master Thesis Studio: Brave New World KU Leuven Faculty of Architecture Campus Sint-Lucas Brussels, Belgium International Master of Science in Architecture Academic Year 2021 – 2022 Publication: June 2022

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Acknowledgements This thesis is wholeheartedly dedicated to my beloved family; without your endless support, inspiration and encouragement from far, this journey wouldn’t have been possible. You truly inspire me.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Caroline for always providing me with invaluable guidance throughout the course of the project. Thank you for respecting my ambitions, pushing me further and always triggering my passion.

I would also like extend my gratitude to everyone that helped me accomplish this thesis project through their infinite support. Thank You.

Preface

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Abstract

Our cities are constantly evolving dense human settlements. In order to run and maintain cities smoothly, the concentrated densities in cities require intelligent methods of infrastructure planning. As our cities transform and develop, our basic infrastructure remains inadequate to tackle future conditions.

A city should always be considered as an everchanging organism instead of something static, with inserted inputs and extracted outputs, the city becomes an urban metabolic environment.

Such an outlook on cities can offer alternative strategies for planning future infrastructure in cities. Urban metabolism offers an alternative perspective of studying cities, once simplified, it becomes an opportunistic planning tool for building future cities.

This speculative-themed thesis is a researchby-design project that interrogates urban metabolic systems as an approach to

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challenging conventional methods of infrastructural planning. The project presents alternative methods for future infrastructural planning. Through multilayered theoretical research, a future scenario explores peak urban growth and resource scarcity, resulting in an urgent need for man-made ecosystems as a tool for future civilization survivability. The future scenario was selected as the base point for developing a speculative design project exploring ecosystemic urbanism as a possible future condition in cities. The research is translated into a proposed holistic ecosystem, presented as a flexible prototype megastructure that coexists with nature, generating a strategic approach for future cities.

Digital Book

Project Video

Abstract

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Table of Contents Preface Abstract Table of Contents Thesis Project Breakdown Methodology

CH.1 – Future Cities

– Establishing the Theme

1.1 Historic Future City Visions 1.2 Future City Paradigms 1.3 Trends & Drivers of Change 1.4 Speculative Design

CH.2 – Urban Metabolism

2.1 Simplifying Urban Metabolism 2.2 Interrelated Elements of UM 2.3 Designing with Flows 2.4 Benchmark Strategy- UM of Rotterdam

CH.3 – Future Urban Fabric

– Decoding Theoretical Complexity

– Filtering Layers

3.1 Ecosystemic Urbanism 3.2 Urban Morphology Evolution 3.3 Infrastructure Systems 3.4 Project Synthesis

CH.4 – An Alternative Future 4.1 Evolution of Urbanity & Infrastructure 4.2 Exploring Future Scenarios 4.3 Future Vision 4.4 Personas 4.5 Future Impact of Ecosystems 8

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– Projecting a Future Scenario

CH.5 – Siting Strategy

– Strategic Siting

5.1 Conditions of Testing the Proposition 5.2 London, a changing context…

5.3 Mapping Flows 5.4 Speculative Mapping 5.5 Thames River 5.6 Mapping Areas of Opportunity 5.7 Selected Site Analysis

CH.6 – Urban Intervention

6.1 Design Agenda 6.2 Urban Strategy 6.3 Masterplan 6.4 Architectural Proposal 6.5 Design & Technicality Schemes 6.6 Metabolic Design

CH.7 – Re-evaluating Urbanity

– Speculating an Impact

– Revisiting & Evaluating

7.1 Change is not a Threat!

7.2 Flows: Opportunity of the Century!

7.3 Ecosystems, a new Urban Morphology…

7.4 Urban Metabolism & Self-sufficiency List of Figures Bibliography Appendix – Digital Fabrication

Table of Contents

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Thesis Project Breakdown

Research-by-Design Cities are going through a continuous state of evolution, city evolution happens through various scales and forms. Throughout history, significant changes occurred in cities, changes such as the built environment, policies and civilizations’ lifestyles. Additionally, a city is considered as an ever-changing organism instead of a static entity, with inserted inputs and extracted outputs, the city becomes comparable to a metabolic system in living organisms, becoming a dynamic urban metabolic environment.

Different inputs and outputs are always moving around the city, such entities can be defined as flows in the city. Flows of people, energy, economy, industry, data, ideas, and logistics are in a constant state of movement. Different flows move through various forms of infrastructure within the city, infrastructures such as roadways, railways, pipelines and powerlines.

Different systems in our world are experiencing significant motives of change, characterized as drivers of change. Key drivers of change include urban growth and resource scarcity. As the population grows and more people migrate to cities, we are experiencing rapid urbanization leading to urban growth. Additionally, we are over-extracting resources from earth leading to substantial resource scarcity, which will further deteriorate the quality of our planet.

Urban growth and resource scarcity create a major risk on urban environments, ultimately leading to a failed urbanism, leading to chaos and reduced living quality within cities. What if urban growth surged higher and faster than expected, will we continue running cities in the same way we do today? On the other hand, society is undergoing substantial advancements, yet the basic infrastructure of our cities remains outdated. Outdated infrastructure leads to an impoverished urban fabric, creating a wide array of issues relating to connectivity, movement, travel times, efficiency, wellbeing and productivity in future cities.

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Research Question Through the speculative design and research-by-design methodology, the thesis interrogates urban metabolic systems as an approach to propose alternative design strategies for future infrastructure planning in the evolving urban fabric.

Objectives To achieve a refined outcome to the research question, stringent objectives must be put in place.

The main objective of the research-by-design project is to challenge traditional methods of urbanism, by reassessing infrastructure planning in a future context. The project aims to explore potential changes in planning different infrastructures and provide flexible time-proof prototypebased solutions for the future. Such solutions must be applied critically to facilitate future civilizations’ survivability. The project also intends to provide an overall holistic, metabolic and ecosystemic strategy reshaping the future progression of urban systems, towards enhanced ways of running and maintaining cities in the future.

Siting Testing the hypothesis of the research undertakes a conditional approach, the city of intervention has a series of conditions that should result in an appropriate context of testing the case. The selected context must be a megacity with certain attributes, such as diversity, growth, change, dynamism, movement, connectivity and innovation. With a soaring population of around 10 million inhabitants and being one of the world’s leading economies, London is the most favorable city to test the case within the conditional approach. Being one of the most connected cities on earth, London is considered to be a continuously changing context with various trends.

Being a megacity with a rising migrant population, the city is heavily congested. London is a starting point for the case, rather than a definitive location, with a viable possibility to implement prototypical-based design strategies in other growing cities.

Thesis Project Breakdown

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Methodology The following methodology is used as an implementation method for this dissertation paper. The research is executed in multiple layers with a central focus on speculative design and research-bydesign. The methodology acts as a simplified guide to a complex research process with various rises and falls. With a combination of theoretical, practical, symbolic, technical, artistic and poetic components, the research targets alternative methods of designing for the future. As the world changes at unprecedented rates, we must dare to make a difference, we must be brave, hence the name of the studio, Brave New World. This summarized methodology guides the reader in navigating through the research in a seamless manner, it also guides researchers to develop further advanced methodologies for designing in a future context, near and far.

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Establishing the Theme The foundations of the dissertation project are laid out in the section. The overall thematic approach of the research is discussed, future cities, establishing the main themes of the research.

It includes brief historic insights on future city visions, future city paradigms, drivers of change and speculative design theory.

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Decoding Theoretical Complexity This layer of research involves decoding the theoretical complexity of Urban Metabolism. The section untangles the overall idea of urban metabolism and exposes key theoretical components, leading to an alternative direction in design, designing with flows in mind, rather than the built environment.

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Filtering Layers When dealing with complex system theories, such as urban metabolism, it becomes essential to narrow down the research to a specific design approach. The filtering process further elaborates on appropriated concepts such as ecosystemic urbanism, evolving urban morphology, infrastructure systems, ultimately leading to the overall synthesis of the entire theoretical research and the research question.

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4.

Projecting a Future Scenario The first step in translating the theoretical research into designed artifacts is projecting a radical future scenario; how will our cities look and function in a future city scenario in 2050 and beyond? Aspects include a timeline of events that analyze the past into future city envisioning, exploration of multiple future scenarios, analyzing multiscale impacts and zooming in to the personas of the future city.

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Strategic Siting After laying out the foundational specificities of the research and the future city vision, selecting a city of intervention is necessary. Through extracted data from the research, a set of rules is drafted for an appropriate context to translate the research into a design proposal. In order to translate the radical future scenario into an appropriate demographic context, various aspects are explored ranging from city analysis, timeline, data mapping, speculative mapping and selected site context analysis.

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Speculating an Impact Speculating an impact through a design is projected in a multi-scalar approach. The concept framing examines the proposition through various scales, starting from the urban scale and zooming into the architectural scale. The impact is speculated through a conceptual design intervention, represented through a specific set of graphical drawings.

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Revisiting & Evaluating To conclude the entire dissertation project, the outcomes of the project are critically examined and assessed. A conclusion sets a trajectory for continuing the journey of designing for a future context, with a specific analysis to the overall research results. Furthermore, scalability to further urban environments is also tackled and simplified, creating a roadmap of action resulting in selfsustainable cities.

Methodology

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Methodology

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Brave New World!

Establishing the Theme

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Revisiting & Evaluating

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Decoding

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Filtering

Theoratical Complexiy

Speculating an Impact

Strategic Siting

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Layers

4 Projecting a Future Scenario

Fig. 01 - Thesis Methodology - By Author

Methodology

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Chapter 1 Future Cities Establishing the Theme

How will our cities look like in the future, in ten, twenty, fifty or a hundred years? Such question(s) often end up being formally interrogated by specialists in fields like science fiction and movie production. What are the specific global challenges that cities face in a future context? At times, our imaginations can answer such questions, however, is there a way to make educated, data-based speculations?

What kind of lifestyles will evolve overtime and how will people live their daily life?

vision extends to alternative ways of questioning the concept of reality (Dunn & Cureton, 2020).

This chapter explores Future Cities from various perspectives, laying the foundational thematic pillars for the research. The chapter critically discusses the starting point of the research, which includes: historic future city visions, future city paradigms, drivers of change and speculative design.

Such questions are always a trigger of interest and a foundation for endless conversations.

According to Nick Dunn and Paul Cureton, educational specialists in future cities, the idea of imagining the future of the city has always been inspirational for architects, artists and designers, as the importance of future city

Chapter 1: Future Cities

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“We conceive of the future via the images we make of it. This lavishly illustrated visual history of the city is a powerful reminder of the influence of images on our thinking about the future. It is an asset in time when we need to scan the probable, the possible, the possible and the preferable future that lie ahead…”

Maarten Hajer, Professor of Urban Futures, Utrecht University, Netherlands.

Fig. 02 - Planet City , Liam Young

1.1 Historic Future City Visions

Future city visions began emerging in society at the beginning of the nineteenth century.

The technologies and tools developed for illustrations made it possible for people to experiment with various styles of speculations.

Such speculations were also associated with the artistic movement, referred to as futurism. Futurism revolved around progress and modernity, which shifted the trajectories of artists and illustrators to work with nontraditional methods. Artists started focusing on creating dynamic pieces of work, portraying various landscapes, as well as emerging technologies such as cars, trains and aircrafts.

Future city illustrations, along with futurism, created a massive impact on the creative medium, which enabled artists to explore new methods of expression that slightly shift away from logic and reality.

Future visions were not created by a singular entity, many different types of people and organizations worked with this medium. On top of the throne were the architects and urban designers, however various artists, scientists, visionaries, writers and corporations experimented with illustrating future visions.

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Garden Cities of ‘To-morrow’ by Ebenezer Howard – 1898 Garden Cities of To-morrow’ was written by renowned urban planner Ebenzer Howard and was initially published in 1898. The book had various visions of futuristic planning through diagrammatic visuals. The visions are a series of bucolic landscapes and polycentric planning, capturing a very British attitude towards the future, which was very influential in post-war planning in the UK. Diagram number seven titled “Slumless and Smokeless, but also Funless and Hopeless Cities” represents a utopian/dystopian vision in a centralized manner. Notable aspects in the drawing include central city placement, wheel-shaped systems of waterways, inner municipal railway, outside the circular canal, and alternative layouts of surrounding cities for variation purposes (Jacobs, 2022). The vision of the central city layout was a form of social engineering that projected the contrast of the depressing artificiality of ‘garden cities’ and their function as dormitories for larger cities around them.

Fig. 03 - Ebenezer Howard’s Cluster of Garden Cities

Fig. 04 - Movable City Block

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HildeBrand’s Chocolate Factory Predictions – 1900 In 1900, the HildeBrands chocolate factory in Germany created an interesting marketing campaign titled “Germany in the year 2000” as part of the Paris world fair. The chocolate factory created twelve different colored postcards speculating life in the twenty-first century. These colorful predictions were slipped inside the boxes of their best-selling chocolates and sweets. Such speculations were regarded as fantastical and humorous to a certain extent. One of the astonishing postcards depicted the idea of a mobile city, moving an entire city block by rail. Other radical speculations included personal flying machines, movable sidewalks, live audiovisual performance, weather-controlling machines, hybrid rail-ship, touristic submarines, weatherproof cities, North Pole tourism, and x-ray surveillance devices.

An imagined city of the future by Harvey Wiley Corbett – 1913 Harvey Wiley Corbett was an American Architect from California, he was well known

for skyscrapers and office building design in both New York and London, his legacy was significant for the modernist movement in architecture. In his future vision “An imagined city of the future”, the drawing shows a very dense urban environment with skyscrapers, two stories below ground, and various strange flying machines. The drawing expresses fastpaced movement, economic growth and rapid movement on multiple levels in the city.

Dome over Manhattan by Buckminster Fuller and Shoji Sadao – 1960 The “Dome over Manhattan” was an abstract futuristic proposal of a 3-kilometer-diameter geodesic domed city that covers midtown Manhattan. The proposal comes from a sustainability standpoint, with claims that placing a giant dome over the city would result in a decrease in resources and reduce the energy usage in New York to 20% of what it was in 1960. The concept inspired other works, like the “Manhattan Dome”, written by science fiction writer Ben Bova.

Fig. 05 - Dome over Manhattan

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Reflection Historic future city visions show a wide array of differences when it comes to imaging future cities.

The evolution of such abstract representations also has a sense of technological imagination and utopian vision that merges fictional speculation and desirable reality. Historic future city visions are a successful starting point to establish the theme of the research by showing early visions of future cities.

Fig. 06 - An imagined city of the future

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1.2 Future City Paradigms

Future city science has been separated by multiple dominant paradigms and city categories for ease of understanding, monitoring, analysis and development. There are six main principal paradigms categorized as future cities, paradigms include hybrid cities, ecological cities, informal cities, flexible cities, layered cities and regulated cities. In addition to paradigm, city categories dive into creative ideas for describing the details of a certain future city vision. As the concept of future city visions developed over time, various forms of it appeared. Works consisted of handmade art pieces and digitized renderings. Producing such work that merged aspects of realism and fantasy inspired various other works in multiple fields.

It became a necessity to dive further and study future cities, such cities have parameters and components that dictate the lifestyle within a future context. Cities are complex, their intermeshing of people, economies and technologies is often regarded as a sort of positivity (Glaeser, 2011). Cities also provide loads of opportunities that transform the lifestyle of future city residents, however, some 24

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various dynamic forces and interrelationships create various problems in urban contexts.

“Future cities will be complex and heterogeneous.” (Dunn & Cureton, 2020).

A few notable modern future cities include the county of London Plan, the Asian city of tomorrow, and an imagined city of the future.

County of London Plan – 1943 The graphic of the ‘county of London plan’ was created by Forshaw and Abercrombie in 1943, it is an analytical map of a future vision for London post the Second World War. By analyzing social and function-based components within urbanity, the proposal illustrated a community matrix with a series of satellite towns placed on the periphery of London. The aim was to prevent urban sprawl, however, it was also designed to blend multiple ethnicities and city demographics into a more egalitarian mix, speculating a social future.

Asian City of Tomorrow, OMA – 1995 The graphic of ‘Asian cities of tomorrow’ was created by Rem Koolhas, OMA, in 1995. The radical proposal depicts the city as a large multilayered densified city. The proposal

Fig. 07 - County of London Plan

Fig. 08 - Asian City of Tomorrow

Fig. 09 - Future of Urban Mobility

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represents the fast-paced development of prominent Asian countries, such as Singapore and Japan. A merge of streets and built environment into a single entity was one of the early representations of Asian urbanism.

The Paradigm Shift in Future City Visions As mentioned previously, future visions of cities developed around the early 1900s, and visions have been in a constant state of evolution since then.

The timeline of the six principal paradigms of and future city categories illustrates the shift of social interest in future city vision. Through analyzing future city visions, the evolution of social interest has shown interesting patterns based on certain years. Between 1900 and 1940, certain paradigms were predominant such as layered and regulated cities. Between 1950 and 1980, interest shifted towards hybrid and information cities. From the late 90s to modern-day, interest shifted towards ecological cities.

The shift of interest comes from awareness of pressing world issues, like rapid urbanization and climate change. Nick Dunn and Paul Cureton, authors of ‘future cities’, were very successful in visually illustrating the paradigm shift showing dominant paradigms and city categories in a timeline format. In comparison to early future city visions, future city paradigms emphasize the overall evolution of predominant paradigms and how they developed over time.

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Reflection Analyzing various future city paradigms was essential and created a necessary layer of detail in the research. It can be concluded that future city visions have drastically developed; interests and themes of relevance also experienced a dynamic shift. Various shifts occurred with the aid of technology, theory and developing world urgencies. Additionally, society developed different lifestyles, social norms and traditions which impacted how they speculate future cities over time. Paradigms of future cities furthermore detail the theme set in the overall research and are used as a base to apply an appropriate future city scenario.

Fig. 10 - Timeline of the six principal paradigms and twentyeight future city categories from 1900-2014

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1.3 Trends & Drivers of Change

The world is going through significant levels of change, such changes must be critically examined to plan for future cities. Key global issues and trends are prominent factors in driving change within our built environment.

Whenever a change occurs, it is rarely immediate, change is presented as a series of events happening in a specific contextual timeframe, and such occurrences lead to visible changes over time. Each driver of change can be explored through the STEEP framework, (Sociocultural, Technological, Economic, Environmental, and Political). The thesis research mainly focuses on key drivers of change Urban Growth and Resource Scarcity, however, it is also fundamental to unpack all drivers of change that have a certain role in producing a future city scenario.

Sociocultural: Urban Growth The expansion of cities is growing at a dramatic rate. Day by day, more and more people move out of rural areas into urban areas, creating a surge of urban growth. It is predicted that by 2050, about 64% of the developing world and 86% of the developed world will be completely urbanized (United 28

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Nations, 2018). This rate of rapid urbanization results in an array of challenges to various fields of engineering and social science, especially architects and city planners. There is a significant debate about methods of dealing with population surges in the future. Extensive urban growth creates various challenges in cities, like infrastructural planning, housing supply, production strategy, living standards and city systems. Our current systems constantly prove to be unconventional for drastic rates of urbanization, which creates a prominent shift in the design agenda for future cities.

Environmental/Economic: Resource Scarcity Resource scarcity usually occurs when the demand for a certain natural resource surpasses the available supply, which leads to a significant decline in the stock of natural resources.

Constant resource scarcity leads to unsustainable growth and economic issues, such as a rise in the price of resources. The population of 7 billion people on the planet results in severe rates of overconsumption. Six main natural resources are currently being over-extracted by humans include water, oil, natural gas, phosphorus, coal, and other rare earth material.

Figure 11 - Global Urbanization

Fig. 12 - Global Materials Extraction by Resource Type

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Based on our current rates of natural resource extraction, the projections for future extraction rates are far more severe, such a condition will lead to resource scarcity.

Resource scarcity creates a very significant threat to the survivability of civilizations, therefore society must shift towards alternative methods of natural resource preservation and management.

Technological: Intelligent Systems Intelligent systems are technologies that combine distributed ubiquitous sensing, predictive processing, and real-time collaboration, allowing cities to efficiently gather data, manage assets and monitor resources (ARUP, 2018). Intelligent systems are considered to be the essence of any future technology, as our cities generate vast amounts of data ranging from city services to residents’ lifestyles, it becomes critical to create such smart systems to manage the complexity of running cities. Intelligent systems are also revolutionizing the way we track data, build and run our cities, requiring us to shift toward integrating intelligent systems within our built environment. With developed methods of design, like BIM and digital twin, smart cities are moving from conceptual ideologies to reality.

Environmental: Urban Heat Island The urban heat island (UHI) effect describes the tendency for metropolitan areas to be significantly warmer than surrounding rural areas (ARUP, 2018). Factors that contribute to UHI include dark surfaces, reduced vegetation, and increased carbon emissions. UHI has very

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significant effects on human life, especially heart-related mortality. As urbanization continues, the heat island effect increases significantly. With such a hazardous effect going out of control, cities must be designed with a mandatory sustainability lens. There is no point in rapid urbanization if the human-life expectancy will be drastically reduced. Based on current global warming rates, demand for electrical cooling could require 10–20% average additional generating capacity in urban areas by 2050 (ARUP, 2018).

Political: Place Making As cities are moving towards campaign themes revolving around happiness and livability, city policy is not only regarded as a set of technical safety rules but is also recognized as a key driver of urban livability. A prominent example of change in city policy is the theory of placemaking, “Place Making shows that the creation of places transcends the material dimension and involves aspects such as sociability, uses, activities, access, connections, comfort, and image, to create bonds between people and a sense of place.” (Moreira, 2021). Architects, planners, and design professionals are in coordination with political entities and city halls in implementing policies for public spaces, creating a new level of responsibility for designers within the political spectrum.

Fig. 13 - Urban Heat Island Effect

Fig. 14 - Place Making Principles

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1.4 Speculative Design

Speculative design refers to design practice that embodies a future design proposal with attributes of critical nature, the term ‘speculative design’ was popularized by design professionals Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby.

The objective of speculative design is not limited to future predictions, however, it extends to creating debates, discussions and collective societal advancements (Dunne & Raby, 2013).

Speculative design is often used as a tool to gain insight into future changes and produce a future-based design. The project investigates the limits of speculative design, projecting how radical can a proposed future be, simultaneously the project also aims to introduce a layer of logic and reality into the process, based on data-backed research.

Within Speculative design, a future taxonomy has been adopted by Dunne and Raby. The taxonomy has four types of futures categorized as four P’s: Probable, Plausible, Possible and Preferable futures (Dunne & Raby, 2013). It is critical to understand these futures, as they are used as lenses for viewing and interrogating the future , they are also 32

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represented in an axis of time, as a series of various futures. The probable future is the area where most designers operate, based on current trends it signifies what is likely to happen. The plausible future signifies what could happen with the aid of planning and foresight. The possible future signifies what might happen based on future knowledge, it represents an added layer of challenge, with various unsolved links and attributes based on current reality, it shapes a path to the future; this is where the speculative design process takes place. Beyond the possible future, everything becomes fictional and fantasy.

The thesis project is placed within the possible future lens, which is considered to be one degree before fiction. Such a condition creates a certain level of freedom within the design outcome, which allows for fewer constraints, with results leading to less conventional and audacious design outcomes.

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Fig. 15 - Futures Taxonomy

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Chapter 2 Urban Metabolism Decoding Theoretical Complexity

Cities can be considered as a series of complex adaptive systems, systems that are structured through interconnectivity. Such systems are in a constant state of evolution based on the location, conditions and certain periods in time.

‘City systems’ is a wide subject with expansive literature and publications that aim to tackle the phenomena of complex systems, and how such systems converge to enable a functioning city. Cities function as living organisms rather than static elements, with various inputs and outputs moving within the city. Various components and complex systems function together simultaneously, such as nature and man-made infrastructure, making cities function equivalent to sophisticated metabolic biological compositions.

with the simplification of theoretical concepts to the breakdown of urban metabolism. The research uses the theory of urban metabolism as an entry point to interrogate the future city infrastructure, therefore decoding the theoretical complexity of urban metabolism is an integral part of the research. Moreover, the chapter’s components include Interrelated Elements of Urban Metabolism, designing with flows and a benchmark strategy of Rotterdam’s Urban Metabolism.

This chapter explores decoding urban metabolism, through various lenses. Starting Chapter 2: Urban Metabolism

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“Cities should function more like ecosystems, or even metabolisms. When we build, we should be thinking about how we can integrate into the ecosystems around us, but without sacrificing all the niceties of civilization like good restaurants, concert halls, and high-speed Internet access... The future of technology is sustainable ecology.”

Annalee Newitz, American journalist, Editor, & Author of both fiction and nonfiction.

Fig. 16 - Futuristic Habitat

2.1 Simplifying Urban Metabolism

The concept of Urban Metabolism, also known as UM, is a symbolic metaphor that compares urban systems to organic creatures.

In an organism, metabolism is the process of converting food into energy, during this complex process, calories are converted to energy; the process ends in the secretion of metabolic waste. Metabolism is a key component of the survival and flourishment of any living organism, ranging from plants to animals to humans. Similarly, cities go through a similar process, products and goods enter an urban environment, circulate through it, and finally generated waste exits the city, which can be considered as a closed-loop circular system. Within this framework, a city is considered as an ever-changing organism, with inserted inputs and extracted outputs, the city is conceptualized as an urban metabolic environment. The concept of urban metabolism can be articulated as city flows, city flows are a series of elements that are in constant movement. Such elements include, but are not limited to, air, sand, building materials, freshwater, food, energy, biota, waste, people and cargo (Sijmons, 2014). Such flows have a direct impact on everyday lives in the city, and 38

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tthe flows are also very essential to the wellbeing of the city, as they contribute to the overall efficiency of service distribution in the city.

Urban Metabolism can also be referred to as a data-based model that facilitates descriptions and analysis of various flows within cities; such flows mainly encompass materials and energy (Picentli et al., 2012). The principle of urban metabolism has two main approaches, the energy method and the material flow analysis.

Various innovative conceptual approaches, in addition to methodological interdisciplinary approaches, are currently debated in the frame of understanding forces that shape the concept of urban metabolism.

Different Disciplines Urban Metabolism (UM) is typically studied using the model of material flow analysis (MFA), the analysis of physical flows of materials and energy within the city. In a simplified manner, stocks can be referred to as results of inputs minus outputs in a functioning urban system over a specific period, a year in most cases. “In Western cities in 1969, 10–15% of the imported material in consumer goods accumulated as

Fig. 17 - Urban Ecosystem of Brussels

Fig.18 - Urban Metabolism Performance Diagram

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stock. In 2009 this was reduced to only 1% for consumer goods.” (Leonard, 2010). The increased output of consumed resources results in various strands of waste flows, such outputs are either reused, recycled, or discharged into or out of the urban environment. The development of metabolic city systems includes the social system, ecological economies, and political ecologies. For informative purposes, there are data management methods to identify information of flow activities, like input/ output tables, which work in connection with statistics calculated from urban areas. Different approaches illuminate the rationale behind flows and how they affect multiple factors in the social and economic system. However, to reach an optimum understanding of UM, it is essential to link social processes to spatial attributes of services, such services can be translated to temporal and spatial attributes of different disciplines, including energy, water, and material flows.

Speed of Change in Urban Systems “Through the notions of flow and circulation, the concept of urban metabolism links material flows with ecological and social processes, and the potential for change to sustainable patterns of consumption and production…”

(Broto et al., 2012). According to Martin Dijst, an urban development researcher, urban processes vary in their pace of change over time, ranging from very slow to extremely fast.

Changing physical transport, communication infrastructure, utility infrastructures, and distribution of land uses are very slow processes (Dijist, 2013). In contrast, the

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overall cycle of various typologies like housing, workplace, and other multifunctional spaces induces a relatively fast change in terms of employment and household composition, in addition to the very fast flows of people and goods through mobility. Aside from social and economic Spatio-temporal processes, there are also various natural processes within the ecological system, which include the atmosphere, the geosphere, the biosphere, and the hydrosphere, which also have their promptness of change (Dijist, 2013).

Challenges In the near future, there will be significant challenges in sustaining our urban form concerning maintaining flows in the city, flows such as water, electricity, biota, etc. There are four main challenges for designers, planners, administrators, and involved citizens are faced when tackling flows within cities: Challenge 1: Different flows have different infrastructures of their own, like the electricity grid, water supply and transportation networks.

Individual infrastructures can always be improved; however, “they could also do with more mutual coherence, and this complex of infrastructures would also benefit from a closer connection to the rest of the urban fabric.”

(Sijmons, 2014).

Challenge 2: Flows can be conceived as interrelated elements, altering flows can create a series of flow shortcuts, flow connectivity, closure of flow cycles, or redistributing flow inputs and outputs (Sijmons, 2014).

Challenge 3: Spatial order of the urban landscape is heavily influenced by the demographic placement of its infrastructure.

Infrastructure design can purposely control large urban expansion, however coordination between infrastructural construction and urban growth is often flawed; intelligent infrastructural planning will contribute to an improved quality of spatial planning and a better-functioning urban landscape (Sijmons, 2014).

Challenge 4: Fast-growing tropical cities require having access to life-giving flows of water, food, and energy is critical, the urgency of the case becomes a matter of life or death.

Global urban issues such as overconsumption and scarcity of resources are often disregarded by society, in the western world context.

Fig. 19 - The role of natural & social sciences in Urban Metabolism

However, to achieve healthy sustainable lifestyles, like accessible food and free-flowing water, we must pay attention to smart, efficient, and collective strategies for flows and their infrastructure, regardless of our demographic location (Sijmons, 2014).

Metabolism of urban landscapes, aided by knowledge and material flow analysis, can develop into a challenging planning tool for twenty-first-century cities. Architects, planners, and engineers must navigate the future with an open mind towards the future of an urban environment. This thesis project aims to explore future strategies of infrastructure planning while dealing with flows in the city.

Fig. 20 - A flow perspective on Urban Systems

Chapter 2: Urban Metabolism

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2.2 Interrelated Elements of UM

42

There are five main interrelated elements of urban metabolism, which include flows & stocks, drivers, needs, facilitators/ constraints, and activities. Flows and stocks within the urban environment are a direct result of consequent activities, such activities arise from the manifestation of various societal needs. “Both activities, and the accompanying flows and stocks arise from and are a manifestation of needs and facilitators/constraints of individuals and communities” (Dijst et al., 2013). Drivers, needs and facilitators/constraints establish initial determinants of activities in urban environments. On the other hand, flows and stocks will often be associated with various problems arising in urban metabolism, the solutions for such problems can be found by re-evaluating drivers, needs, and constraints.

can be less easy to quantify directly…” (Dijst et al., 2020), alternatively immaterial flows and stocks can be referred to immeasurable entities like information, social capital, and culture.

Flows and stocks circulating through cities are often referred to as metaphors of UM, flows, and stocks can be categorized as material and immaterial. Material flows can be quantified and measured, “…like energy (MWh), traffic (veh./h), water (l/day), capital (euros), air pollution (pm, ppm), materials (ton); or they

Needs and facilitators/constraints are based on multiple conditions, for example, the birth of car dependence was a result of the societal desire for method-of-transport ownership, with time, car-based infrastructure was heavily adopted and widespread leading to a significant influence in urban planning.

METABOLISM OF FUTURE CITIES

Activities have a direct influence on the types of stocks and flows generated within the city.

Activity scopes can range by category, activities can come in economic form (like employment and education), political form, and domestic form (like eating and sleeping). Mobility is considered to be the translation of the movement of people and goods, also known as material flows. Mobility can also be referred to as the movement of knowledge, values, and norms, also known as immaterial flows. Such an array of activities determine the nature of flows and contribution to stocks, influencing various drivers.

Services and activities exist to fulfill the specific societal need, such needs vary from individualistic needs to common needs; Constraints can be defined as barriers and facilitators are contradictory, for example, high costs are considered a constraint, while low costs are considered a facilitator. Such factors can include governance, markets (cost-based), technology, space, and culture. “The distinction between the two elements is that the absence of binding constraints is not sufficient for a given behavior to occur; there must be one or more drivers to motivate action.” (Mokhtarian & Salomon, 1994).

Drivers are always in the background of Urban Metabolism, they influence facilitators/ constraints, activities, needs, flows and stock, within proximity of the context they take place in. Drivers can be referred to as impacts from a multilevel perspective, they are the initial grounds of data-backed science for setting a scene. Drivers can be distinguished as sociocultural, technological, economic, environmental, and political. Prominently, sociocultural drivers include urbanization as well as societal values and norms, economic drivers include growth and decline in sectorial markets, environmental drivers include climate change and urban heat island (UHI), and political drivers include power relations and policy aims. Issues arising from the metabolic pattern within cities can always have solutions presented at the level of drivers, needs and constraints. Examining the future of Urban Metabolism, various critical uncertainties are essential to identify by their nature as they defy predictions.

Reflection Interrelated elements of urban metabolism are the under-layers of the practicality of urban metabolism. The connection relationships between flows and stocks, activities, needs & facilitators/constraints, and drivers are critical components to the design solutions projected into a future context. This thesis project aims to incorporate all the interrelated elements of urban metabolism in the proposed urban strategy in a future setting.

Fig. 21- The five inter-related elements of Urban Metabolism

Fig. 22- Linking the layers to come to an inter-disciplinary understanding of UM

Fig. 23- Efficiency and equity aspects of UM

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2.3 Designing with Flows

Our built environment has been largely designed in a spatial-based approach; however, when perceiving the city as a metabolic system, the formula changes. As different flows in the city are in a continuous state of movement, our infrastructure is inadequate in sustaining such flows, because we are growing and developing rapidly, yet our infrastructure remains the same. In a future densified urban context, the infrastructure will surely not be able to facilitate the projected capacity of flows required.

As mentioned previously, flows are integral to cities, they have a major impact on the quality of cities. Metabolic processes in the urban environment often have many hidden patterns, such patterns can be a starting point to enhance the quality of our cities. The city being a metabolic system is an alternative perspective of perceiving the city, it becomes an ecosystem, alive, messy, and dynamic amalgam of flowing systems (Sijmons, 2014).

When it comes to design, there are multiple ways to tackle flows, as shown in the design approach access figure. In principle, there are 44

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multiple ways to tackle flows, as shown in the design approach access figure. In principle, there are two predominant paths to designing with flows, strategic design, and spatial design.

Firstly, the strategic design focuses on flow quality yielding to a formative infrastructure path, which is the strategic design of certain infrastructure. The strategic design also focuses on flow quality, which is the strategic design of a certain flow. Secondly, spatial design focuses on flow efficiency, which is the design of the object of the flow, like a railway for the flow of people. The spatial design also focuses on flow infrastructure, which is the design of the object of infrastructure, for example, a railway station for railway infrastructure.

The thesis project is primarily placed in the strategic design cluster, focusing mainly on formative infrastructure; however, the project also takes into consideration flow quality, flow efficiency, and the spatial quality of infrastructure.

FLOWS

FLOW QUALITY

FLOW EFFICIENCY

Strategic design of the flow

Design the object of flow

SPATIAL DESIGN

PR

O

JE

CT

STRATEGIC DESIGN

FORMATIVE INFRASTRUCTURE

Strategic design of infrastructure

FLOW INFRASTRUCTURE Design the object of infrastructure

INFRASTRUCTURE

Fig. 24 - Design Approach Axis – By Author

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2.4 Benchmark Strategy - UM of Rotterdam

A benchmark project dealing with urban metabolism is the “Urban Metabolism – Rotterdam”. The project was one of three projects presented, as part of the IABR2014- (International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam), the project was a collaboration between FABRICations., the municipality of Rotterdam, and James Corner Field Operations. Framed as a response to global trends, urban metabolism was used as an entry point to unravel the complexities of the city of Rotterdam. Expanding on different disciplines within the city, the result of the research was a holistic set of analyses that included ideas, spatial economic perspectives, and various insights that inspire the building of a sustainable future for Rotterdam. The research involved multiple subtopics, which included flow assessment, re-industrialization, food and materials, heat and co2, green and blue biotopes.

Flow assessment analyzed how different flows in the city have a significant influence on the existence of Rotterdam, specifically flows of money, goods, people, information, energy, water and waste. The proposed framework 46

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of various design linkages such as parallel pathways, convergences, closing circles, and dis-connectivity can offer various potentials for alternative methods of working with flows. Rotterdam was used as a “test” site to investigate urban metabolism as a tool of measurement that could assist in developing a sustainable future based on nine vital substance flows: which include Waste, Cargo, People, Energy, Food, Water, Biota, Air & Heat, and Sand & Clay (FABRICations., 2014).

The Re-industrialization outcome of the research shows potential results as strategic visions are visualized three-dimensionally, strategies containing concentration, plant laboratory integration, development zones and cargo hubs. Such strategies can have substantial impacts on the economy, for example, cargo flows can be tackled through small-scale and clean industries that can easily be integrated into the city, linking residents with industry and boosting industry revenue.

Fig. 25 - Flows of People

Fig. 27 - Flows of Cargo

Fig. 26 - Flows of Water

Fig. 28 - Flows of Energy

Fig. 29 - Re-industrialization Urban Strategy

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Chapter 3 Future Urban Fabric Filtering Layers

The urban fabric is an evolving entity, our cities, and urban environments constantly evolve based on the era. Historically, the physical characteristics of urban areas revolved around walled cities, such cities were human settlements primarily used for living. Most people worked outside the city until a certain hour, afterwards, workers would return to the city, where the doors were shut by the end of the day. In contrast, cities nowadays are very dynamic settlements where people live, work, play and learn. The urban fabric experienced drastic changes in the early 20th century when cars were introduced, and roadways dictated the entirety of cities. Today, roadways still dictate the urban fabric, however, with the development of rapid transportation systems, cities are gradually becoming pedestrianized.

Additionally, we are on the verge of a digital revolution, which will transform our methods

of movement. Emerging technologies like autonomous vehicles, urban air mobility, and other high-speed rapid transit systems will ultimately replace conventional methods of mobility, hence rendering a highly distinctive and alternative future of urbanism.

This chapter further elaborates on appropriated concepts such as ecosystemic urbanism, evolving urban morphology, and infrastructure systems, ultimately leading to the overall synthesis of the entire theoretical research and the research question of the thesis.

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“Urban ecology faces a significant challenge: to position itself in the context of planetary change and to understand the role that cities play in the evolution of Earth. The dynamic of urban ecosystems are complex and hard to predict because we do not yet understand how they work….”

Marian Alberti, Professor of Urban & Environmental Planning in University of Washington.

Fig. 30 - City Planet

3.1 Ecosystemic Urbanism

Cities can be considered as complex ecosystems that are directly created by humans, such complexities were developed over time and translated into what is known as urban models. Urban models are used to predict various spatial patterns and the way cities function in a simplified manner (Wolfel, 2009). To target emerging challenges in cities, and deal with the present and future, urbanists must challenge the status quo and explore alternative methods of urbanism, such as ecosystem-based urbanism. Ecosystemic urbanism is a holistic method of planning that takes into consideration various variables in the wider context within the process of urban planning. Such a method of planning leans more towards creating and developing cities rather than generating suburbs, however, the process is linked to the natural process within an ecosystem. The process aims to establish principles that define rules of engagement and systems of restrictions; such parameters produce an intentional urban model that acts as a practical guide for producing processes in new cities and regenerating existing cities (BCNecologia, 2012).

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According to Marina Alberti, professor of urban and environmental planning at Washington University, cities can be considered as hybrid ecosystems, a product of “co-evolving” natural and human systems, “… cities’ hybrid nature that makes them unstable and unpredictable, simultaneously capable of innovation.” (Alberti, 2016). The comparison between ecological processes in mother nature and man-made systems that run cities is the essence of the terminology used, ‘ecosystem’.

From a natural perspective, ecosystems mainly work in circular ways, with elements entering and exiting a certain ecosystem, creating closed loops.

From an urban perspective, ecosystemic urbanism focuses on integrating various functions in cities, based on urbanization patterns and necessities, such functions include food, water, energy and waste. As shown in the eco-evolutionary dynamic in urbanization diagram, the urban ecosystem, and ecosystem functions are linked through drivers and mechanisms of habitat modification, resulting in a circular model within a certain ecosystem. Similarly, this thesis project aims to translate urban metabolism into a design proposal through ecosystemic urbanism.

Telecoupling

Evolution Gene culture

Human Drivers biophysical demographic socioeconomic policy

Mechanisms habitat modification (structure & processes) biotic interactions heterogeneity noval disturbance socal interactions

Built

Selection Plasticity

Urban phenotype

Natural

Global drivers

Urban Ecosystem

Ecosystem function

Fig. 31- Eco-evolutionary Dynamic in Urbanization

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3.2 Urban Morphology Evolution

Urban Morphology is the science that analyzes the physical forms of cities, it also focuses on the agents and processes that shape them over time. As a result of the complexity presented in urban morphology, it involves a magnitude of disciplines, with contributions from fields such as architecture, history, geography and planning. The term “Morphology” stems from science that deals with the essence of forms, the terminology was translated into an urban perspective. Over the last decades, society acknowledged the importance of urban form and its dimensional impacts, impacts such as social, economic, and environmental that contribute to the structure of our lives in cities.

The global state of our urban morphology is in a constant continuous state of development and evolution based on various forces and drivers of change within society, which holds significant importance in shaping the future of our cities.

Practice & Research One of the key challenges of urban morphology is providing sound bases to understand the context, therefore there is an essential need to strengthen the link between 54

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research and practice. Both practice and research are considered to be interdisciplinary in various fields, such as geography, history, theory and urban design (Oliveira, 2018).

The center of the research and practice regarding urban form deals with the changing characteristics of the built environment, which results in various multiscale urban patterns, from macro to micro. As shown in the research & practice diagram, the research side of the spectrum mainly has a substantive/ descriptive component that investigates, explains, and evaluates various parameters, such as investigation and explanation, usually conducted by theorists. On the other hand, the practice side has a normative/prescriptive component that works on shaping the urban form, usually conducted by planners, architects, and urban designers. Urban patterns remain the central component that dictates the path of practice and research regarding urban morphology.

Scales Vítor Oliveira, a researcher of urban morphology, tackles the idea of scale within urban morphology in his book “Teaching

practice

research

planner architect urban designer

socio-political

procedural

domain

domain

urban pattern

normative/perspective

substantive/descriptive (what is/why/how)

(what should be)

shaping the urban form organization of the structure construction of relations

investigation & explanation evaluation identification of types

regulatory domain

Fig. 32 - Research & Practice (Urban Morphology)

morphological unit

scale of intervention

major

medium

minor

hierachy of roads (transportation system) public space system borders block size block form block type street width plot coverage plot size plot form building height materials windows storey height

object of intervention

pattern formation

city

settlement pattern

neighborhood

block / street pattern

plots buildings

plot pattern building pattern

rooms structure

Fig.33 - Scales of Intervention in Urban Pattern

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Urban Morphologies”. Oliveira investigates various scales of intervention and urban patterns from both academic and practice standpoints. Urban Patterns are formed in a hierarchy, starting in overall cities, and zooming into neighborhoods, buildings, blocks, clusters and construction details. Each pattern has a sense of connectivity with other patterns, creating a language that ultimately shapes the overall urban form. As shown in the scales of intervention diagram; there are three main scales of intervention: major, medium and minor; the urban pattern is segregated into 3 main components: morphological unit, the object of intervention, and pattern formation. An example of a “major” scale of intervention would be a hierarchy of roads (transportation systems) and public space borders, the object of intervention for the case would be the city, and the pattern of formation would be a settlement pattern (Oliveira, 2018).

Other objects of intervention include other scales, like neighborhoods, plot buildings and room structures.

Urban Transformation Various agents and processes result in Urban Transformation, each agent takes part in the process of transforming certain urban landscapes. Architects and planners are responsible promoters of action when it comes to transformation in urban forms, as architects design new physical forms, they are critically contributing to designing city visions and guiding society in their day-to-day activities, and sometimes the effect can define certain political strategies for cities. Vítor Oliveira further elaborates on the idea, by stating:

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“The planners have to define the rules of transformation of urban form for a number of tissues of a real city. The second team is the developers. Bearing in mind the rules defined by the planners, the developers must establish the program for several new buildings to be erected in the different urban tissues, which were previously analyzed by the planners.

The last team is the architects team. Based on the inputs of both the planners and the developers, the architects must outline the plans and façades for the new buildings.” (Oliveira, 2018). Additionally, understanding the process of urban transformation critically examines how we organize ourselves to build a certain balance between compressive perspectives of cities, a planned view of a city, and various contributions to the entirety of a city structure. The balance between unity and diversity is often argued to be integral to how a city can become an attraction, in morphological terms.

Reflection Understanding the evolution of urban morphology is an integral part of this thesis research, as it assisted me in formulating a strategic method of intervention. The practice & research cluster shows the coordination between theory and practice dealing with urban morphology. Scales of intervention highlight various objects of interventions, linked to certain morphological units and pattern formations in an urban context. Finally, the urban transformation cluster describes the technicality of a certain urban transformation and key participants in the process of transformation within an urban context.

Fig. 34 - Urban tissues of eight different cities, approximately at the same scale: (left to right) Brasilia, Djenné, Venice, New York, Barcelona, Paris, Rome and Sana’a.

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3.3 Infrastructure Systems

Infrastructure conventionally refers to the physical networks for disciplines like transportation, communications, or utilities, it also refers to the hidden substrate elements that shape our cities. However, today, infrastructure is much more than a series of pipes and wires, it also extends to microwaves satellites, and electronic devices we use in our daily life.

Infrastructure is not the explicit point of contact and access amongst our civilization, governing the spaces used in everyday life. Renowned American architect, Keller Easterling, successfully interrogates the concept of infrastructure from a designer’s point in her book “Extrastatecraft: The power of Infrastructure”, she states accordingly “Picture the places where we live: the parking places, skyscrapers, turning radii, garages, street lights, driveways, airport lounges, highway exits, big boxes, strip malls, shopping malls, small boxes, free zones, casinos, retail outlets, fast food restaurants, hotels, cash machines, tract housing, container ports, industrial parks, call centers, golf courses, suburbs, office buildings, business parks, resorts.

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In the retinal afterglow is a soupy matrix of details and repeatable formulas that generate most of the space in the world, what we might call infrastructure space.” (Easterling, 2016).

Zones in cities Infrastructural spaces reveal an extended level of complexity that is tackled by intensive engineering, science and policy. Some cities often function as “world-city templates”, where certain urban zones are designed for specific activities and have a fenced-off structure of the economy (like tax cuts) and law, such zones are created to attract investors to world cities, and they are often presented in a thematic-based method, such areas are widely present in the Middle East and China. Stemming from the early 1970s, the approach was successful in creating astonishing mutations in the last thirty years.

Various prominent examples of Zones in cities are present in Dubai, UAE. Dubai established the first free-trade zone in 1985, known as the “Jebel Ali Free Zone”, due to its extraordinary success, Dubai implemented the zone methodology across many other disciplines.

The urban fabric of the city transformed into a series of zones often named a “(discipline) City”, such zones have segregated models of ownership, law, and customs, becoming a city that is a machine of economic growth in the territory. “There is Dubai Internet City, which opened in 2000 (the first to mix the IT campus with the free-trade zone), Dubai Health Care City, Dubai Knowledge Village, Dubai Techno Park, Dubai Media City, Dubai Industrial City…, among many others.” (Easterling, 2016).

Such examples highlight certain powers of infrastructural space and the enormous impact they can have on the economy, law, and discipline growth.

Reflection A closer look at infrastructure systems and the example of planned infrastructural zones signifies the importance of infrastructural planning in cities, and how it has a direct effect on various societal components, such as the economy and the environment. The thesis project redefines infrastructural planning in a future city scenario, with a significant focus on pressing global urgencies, offering an alternative strategy for future infrastructure systems in cities.

Fig. 35 - Dubai Industrial City

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3.4 Project Synthesis

This section marks the end of the theoretical research component of the thesis project, the section aims to summarize key components of the theoretical research through six main points, ultimately leading to the research question. Firstly, future city visions have been developed over time with a prominent paradigm shift towards ecological future cities, due to global urgencies. Secondly, key drivers of change, urban growth and resource scarcity will have a significant impact on how we build cities in the future. Thirdly, urban metabolism offers an alternative perspective of studying cities, once simplified, it becomes a challenging planning tool for building twenty-first-century cities and beyond. Fourthly, designing with flows challenges architects and urbanists, with the opportunity to move away from spatial design and toward strategic design. Fifthly, ecosystemic urbanism presents an alternative method of urbanism, which critically examines the future of the urban fabric. Sixthly, infrastructural systems advocate the importance of infrastructural planning in cities, as a critical driving force for the economy.

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Today, we are presented with an ultimate design challenge; on one hand, we must consider the flows within our cities and push for alternative design methods in coexistence with flows. On the other hand, we are constantly developing our systems creating a state of lead in overall development, however, we are in a state of lag in infrastructural development, as shown in the diagram. Our cities will fail to sustain their sufficiency and existence if we don’t update our infrastructure and approach to urbanism.

Research Question Through the speculative design and researchby-design methodology, the thesis interrogates urban metabolic systems as an approach to propose alternative design strategies for future infrastructure planning in the evolving urban fabric.

As shown in the Research Translation Components figure, the research question is translated into a series of designed artifacts through four main components which include investigating urban flows, exploring future scenarios, identifying a context, and speculating alternative strategies.

LEAD

Present

Future

ll vera

O

D

t

men

lop eve

pment

e Develo

uctur Infrastr

LAG Fig. 36 - Infrastructure Development in comparison with overall Development Diagram – By Author

Investigate Urban Flows

Explore

Future Scenarios

Identify Context

Speculate

Alternative Strategies

Fig. 37 - Research Translation Components – By Author

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Chapter 4 An Alternative Future Projecting a Future Scenario

When speculating alternative urban futures, many pressing questions arise; how will our cities look and function, in the near and far future? Will change in cities occur gradually or suddenly? How accurate are fictional films and art in portraying the future? Will the future city be a utopia, dystopia, or a combination?

Since the mid-twentieth century, the information age presented civilization with a sharp shift in methods of accessing, storing, and recording data. In addition, information technology and computer-aided design revolutionized the way we represent our thoughts, enabling our imaginations to submerge further into imagining abstract content, such as the future.

Today, we have access to a variety of tools that utilize theory, physics, mathematics, and science to visualize our research. The leap in technology allowed designers to explore

various creative mediums to represent thoughts and ideas, adding an extra diagrammatic dimension to research.

Based on the research of previous chapters, this chapter will focus on an alternative future through various creative mediums of projecting, mediums include infographics, tables, diagrams, and digital sketches, to project a viable future scenario. The chapter begins by illustrating the evolution of urbanity and infrastructure, followed by an exploration of various possible future scenarios. Subsequently, a future vision is presented, along with the personas associated with it. Finally, a concluding part discusses the future impacts of the scenario through multiple scales. This chapter is the starting point for translating this thesis research into designed artifacts.

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“The best way to predict the future is to create it!”

Abraham Lincoln, 16th US President Fig. 38 - Futuristic City

4.1 Evolution of Urbanity & Infrastructure

Throughout history, there have been multiple notable shifts in the formation and function of our cities, such changes were always influenced by the evolution of infrastructure.

Civilizations constantly built different infrastructures to make certain aspects of life easier, significant mobility infrastructures such as railways and roadways, revolutionized people’s lifestyles, the global economy, and ultimately the urban fabric. The presented evolution starts from key mobility infrastructure to sustainable energy infrastructure, to speculations of integrated ecosystems.

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The timeline shown is divided into seven main eras: walking-horsecar era, transit era, energy era, speed era, integration era, smart era and ecosystem era. Each era explores different events and their impacts that range from socio-cultural, technological, economic, environmental and political perspectives. The timeline shows the attitude of the thesis project towards the future, leaning toward an evolving urbanity through integrated infrastructure ecosystems.

1804 Steam Railway First Steam Railway introduced in the England.

SOCIO-CULTURAL IMPACT TECHNOLOGICAL IMPACT

EVENTS

ECONOMIC IMPACT

URBANIT

Y

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

1800s Compact Cities Walking cities were typically less than 5 kilometers in diameter.

Prominent methods of mobility include Horses & Walking

SIZE / MAGNITUDE OF EVENT

WA LKI

1800

POLITICAL IMPACT

1880s Urban Form Update New developments, often referred to as trackside suburbs, emerged as small nodes that were physically separated from the city itself and one another.

1900s Street Car Sprawl The city was able to spread outward 20 to 30 kilometers along the streetcar lines, creating irregularity. Urban fringes became areas of rapid residential development.

1930s Urban Traffic Congestion As street congestion increased in the first half of the 20th century due to the diffusion of the automobile, the efficiency of streetcar systems deteriorated as cars infringed their right of way.

EN

RG Y

E W

or

ld

W

ar

War I

1930s Wind Turbines Emerge Wind turbines witha capacity of 200 kW and it employs a new invention, harvesting energy from wind.

ER A

1950s Green Revolution Technological Advancement in mobility led to increased agricultural production 1960s Solar Panels Emerge New methods of energy harvest through sunlight

SP

2018 Evolving Urban Form Developments of electrical & self-driving vehicles, appearing charging stations with the urban environment.

1904 First Mass Produced Car Emerges Model T by Henry Ford

dem

ic

2050s Rebuilt & Redefined Urban Form The Urban form is fully upgraded as per dictated policy from a singular entity.

Econ.

BA

2050s Integrated Infrastructure Ecosystems Integrated Infrastructure Ecosystems become widely adopted in cities

Fossil Fuels = More Pollution

Political

Policy = Alternative policies / laws

2010 2010s Discipline Diffusion/Integration The diffusion of information and communication technologies. Various emerging urban systems gain from a higher level of integration, resulting in better levels of asset utilization.

2010s Disconnected Ownership Models Urban transportation modes remain rather disconnected, particularly since they are owned and operated by separate entities such as transit agencies.

2030s Electrification / Sustainable Energy Environmental awareness grows, leading to a complete ban on fossil fuel usage and reliance of clean energy.

2030s Smart Infrastructure Different entities merge into a singular entity creating smart infrastructure model than produce, manage, and store energy efficiently

ERA

ult.

io-c

Soc

Lifestyle = Travel - Working - Living Multi-discipline = Efficiency / Longivity / Convenience

ch.

Te

Environ.

.

Communication = More Jobs / new industry

Environ.

1996 The SOLAR Project Located in Spain & the US, consisting of three solar power-plants for harvesting and storing energy.

2060

Tech

Movement = Exploration / Travel Navigation = Confidence / comfort-zone

1990s Social / Lifestyle Change Ease of Movement changed the way people live in multiple ways

2050

User-Friendly= Social Attraction

UR

.

Tech

Econ.

S NT

ult.

io-c

Soc

EE DE RA

2010s Smart City Planning Technologies like , predictive processing, and real-time collaboration, the cloud, and other begin impacting city planning.

TEM SYS ECO

1980s Fall of Public Transport Transit ridership fell, and transit companies ran into financial difficulties. Eventually, transit services throughout North America and Europe became subsidized, publiclyowned enterprises.

1964 First Electric Highspeed Train First Highspeed fully electric train operational in Japan, reaching speeds of 285km/hr

1970s Public Transport Challenge The emergence of the suburb created a new landscape in which public transit did not fit well with few services being offered to these new residential areas.

2050s Eco-systemic Urbanism As cities reach peak densification and resource scarcity rises, the entirety of the urban network transforms into man-made ecosystems in order sustain civilization survival

TY NI

Industry Growth - Manufacturing surges / Political Agendas

2030s Vertical Urban Solutions As Cities continue growing, rapidly. Urban nodes are transformed, through vertical solution for the entire urban fabric 2030s Smart Streets Digitalized Street that tranform in function & size according to timings, condition, and other factors

2020s Migration Stress on Urban Environment As more people move into city, the urban environment experiences stress. Peak Migration, high levels of urban congestion.

E

Political

SMAR T ER A

2020s Urban Air Mobility Integration Urban Areas begin adapting to an integrated method of mobility consisting of Ground & Air.

EV

Higher Emissions - More car users

2020s Rise of Public Transport / Fall of Car Ownership Global rise in car-sharing / mass transit. Majority of London Resdient rely on mass transit.

2020s Market Disruption Electric & autonomous vehciles begin impacting traditional econmies

2020

Assembly-Lines - More Jobs - Fordism

Environ.

INTEGRATION ERA

Pan

Tech. Leap - Further development

Econ.

1950

2010s Centralized Cities Urban City Centers act as central Hub for the city, as prominent financial / cultural districts

2020s De-Centralized Cities Urban City Center slowly fade away and cities experience equal rapid geographic Urban growth

Redefined Lifestyle - Efficency & Movement

lt.

Socio-cu

1960s US Interstate Highway Act Creates a network of highways which connects all parts of US

1960s Commericial Suburbanization Commercial activities began to suburbanize as , creating additional passenger and freight mobility systems.

2015s Dramatic Urbanization Due to connectivity and integrated movement, dramatic levels of urbanization emerge as more people move to cities

1885 First Automobile First gasoline powered engine automobile built by Karl Benz

1869-1897 Canals Emerge Megascale aquatic infrastructure constructed Suez Canal-1869 Kiel Canal- 1897

1890

II

1950s Highways Highways were built to connect the central business district to outlying areas and, in many cases, complete or partial ring roads were built.

1960s Urban Sprawl The automobile reduced the friction of distance considerably, which led to Urban Sprawl

ER A

T ERA TRANSI World

1940s Land Development Changes As cars gain popularity, developers were attracted to green-field areas located between the suburban rail corridors, and the public was attracted to these singleuse zones, thus avoiding many inconveniences, mainly pollution, crowding, and lack of space.

NG -HO RS EC AR

Tech.

1930

1930s Gas Stations Significant increase and steady growth of Gas Stations

1823 Internal Combustion Engine Invented Invented by Samuel Brown

1837 Telegraph Telegraph Services start in London

Economic Growth = Faster economic growth Electric = Zero emission rates

Polit.

Policy = Alternative policies / laws 2050s Autonomous Machinery Normalizes As autonomous machinery becomes the new normal, no humans control any machine

Smart Systems = Self-sustainable Technology Economic Control = Controlled supply/demand Clean Energy = Renewable/re-distributable Energy Flexible Policy = Flexible ownership & implementation models

Fig. 39 - Timeline of Urbanity & Infrastructure – By Author

4.2 Exploring Future Scenarios

Based on the theoretical analysis of the research, four potential future scenarios were explored. The axis of the future scenarios was explored through the main drivers of change of the research, which are urban growth and resource scarcity. The scenarios are explored through various conditions of high to low peak conditions, as well as ranks of probability.

High peak urban growth and resource scarcity were chosen as the most probable critical conditions in our changing world, which resulted in the selected future scenario: the urgent need of man-made ecosystems as a tool of future civilization survivability.

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The future scenario was selected as the base point for developing a speculative design project. The future scenarios seek to explore the various futures, with different levels of possibility, where conflicts and challenges of the changing world are presented to explore new methods of speculating the future.

The selected scenario provides an opportunity to radically challenge the status quo and move towards alternative methods of urbanism, such as ecosystemic urbanism, yielding to a possible future condition in cities.

SMART RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

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iv

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Impossible

Possible

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4.3 Future Vision

The future vision is a translation of the previous section, exploring future scenarios. As mentioned previously, the selected probable future was the need for man-made ecosystems as a means of civilization survivability, based on high peak urban growth and high peak resource scarcity.

The future vision visualizes an over-packed city with crowds of people and a heavily densified urban context with enclosed habitats

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representing ecosystems. The condition shows the enclosed habitats spreading over the city in an alternative way in comparison to the traditionally built area, creating a new dimension in the city tackling the lack of available space in a future scenario.

The future vision acts as a conceptual atmospheric base for the speculative design project, which later translates into the conceptual framework of the design intervention.

Fig. 41 - Future Vision – By Author

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4.4 Personas

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To achieve a comprehensive understanding of the future vision, different personas were created to reveal possible main users in a future city context. To establish appropriate personas, basic components of ecosystems were assessed. There are various components in ecosystems and such components have different types of relationships with each other, such connections are overly critical since they shape the overall function of an ecosystem.

elements, such as the climatic and edaphic elements. The model of components in ecosystems has been appropriated to reveal the personas of the future vision. As shown in the diagram, there is further magnification into the human personas, categorizing them into three main categories: consumers, users and producers, which are translated into various members of a speculated community in a future scenario.

An ecosystem has two main categories, biotic components, and abiotic components. Biotic components include the living organism, such as animals, humans and plants; however, the abiotic components include the non-living

The diversity of the personas further elaborates on the holisticness and the dynamism of ecosystems, which are represented as dynamic circular processes with significant levels of sophistication, rather than static entities

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ECOSYSTEM

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Consumers

Local Community Regional Residents Tourists Migrants

Users

Producers

Locals Tourists Children Students Seniors Workers

Workers Moderators Maintainers Cleaners

Fig. 42 - Personas of Ecosystems – By Author

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4.5 Future Impact of Ecosystems

Ecosystems function as habitats within certain environments, such habitats have significant impacts on the intermediate surroundings.

They are also processes that have complex active components and substantial impacts through various scales. The future scenario, future vision, and personas are all represented within a holistic habitat with multiple dimensions leading to a significant future impact, which goes beyond the basic local, regional, and global impacts.

As shown in the diagram, various impacts are represented through multiple scales starting from the city, all the way to the universe (micro to macro). From a city’s impact, ecosystems

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will offer alternative lifestyles for future citizens with increased levels of comfort and resource accessibility. From a country’s impact, ecosystems will offer equalized levels of densification and a smaller gap between social classes, if the gap still exists. From a continent and planet impact, ecosystems can offer increased levels of connectivity physically and intangibly. Finally, from a universe impact, ecosystems can improve the overall galactic movement in the universe, increasing the possibility of habitation on other planets beyond earth.

Habitation

Sufficiency

Policy

Society

Resource

Sustainability

Economy

Income

Efficiency

Connectivity

Density

Access

Adaptation

Comfort Lifestyle

UNIVERSE

PLANET

CONTINENT

COUNTRY

CITY

Fig. 43 - Ecosystem Scales of Impact – By Author

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Chapter 5 Siting Strategy Strategic Siting

During the 6th century, the first world map was drawn out, which was a revolutionary leap for humans, allowing them to shape the world they live in. Maps later became prominent tools of expression, analysis, and art, which led humans to create a complex demographic language, generating the field of geography.

Mapping enables humans to understand how each city is built, distinguishing different city identities. Mapping also presents Architects and Urbanists with an added dimension of land evaluation, enhancing the design process towards achieving impactful interventions that further develop cities and civilizations.

Siting is one the most fundamental components of the design process, as it dictates the overall totality of a design project. However, siting strategies have been evolving within the design process, beyond the idea of a client with a specific piece of land. Certain projects, such as

speculative design projects, require alternative methods of site selection. A customized process can be tailored, resulting in identifying an appropriate site, such processes can be ambiguous, conceptual and unpredictable.

In a future context, it is necessary to abandon traditional methods of selecting a site for design projects.

After laying out the foundation of the research for the thesis, selecting a city of intervention is necessary. Through extracted data from the research, a set of rules is drafted for an appropriate context to translate the research into a speculative design proposal. This chapter will focus on the strategy developed to select an appropriate demographic context. After selecting the city, it will be studied through various components like city analysis, evolution timeline, data mapping, speculative mapping and site analysis.

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“A map says to you. Read me carefully, follow me closely, doubt me not... I am the earth in the palm of your hand.”

Beryl Markham, English-Kenyan Aviator, Adventurer & Author.

Fig. 44 - Time Zones of the World

5.1 Conditions of Testing the Proposition

The thesis project approaches the siting strategy through a conditional approach, by drafting a set of conditions that must apply to the selected city, as an intervention grounds.

The selected city must be a megacity with a continuously growing population, the city must also be significantly active, diverse, changing, connected and innovative. The conditions will successfully lead to a city with vibrant and significantly sophisticated infrastructure, which ensures the selection of an appropriate city of

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intervention, directly correlating with the overall research.

After meeting the outlined conditions, the megacity is analyzed from an infrastructural perspective. Infrastructural analysis is further translated into speculative analysis, which is accompanied by additional detailed analysis.

This method is effective in uncovering opportunity areas, ultimately leading to the selected site for the speculative design intervention.

Diverse Context Growing Context

MEGACITY

Changing Context Connected Context

Innovative Context

Moving Context

Fig. 45 - Location Conditions of testing the proposition – By Author

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5.2 London, a changing context...

The selected city is London, a changing context with a very complex infrastructure that was developed over the centuries. With a soaring population of around 10 million inhabitants and a reputation of being one of the world’s leading economies, London is the most favorable city to test the case through the conditional approach. Being one of the most connected cities on earth, London is a continuously changing context with various trends like mortality, migration, diversity, resilience, wellbeing and sustainability (Mateos, 2013). Being a megacity with a rising migrant population, the city is also heavily congested, with an over-exhausted infrastructure. The future of London is already in the making, as

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various changes are taking place tangibly and intangibly, which makes it the perfect starting point for implementing a speculative design proposal, where radicality and change are highly tolerable.

London is chosen as a starting point for the thesis project, rather than a definitive location, with a viable possibility to implement prototypical-based design strategies in other growing cities, ultimately leading to the transformation of the global urban morphology.

Visiting the city of London was also a fundamental component of the siting strategy, resulting in a thorough physical analysis of the identity and physical characteristics of the city.

Fig. 46 - Photograph of the City of London – By Author

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5.3 Mapping Flows

As a starting point for the speculative design project, it is essential to map the infrastructural flows of London, to understand the city’s metabolic process. The London Flows Map is a compilation of available data about the city’s infrastructure, visualizing the flows of people through transport infrastructures such as roadways, railways, public, and private transport routes. Water flows are also visualized, along with energy flows through powerlines.

An additional layer was added to the mapping, representing flow densities. Flow densities

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show the various flow convergences in certain parts of the city, each point of density varies in size based on the number of flows converging together. The map successfully visualizes an abstract representation of London’s metabolic process. As shown in the London Flows Map, density flows are mainly concentrated along the Thames River in central London.

Additionally, a set of separate mini maps show flows of water, nature, railway, and energy, adding an extra layer of detail through a variety of standalone processes in the city.

Fig. 47 - London Flows Map – By Author

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Fig. 48 - Flow of Water – By Author

Fig. 49 - Flow of Nature – By Author

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Fig. 50 - Flow of Railway – By Author

Fig. 51 - Flow of Energy – By Author

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5.4 Speculative Mapping

The speculative mapping component of the research is the next step of translating the research into a speculative design project.

The existing flow densities are further conceptualized in a future setting, the densities are represented in an abstract threedimensional mesh environment. Different peaks and dips represent different magnitudes of flow density in a future setting. The

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speculative flow densities are categorized as low, medium and high densities. The rates of these densities are speculated through an exponential growth of previously generated flow densities in the Flows of London Map, prominently existent in central London.

Fig. 52 - Speculative Flow Densities in Central London – By Author

SPECULATIVE FLOW DENSITIES CENTRAL LONDON

51.5074° N, 0.1272° W

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5.5 Thames River

As per the previous mapping and analysis, it is inevitably clear that the Thames River area in central London is the most active area in the city, with various flow convergences along the surroundings of the river. As mentioned previously in the future scenario, cities will be tackling the lack of space availability forcing us to shift towards alternative methods of building, beyond developing the urban fabric traditionally. Hence, the Thames River was selected as an area of interest, as a base for further analysis.

The Thames River is around 346 kilometers stretching across England. The river creates a strong division in the urban tissue separating

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the city into two parts, where different identities are shaped. The river has also evolved over time with various events through history with a significant role in contributing to the rapid economic growth of London. The river also has a significant demographic value, giving the city of London exponential rapid economic growth, which evolved the city into a key player in the global economy.

This section will explore the Thames River in additional detail through different graphical components including the urban tissue, connection bridges and a timeline diagram of the river.

Fig. 53 - Thames River in London

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Fig. 54 - Urban Tissue of London – By Author

Fig. 55 - Thames River Bridges – By Author

The Thames becomes a major port, but it’s wracked with crime, over half a million pounds worth of goods are stolen each year. Thames River Police is founded!

Meet the Police!

1798 The sewage system still pumps London’s waste into the Thames, but now on the outskirts. A total of 650 people drown in sewage released from pumping stations. Reforms are prompted by politicians.

1607 First Frost Fair

Princess Alice Disaster 1858

1878

The Great Stink The Thames regularly freezes over the winter. Londoners set up stalls, pubs, bowling lanes and even barbers on the ice.

Population is soaring leading to sanitation problems. The Thames becomes fetid and disease-ridden. A new sewer system is constructed, the biggest civil engineering project of the century!

1934 On the Beach!

The river becomes cleaner. Sand is brought in to build a beach next to the Tower of London.

5,000 people visit it daily, especially East End children who have never been to the seaside.

Beachgoers can even hire rowing boats to row under Tower Bridge and back again.

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In the North Sea, a heavy storm erupts late on 31 January. It produces a flood that devastates much of the east coast of the UK. More than 320 people die in the Thames area.

Woolwich flood barrier is built to protect the suburbs and central London after the 1953 floods. During storms or periods of heavy rainfall, it is closed to prevent water from entering the city.

Facilities for the 2012 Olympic Games are built on the banks of the River Lea, one of the Thames tributaries. It’s a huge construction project, and the river is integral to making it happen.

Thames Barrier

Olympian Feat

1982

2012

The Great Flood

Modular Integrated ecosystems are constructed and activated on the river water to accommodate resources for the continuous population growth.

Ecosystems Activated 2040

1953

1974 Salmon, Finally!

With the decline of heavy industry and better environmental protections, the big Thames clean-up really takes off in the late 20th century. Many species of fish and birds return, first salmon sighting in decades.

2050 2030

New Urban Fabric

Crystal Clear Water

Further water filtration technologies turn the Thames into a natural haven, attracting more species to the river. The Thames turns into a prominent water source for the city.

With various ecosystems emerging on the river, the Thames becomes a brand new urban fabric that is sustainably used and managed.

Fig. 56 - Timeline/Evolution of the Thames River – By Author

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5.6 Mapping Areas of Opportunity

After selecting the Thames River as an area of interest, an additional map further zooms into the central area of London, where the river separates the city into two regions. The map illustrates a series of overlaid data consisting of pedestrian and vehicular congestion points, railway flow, roads, and buildings. The data is used as a basis for mapping various areas of opportunity along the river.

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The mapping shows the densified context of the city and the possibility of proposing an alternative way of building. Rather than demolishing existing infrastructure and rebuilding it, the project will utilize the Thames River as an alternative urban fabric. Rather than over-building in a congested urban context, the project prioritizes sustainability and the opportunity of establishing a connection with nature.

Fig. 57 - London Areas of Opportunity Map – By Author

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5.7 Selected Site Analysis

The selected site is not a definitive site, it is just an area of experimentation, which later translates into a prototype-based approach.

The site is in Central London adjacent to the business district and the Southwark district. Key infrastructure components in the site are the London Bridge and the Cannon Street Railway Bridge. There are also various mixed-use typologies in the area, predominantly offices and commercial spaces. The site area is a very congested part of London with an infrastructure of substantial size. The polarized edge conditions of the river and the under-designed

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street configuration in the area increase the levels of congestion, proving that the infrastructure is not sufficient to connect the city.

The magnitude of the overused infrastructure in the area makes the selected site a relevant starting point to test the proposition. This section includes a detailed analysis of the selected site by highlighting different site conditions, comparing edge conditions of the river, and physical analysis represented through photography.

Fig. 58 - Selected Site – By Author

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Fig. 59 - Selected Site Conditions – By Author

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Fig. 60 - River Edge Condition 1 (North) – By Author

Fig. 61 - River Edge Condition 1 (North) – By Author

Fig. 62 - River Edge Condition 2 (South) – By Author

Fig. 63 - River Edge Condition 2 (South) – By Author

1

2

Fig. 64 - Overall Site Section – By Author

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Fig. 65 - Train & Watercraft Activity in the Cannon Street Railway Bridge Proximity – By Author

Fig. 66 - Under-utilized Thames River in the London Bridge Proximity – By Author

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Fig. 67 - Crowded Pedestrian Movement on London Bridge – By Author

Fig. 68 - Under-used Roadway Infrastructure & Over-used Pedestrian Infrastructure on London Bridge – By Author

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Chapter 6 Urban Intervention Speculating an Impact

Design proposals are the central and most integral duty carried out by Architects, urbanists and various other designers.

The design process is very dynamic, with no specific method of execution. Different designers undertake different methods of creating a design proposal, some opt for traditional methods and others opt for more adventurous/non-conventional methods.

Nevertheless, in modern days, with the aid of technology, the design process is experiencing a substantial shift, towards becoming an experimentation process, with an open mind towards change.

However, when designing for the future, the approach is radically different. Research becomes an integral part of the design process. To predict the future, it is necessary to analyze the past and present thoroughly,

which was accomplished in previous chapters.

Additionally, speculating the future through an architectural lens is a substantial challenge, often requiring creative alternative methods of representation. This thesis project proposal challenges traditional methods of design, proposing an adventurous radical proposal for the future, challenging the status quo through design and representation.

Based on previous chapters, this chapter will focus on the design through a multiscalar approach, starting from the urban scale to the architectural scale. The design will be outlined through a series of artifacts. The main components of the chapter will include the showcase design, however different graphics are shown in the chapter to speculate an entire story of the proposed urban intervention.

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“Designing a dream city is easy; rebuilding a living one takes imagination...”

Jane Jacobs, Journalist, Activist, Author & Urban Theorist Fig. 69 - Abstract Urban Intervention

6.1 Design Agenda

The design agenda represents the brief of the design proposal, which is a holistic integrated ecosystem. As shown in the infographic, the proposed ecosystem consists of five main infrastructure categories, the sequence of different infrastructures represents the centrality of the integrated ecosystem. Proposed infrastructure includes mobility, health, public space, production, energy and climatology

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infrastructure. The combination of the proposed infrastructure creates a habitat for the future proposal. The infrastructure ecosystem acts as a flexible base, which could later morph and adapt based on altering societal needs in the far future.

INTE GRA TED

Healing Spaces Botanical Gardens

EM ST

Water Sports

Health Infrastructure

EC OS Y

Water Front Zones Meditation Spaces

Leisure Zones

Sports Hub Public Spaces

Aquatic Mobility Station

Public Infrastructure Observatory

Urban Air Mobility Station

Flexible Spaces

Mobility Infrastructure Helipads Drones Logistics Hub

Air Filteration

Climatology Infrastructure Water Purification

Food Production

Rain Water Collection

Lightweight Industry

Production Infrastructure

Urban Agriculture

Fish Farming

Livestock

Wind Power Collection

Urban Cooling

Ecofriendy Energy

Energy Infrastructure

Solar Power Collection

Energy Storage Energy Distribution

Fig. 70 - Proposed Design Agenda – By Author

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6.2 Urban Strategy

This section shows the urban strategy through three main steps represented in a threedimensional environment. The existing site has a high concentration of city infrastructure and flows; therefore, a contextual threedimensional approach is necessary. The strategy is presented in three main steps, flow analysis, urban lobby, and integrated ecosystem. In the first step, different flows and

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infrastructures of vehicles, watercraft, and rail are analyzed, along with the different river edge conditions. In the second step, the urban lobby is proposed, it re-distributes pedestrian flows in the area, creating a communal access point for the public. In the third step, an integrated ecosystem is proposed through a vertical approach to infrastructural planning, utilizing the river water, river edges, and existing bridges on site.

01/03 Flow Analysis

Various flows are analyzed on site, circulation of aquatic mobility, road mobility and pedestrians in the area. The area is heavily congested leading to urban stress.

Fig. 71 - Urban Strategy 01/03 – By Author

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02/03 Urban Lobby

The urban space is reconfigured by extending the waterfront areas and giving the space back to pedestrians. Additionally, the bridges extend to accommodate a higher flow of pedestrian movement, with various ramps and paths leading to an urban lobby.

Fig. 72 - Urban Strategy 02/03 – By Author

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03/03 Integrated Ecosystem

The urban lobby acts as an integration base for a vertical ecosystem, housing various infrastructures. Below the urban lobby, a multimodal water square is created connecting the river with the holistic ecosystem, the water square also allows access through aquatic mobility.

Fig. 73 - Urban Strategy 03/03 – By Author

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6.3 Masterplan

The proposed masterplan utilizes the river water as an extension base to the overall urban fabric, acting as a new urban fabric for the city. The design proposes an alternative urban landscape through the urban lobby, the proposed urban landscape is also the base for the proposed vertical habitat. Existing bridge infrastructures are also extended into public platforms with various ramps and pathways leading to the urban lobby. Additionally, existing river edges were extended further, becoming activated waterfront public spaces.

The entire area beyond the river edges is completely pedestrianized with different ‘pedestrian only’ access points from the north

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and south sides. As a part of the holistic ecosystemic approach, the river water is also activated through aquatic mobility access through various boat docks terminating with a floating water square.

The urban composition of the proposal incorporates a strong coexistence with nature, specifically water, as well as the city, extending and re-distributing the flows within the context.

The urban intervention acts as an extension of the existing urban form, into a brand-new urban fabric housing vertical infrastructure.

Fig. 74 - Proposed Masterplan – By Author

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6.4 Architectural Proposal

This section shows the conceptual framework of the architectural proposal. The architectural concept takes a non-conventional approach toward infrastructure compositions within cities. The framework is represented through a conceptual diagram, an overall section of the project, as well as a spatial relationship diagram, outlining the entirety of the proposed ecosystem.

The architectural concept diagram is illustrated through three main steps represented in a three-dimensional environment. In the

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first step, current infrastructural spaces are represented through pod-like structures in assorted sizes. In the second step, the pods are translated into a conceptual modular system with different rates of occupancy, as a proposal. In the third step, the pods are stacked vertically within the urban environment, creating a vertical ecosystem as an alternative approach to infrastructural planning.

01/03 Current Infrastructure Representation

In our current cities, infrastructure is a series of connections above/ underground, with various visible spaces within the city. Such spaces are scattered around the city and come in different sizes and forms.

Fig. 75 - Architectural Strategy 01/03 – By Author

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02/03 Modular Infrastructure Pods

XL L M S

Infrastructural spaces are represented through modular pod-like structures, the pods are segregated into four main sizes, S, M, L, and XL. Each pod has a certain capacity for users/infrastructure based on the size.

Fig. 76 - Architectural Strategy 02/03 – By Author

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STACKING

03/03 Future Vertical Infrastructure

In a future urban context, a vertical approach is taken where multiple infrastructural spaces are stacked on top of each in certain points within the city, creating a vertical ecosystem/habitat.

Fig. 77 - Architectural Strategy 03/03 – By Author

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Rain Water Catcher / Tank

Rain Water Catcher/ Tank

Meditation Space

Meditation Space Sky Garden

Air Mobility Station

Water Storage Observatory Public Space

Logistics Zone

Air Filtration Temporary Accommodation Energy Storage Water Storage

Flexible Space Air Filtration

Energy Harvest

Sky Garden Retail Zone Air Filtration

Production Zone

Water Storage

Water Storage Fish Farming

Sky Garden

Agriculture & Livestock

Air Filtration Green House Swimming Pool

Energy Storage Green House

Fresh Market

Activity / Leisure Zone

Water Storage Flexible Space

Public Space Flexible Space

Urban Lobby Waterfront Dock

Water Square

Water Filter Pumps

Fig. 78 - Overall Section – By Author

MEDITATION ZONE REFLECT

MEDITATION ZONE

SHIP PRODUCTS

WATER TANK

TRAVEL LOOK EAT

AIR FILTER

STORE

AIR FILTER

SUPPLY SLEEP

SUPPLY

HOLD

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PACK

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HOTEL ENERGY STORAGE

READ

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LOGISTICS FLEXIBLE SPACE

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OBSERVATORY PUBLIC SPACE

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PUBLIC SPACE FLEXIBLE SPACE

LEARN

TOWARDS CITY

PUBLIC PATH

SHIP PRODUCTS

RELAX

TOWARDS CITY

SWIM

TRAVEL Fig. 79 - Spatial Relationships Diagram – By Author

URBAN LOBBY WATER SQUARE

Fig. 80 - Overall Aerial Shot – By Author

6.5 Design & Technicality Schemes

The proposed structure is complex and dynamic with various attributes, different conditions are represented through a series of schemes. Each scheme is represented through a diagrammatic section drawing, serving as a representation tool for different data and technical details of the proposal. The schemes include various attributes such as infrastructure zoning, access, privacy levels, water

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distribution, air filtration, structure composition, adaptability and materiality.

This section will outline the detailed components of the architectural proposal and the additional qualities of the structure.

Infrastructure Zoning

Mobility Public Production Health Energy Climatology Fig. 81 - Infrastructure Zoning Scheme – By Author

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Access & Privacy

Private Public Semi-Public Access Fig. 82 - Access & Privacy Scheme – By Author

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Water & Air Filtration

Rain Water Catcher / Tank

Vertical Water Distribution Pipes

Water Storage Unit

Vertical Water Distribution Pipes

Filtered Air

River Water Pumps

Fig. 83 - Water & Air Filtration Scheme – By Author

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Structure & Adaptability Flexible Fitting

Expandable Core

Retractable Crown

Air Lifted Modular Pods Structural Mast (Steel Core)

Vertical Structural Rail System

Integrated Cross Bracing

3D Printed Prefabricated Pods

Floating Slab

Fig. 84 - Structure & Adaptability Scheme – By Author

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Materiality

Recycled Waterproof PVC Finish (Polyvinyl Chloride) 3D Printed Glass (G3DP)

Reinforced Recycled Steel Core

Biomimicry 3D Printed Permeable Skin (Bio-Plastic)

Smog Eaters (thermoformed shells coated in photocatalytic titanium dioxide)

3D Printed Filling Glass (G3DP)

3D printed Artificial Stone (D-Shape)

3D printed Artificial Stone (D-Shape)

Solid Skin Transparent Skin Expandable Polystyrene (EPS) Slab

Permeable Skin Punctured Skin Smog-Eaters

Aluminum Floating Slab

Water Fig. 85 - Materiality Scheme – By Author

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Fig. 86 - Tower Shot – By Author

Fig. 87 - Urban Lobby Shot – By Author

6.6 Metabolic Design

The design expresses a metabolic process within the city, with various climatological components giving the structure a living organism biological quality. The ecosystem has a circular approach, through different environmental resources accessing the ecosystem, significantly water, wind, and sun. Each component entering the structure’s ecosystem has a specific role and mechanism, resulting in various outputs in the city. Outputs notably include renewable energy, clean water, and filtered air, which are used to maintain the overall ecosystem. In addition, the outputs also have numerous effects on the city, beyond the

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proposed ecosystem, which has a sustainable outlook toward the urban context. The metabolic procedure creates an improved overall environmental ecology within the urban context.

This section will dive into specific detail of the climatological components of the proposed ecosystem, portraying the metabolic design components of the structure. The metabolic design attributes in the ecosystem aim to coexist with nature and provide holistic solutions to pressing environmental crises, such as climate change, urban heat island effect and ecological footprint.

ECOSYSTEM WATER

ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES

RENEWABLE ENERGY

INPUT

OUTPUT CLEAN WATER

WIND

SUN

FILTERED AIR

ENERGY SOURCE ECOLOGICAL ENERGY

POTABLE WATER URBAN COOLING FILTERED RIVER

LESS POLLUTION IMPROVED ECOLOGY

Fig. 88 - Metabolic Design Diagram – By Author

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Water A floating water-square is placed on the water level along the Thames River, the water square act as central access point to the square from the river through different angles. Below the floating platform, a water filtering device is placed, the device filters the water and catches any potential waste in the river, the filtration device is optimized to be used based on the level of necessity. Additionally, the rain collectors on the top of the structure act as water collectors/storage units, collected water is filtered throughout the structure and used for other functions. In the case of a heat wave, the structure can spray water into the city reversing the heat island effect.

River Water Filtration Ring

Fig. 89 - River Water Filtration Mechanism – By Author

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Rain Water Catchers

Fig. 90 - Water Catching Mechanism – By Author

Urban Watering

Fig. 91 - Urban Watering Mechanism – By Author

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Wind The structure is designed with wind flow in mind, the fluidity of the pods allow for seamless wind flow distribution. Various pods are fitted with smog eating façade skin (thermoformed shells coated in photocatalytic titanium dioxide), which works on filtering the air within the city. Some pods are also fully dedicated for a membrane-like material that stores excess waste and pollutants extracted from the air. The air filtration mechanism allows for better quality of air within the urban environment.

Additionally, some pods have built in wind turbines to convert wind into renewable energy, such energy is either used within the structure, stored, or distributed to other energy networks.

Wind Flow

Fig. 92 - Wind Flow Process through Typical Floors – By Author

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Air Filtration Membrane

Fig. 93 - Air FiItration Mechanism – By Author

Urban Air Purification

Fig. 94 - Air Purification Mechanism – By Author

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Sun Various pods within the structure have photovoltaic skins within their façade, which converts solar light into energy. The circularity of the proposal allows panoramic exposure to sunlight. The photovoltaic skins are placed on various pods, precisely within the range of the sunrise to sunset, east to west, in order to absorb as much sunlight as possible.

The energy converted results in an improved ecological composition throughout the environment, such energy can be used to power the structure up or can be stored in the energy storage pods.

Photovoltaic Skin Orientation

Fig. 95 - Sunlight Exposure on Photovoltaic Skins within Typical Floors – By Author

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Direct Solar Exposure N

E

W

S Fig. 96 - Sunlight Exposure & Structure Orientation – By Author

SUM

MER

SOL

STIC

E

Seasonal Solar Exposure

6877°

L

W

R

TE

IN

SO

CE

I ST

21-30°

Fig. 97 - Sunlight Exposure during Summer & Winter Solstice – By Author

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Fig. 98 - City Shot – By Author

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Chapter 7 Re-evaluating Urbanity Revisiting & Evaluating

In most cases, projects are often designed and completed without a formal re-evaluation process. The re-evaluation process is extremely important in the design field, as it allows designers to understand the impacts created by the proposal, it also allows designers to revisit their main objectives to check if they were met. However, when designing for the future, evaluating the outcome is a necessary component of the process. Such outcomes can be valuable building blocks for future strategies, conversations and debates.

the overall impact the project will present on the future of cities, re-evaluating the future urbanity of cities. The conclusions of the project are laid out in four main components, analyzing change as an opportunity, evaluating flows-oriented design, evaluating future urban morphology, and concluding with future cities’ self-sufficiency.

This chapter outlines the conclusions extracted from the thesis project through an analysis of

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“As an architect you design for the present with an awareness of the past for a future which is essentially unknown.”

Norman Foster, Renowned English Architect & Designer Fig. 99 - Abstract Ecology

7.1 Change is not a Threat!

One of the most fundamental takeaways from this thesis project is the notion of change, when change is tackled properly, it becomes an opportunity rather than a threat. Our world is facing critical crises, such as rapid urbanization and resource scarcity forcing us to challenge our existing infrastructure, specifically where and how to build infrastructure. Continuous change and developments are constantly proving that our infrastructure is not adequately designed to deal with the future. Such conditions can be translated to opportunities towards challenging the status quo through alternative methods of urbanism. The thesis successfully interrogated urban metabolic systems as an attempt to rethink future infrastructure planning, resulting in an alternative strategic approach towards building mega infrastructure ecosystems.

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The speculative design project proposed mega infrastructure ecosystems acting as dynamic man-made ecologies within a future context.

Such ecologies present a strategic approach for an upgrade in the urban context and a chance for civilization to upgrade cities for future generations to come.

In conclusion, understanding change and researching potential futures, with a highlight on connections and interdependencies, leads to alternative strategic approaches in planning.

Such strategic approaches could dive into the fictional spectrum; however, radical results will have immense value in starting conversations and making statements about the future.

Fig. 100 - Spaces of Vertical Ecosystem – By Author

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7.2 Flows: Opportunity of the Century

Designing with flows, the challenge of the century, the Opportunity of the Century!

The research takes a clear stance on flows within the urban environment. Although the concept of flows is not very popular in the design field, the flows of the city are vital components, related to the existence of cities and civilization. Taking a closer look at flows and processes in the cities presents designers with an alternative perspective on designing the future.

As the concept of designing with flows is often considered to be the challenge of the century, the thesis research concludes that designing with flows is the opportunity of the century, enabling civilizations to further develop the efficiency of cities. Reintegrating and redistributing flows unlocks a variety of potentials within the urban fabric, like higher levels of connectivity and increase resource

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distribution. The speculative design project presented a strategy of designing with flows, which resulted in a brand-new urban fabric in the future city. The birth of a new urban fabric contributes to a global evolving urban morphology that allows cities to coexist with the planet.

Fig. 101 - Reintegrated Flows – By Author

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7.3 Ecosystems, a new Urban Morphology…

The proposed speculative design project is a prototypical implementable infrastructure ecosystem that presents an upgraded urban morphology; such an upgrade allows cities to accommodate higher populations and increased resource productivity. The placement of the proposed ecosystems creates a ripple effect in the city, such an effect is created by the connections between the existing infrastructure and the proposed ecosystem.

Although the testing ground for the project was London, the pilot project tackles the future infrastructural planning far beyond a specific demographical context.

The ecosystemic approach undertaken redefines global city management, creating an interconnected prototype-based network that functions holistically. Such a network can diagnose cities that require more resources and work accordingly towards filling such gaps, creating strong infrastructure connectivity between cities. The proposed ecosystems

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create a holistic urban morphology with a symbiotic connection to the natural landscape, which effectively proves that ecosystemic urbanism can be a potential solution to crisis events, creating an alternative holistic approach to running and maintaining cities in the future.

Although the project proposes activating a specific area by creating a flexible habitat, the value of the proposal is projected through the wider impact it creates, specifically on an urban level and a societal level. From an urban perspective, the speculated proposal will transform city operations physically, through the proposed megastructure, and systematically through resource extraction and distribution, redefining the way we run our cities. From a societal point of view, the project proposes a major societal transformation, potentially changing the way society operates and how cities function, shifting towards holistic/integrated globalized ecosystems.

Fig. 102 - Infrastructure Connectivity – By Author

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7.4 Urban Metabolism & Self-sufficiency

Urban Metabolism = Self-sustainable Cities, a Climatological Revolution!

The research project profoundly tackles existing urbanization processes and patterns, challenging the way we run and maintain our cities. The speculative design intervention embodies an ecosystemic approach, along with a metabolic component, creating a biological process within the city. The proposed infrastructure ecosystem consists of various components like mobility, energy, water, production, logistics and leisure in an integrated habitat, yielding a reduced carbon footprint. The connection between society and nature is implemented through climatological components within the design.

The climatological components are exclusively directed toward healing cities from emerging environmental crises. The entire project presents a radically alternative approach for the future of cities around the world, through a

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metabolic process, towards the complete selfsustainability of future cities. The flexibility of the metabolic process extends the magnitude of its impact, leading to a cleaner planet.

The presented proposal outcomes present a radical shift in the future of cities around the world, a climatological revolution. This thesis project also speculates that such a climatological revolution would be the most important revolution in human history, allowing civilization to coexist with nature, rather than continuously damaging the planet, paving a better future for forthcoming generations.

ECOSYSTEM

Outputs Insertions Extractions

Clean Planet

MEGA STRUCTURE

Inputs

Self-sufficient CIties

CITY PLANET Outputs Inputs

Insertions Extractions

Fig. 103 - Ecosystem Function Model – By Author

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“The future of our cities relies on global human-centered collaborative efforts and coexistence with mother nature. As Architects and Urbanists, we must research and speculate the future of our cities, moving away from conventional methods through provocative speculative design, to start conversations and debates, towards change and a Brave New World!”

Abdul Wehbe, Architect & Urbanist Fig. 104 - Connected Ecosystems – By Author

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List of Figures Figure 00 (Coverpage): Flowing City Map Chaotic Atmospheres Maker. “Flowing City Map.” Illustration. 2014, www.behance.net/gallery/21743579/ Flowing-City-Map. Figure 01: Thesis Methodology – By Author Figure 02: Planet City, Liam Young Young, Liam “Planet City - Liam Young.” Illustration. 2021, Dezeen, www.dezeen.com/2021/01/06/liamyoung-planet-city-climate-change-10-billion-peopleFigure 03: Ebenezer Howard’s Cluster of Garden Cities Howard, Ebenzer.

“Ebenezer Howard’s cluster of Garden Cities.” Illustration.1898 Lean Logic dictionary, leanlogic.online/ glossary/social-city/ Figure 04: Movable City Block HildeBrand. “Movable City Block.” Postcard. 1900, www.considerable.com/entertainment/retronaut/ postcards-predicting-2000/ Figure 05: Dome over Manhattan Fuller, Buckminster, and Shoji Sadao. “Dome Over Manhattan.” Illustration. 1960 NY times, www.nytimes. com/2016/11/18/nyregion/new-york-today-our-city-that-never-was.html Figure 06: An imagined city of the future Corbelt, Harvey. “An imagined city of the future.” Illustration. 1913, i.redd.it/zrdmviuvytw51.jpg.

Figure 07: County of London Plan Forshaw, and Abercrombie. “County of London Plan.” Illustration. 1943, municipaldreams.files.wordpress. com/2014/07/social-and-functional-analysis.jpg

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Figure 08: Asian City of Tomorrow Koolhas, Rem. “Asian City of Tomorrow.” Illustration. Office of Metropolitan Architecture, 1995, megaestructuras.tumblr.com/.

Figure 09: Future of Urban Mobility Foster Foundation. “Future of urban mobility.” Illustration. 2018 Archdaily, www.archdaily.com/898007/callfor-submissions-open-call-norman-foster-foundation-urban-mobility-workshop Figure 10: Timeline of the six principal paradigms and twenty-eight future city categories from 1900-2014 Dunn, Nick. “Timeline of the six principal paradigms and twenty-eight future city categories between 19002014.” Diagram. 2014, www.researchgate.net/publication/332222833_Urban_Imaginaries_and_the_ Palimpsest_of_the_Future/figures?lo=1 Figure 11: Global Urbanization McGill Real Estate. “Global Urbanization.” Data Graphic. 2022, www.mcgillimmobilier.com/en/in-canadamore-than-80-of-the-population-lives-in-urban-areas/.

Figure 12: Global Materials Extraction by Resource Type European Commision. “Global Materials Extraction by Resource Type.” Data Graphic. 2018, knowledge4policy.ec.europa.eu/sites/default/files/resources-rawmaterials-jrc2018.jpg.

Figure 13: Urban Heat Island Effect US Global Change Research. “Urban Heat Island Effect.” Graphic. 2009, nca2009.globalchange.gov/ urban-heat-island-effect/index.html.

Figure 14: Place Making Principles Project for public spaces. “Place Making Principles.” Data Graphic. 2018, www.mibor.com/ blog/2018/09/12/buyers/what-is-placemaking/.

Figure 15: Futures Taxonomy Voros, Joseph. “Futures taxonomy.” Illustration. 2018, medium.com/work-futures/modeling-the-future-ofmarketing-part-1-8162c7f01427.

Figure 16: Futuristic Habitat 99images. “Futuristic Habitat.” Illustration. www.99images.com/wallpapers/dreamy-fantasy/future-spacecity-android-iphone-desktop-hd-backgrounds-wallpapers-1080p-4k-56qm/932071. els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0921344917302926-gr2.jpg

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Figure 17: Urban Ecosystem of Brussels Hoekman, Paul. “Urban Ecosystem of Brussels.” Illustration. 2016, archive.metabolismofcities.org/ datavisualizations/1-the-urban-ecosystem-of-brussels Figure 18: Urban Metabolism Performance Diagram Moreno, Carlos. Urban Metabolism Performance Diagram. Illustration. 2018, www.moreno-web.net/ comprendre-le-metabolisme-urbain/.

Figure 19: The role of natural & social sciences in urban metabolism Dijst, Martin. “The role of natural & social sciences in urban metabolism.” Illustration. 2017, ars.els-cdn. com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0921344917302926-gr2.jpg Figure 20: A flow perspective on urban systems Dijst, Martin. “A flow perspective on urban systems.” Illustration. 2013, ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1s2.0-S0921344917302926-gr1_lrg.jpg Figure 21: The five inter-related elements of Urban Metabolism Dijst, Martin. “The five inter-related elements of urban metabolism.” Illustration. 2013, ars.els-cdn.com/ content/image/1-s2.0-S0921344917302926-gr3.jpg.

Figure 22: Linking the layers to come to an inter-disciplinary understanding of UM Dijst, Martin. “Linking the layers to come to an inter-disciplinary understanding of UM.” Illustration. 2013, ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0921344917302926-gr7.jpg.

Figure 23: Efficiency and equity aspects of UM Dijst, Martin. “Efficiency and equity aspects of UM.” Illustration. 2013, ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1s2.0-S0921344917302926-gr8.jpg.

Figure 24: Design Approach Axis – By Author Figure 25: Flows of People FABRICations. “Flows of People.” Map. 2014, www.fabrications.nl/portfolio-item/rotterdamflows/.

Figure 26: Flows of Water FABRICations. “Flows of Water.” Map. 2014, www.fabrications.nl/portfolio-item/rotterdamflows/.

Figure 27: Flows of Cargo FABRICations. “Flows of Cargo.” Map. 2014, www.fabrications.nl/portfolio-item/rotterdamflows/.

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Figure 28: Flows of Energy FABRICations. “Flows of Energy.” Map. 2014, www.fabrications.nl/portfolio-item/rotterdamflows/.

Figure 29: Re-industrialization Urban Strategy FABRICations. “ Re-industrialization Urban Strategy” Illustration. 2014, www.fabrications.nl/portfolio-item/ collectingresources/ Figure 30: City Planet Hazza42. “City Planet.” Illustration. 2011, www.deviantart.com/hazza42/art/City-Planet-267257518.

Figure 31: Eco-evolutionary Dynamic in Urbanization Oliveira, Vítor “Eco-evolutionary Dynamic in Urbanization.” Illustration. www.cell.com/trends/ecologyevolution/fulltext/S0169-5347(14)00249-3#relatedArticles.

Figure 32: Research & Practice (Urban Morphology) Oliveira, Vítor.” Research & Practice (Urban Morphology) .” Illustration. 2018, link.springer.com/ chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-76126-8_18 Figure 33: Scales of Intervention in Urban Pattern Oliveira, Vítor.” Scales of Intervention in Urban Pattern.” Illustration. 2018, link.springer.com/ chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-76126-8_18 Figure 34: Urban tissues of eight different cities, approximately at the same scale: (left to right) Brasilia, Djenné, Venice, New York, Barcelona, Paris, Rome and Sana’a.

Oliveira, Vítor.”Urban tissues of eight different cities...” Illustration. 2018, link.springer.com/ chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-76126-8_18 Figure 35: Dubai Industrial city Gulfnews. “Dubai Industrial city.” Photograph. 2021, imagevars.gulfnews.com/2021/11/22/Stock---Dubais-Industrial-City-_17d47966d5e_large.jpeg.

Figure 36: Infrastructure Development in comparison with overall Development Diagram – By Author Figure 37: Research Translation Components – By Author Figure 38: Futuristic City Bauriedel, Marco. “Futuristic City.” Illustration . 2022, marcobauriedel.com/.

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Figure 39: Timeline of Urbanity & Infrastructure – By Author Figure 40: Exploring Future Scenarios Axis – By Author Figure 41: Future Vision – By Author Figure 42: Personas of Ecosystems – By Author Figure 43: Ecosystem Scale of Impacts – By Author Figure 44: Time Zones of the World Vidalesy Dsociado. “Time Zones of the World.” Map. 2017, i0.wp.com/www.vidalesyasociados.mx/wpcontent/uploads/2017/04/world-map-wallpaper-5.jpg?ssl=1.

Figure 45: Location Conditions of testing the proposition – By Author Figure 46: Photograph of the City of London – By Author Figure 47: London Flows Map – By Author Figure 48: Flow of Water – By Author Figure 49: Flow of Nature – By Author Figure 50: Flow of Railway – By Author Figure 51: Flow of Energy – By Author Figure 52: Speculative Flow Densities in Central London – By Author Figure 53: Thames River in London Turner, Liam. “Thames River in London.” Photograph. 2021, buildindigital.com/wp-content/ uploads/2021/06/shutterstock_1019370382-RESIZED.jpg.

Figure 54: Urban Tissue of London – By Author Figure 55: Thames River Bridges – By Author

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Figure 56 Timeline/Evolution of the Thames River – By Author Figure 57: London Areas of Opportunity Map – By Author Figure 58: Selected Site – By Author Figure 59: Selected Site Conditions – By Author Figure 60: River Edge Condition 1 (North) – By Author Figure 61: River Edge Condition 1 (North) – By Author Figure 62: River Edge Condition 2 (South) – By Author Figure 63: River Edge Condition 2 (South) – By Author Figure 64: Overall Site Section – By Author Figure 65: Train & Watercraft Activity in the Cannon Street Railway Bridge Proximity – By Author Figure 66: Under-utilized Thames River in the London Bridge Proximity – By Author Figure 67: Crowded Pedestrian Movement on London Bridge – By Author Figure 68: Under-used Roadway Infrastructure & Over-used Pedestrian Infrastructure on London Bridge – By Author Figure 69: Abstract Urban Intervention Wallpaper Monkey. “Abstract Urban Intervention.” Illustration. 2018, https://assets.wallpapersin4k.org/ uploads/2017/04/City-Abstract-Wallpaper-14.jpg Figure 70: Proposed Design Agenda – By Author Figure 71: Urban Strategy 01/03 – By Author Figure 72: Urban Strategy 02/03 – By Author

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Figure 73: Urban Strategy 03/03 – By Author Figure 74: Proposed Masterplan – By Author Figure 75: Architectural Strategy 01/03 – By Author Figure 76: Architectural Strategy 02/03 – By Author Figure 77: Architectural Strategy 03/03 – By Author Figure 78: Overall Section – By Author Figure 79: Spatial Relationships Diagram – By Author Figure 80: Overall Aerial Shot – By Author Figure 81: Infrastructure Zoning Scheme – By Author Figure 82: Access & Privacy Scheme – By Author Figure 83: Water & Air Filtration Scheme – By Author Figure 84: Structure & Adaptability Scheme – By Author Figure 85: Materiality Scheme – By Author Figure 86: Tower Shot – By Author Figure 87: Urban Lobby Shot – By Author Figure 88: Metabolic Design Diagram – By Author Figure 89: River Water Filtration Mechanism – By Author Figure 90: Water Catching Mechanism – By Author Figure 91: Urban Watering Mechanism – By Author

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Figure 92: Wind Flow Process through Typical Floors – By Author Figure 93: Air Filtration Mechanism – By Author Figure 94: Air Purification Mechanism – By Author Figure 95: Sunlight Exposure on Photovoltaic Skins within Typical Floors – By Author Figure 96: Sunlight Exposure & Structure Orientation – By Author Figure 97: Sunlight Exposure during Summer & Winter Solstice – By Author Figure 98: City Shot – By Author Figure 99: Abstract Ecology Wallpaper Safari. Abstract Ecology. Graphic. 2018, wallpapersafari.com/w/mrX73p.

Figure 100: Spaces of Vertical Ecosystem – By Author Figure 101: Reintegrated Flows – By Author Figure 102: Infrastructure Connectivity – By Author Figure 103: Ecosystem Function Model – By Author Figure 104: Connected Ecosystems – By Author

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Appendix: Digital Fabrication

Digital fabrication is the combination process of digital 3D modeling with additive and subtractive manufacturing, also known as machining. The process targets transforming complex parametric designs into physical manufacturing, with the aid of technologies, such as 3D printing.

Due to the complexity of the parametric structure, digital fabrication was the only way to transform the project into a physical model.

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The design fabrication process is not straightforward and has a substantial level of complexity, requiring dedicated time and patience. This section will show the digital fabrication process through different trials and errors.

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Attempt 01

3D Print Job: 01 The first trial was printed using the ‘Ultimaker 3’ 3D printer. This model was a test print, it was printed in draft mode, around 10 cm in height. The process took around 4 hours of continuous fabrication time.

Result: Failure - The model was too small in scale and the print job was terminated halfway through.

- The model required support structured for the cantilevered pods, which were not set up.

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Attempt 02

3D Print Job: 02 The second trial was printed using the ‘Ultimaker 3 Extended’ 3D printer. This model was significantly larger than the previous one, around 20cm in height, it was printed with supports in place. The process took around 72 hours of continuous fabrication time.

Result: Partial Failure - The supports were too difficult to remove in the central part of the structure. Different parts of the model kept breaking.

- The increase in output size partially improved the process of generating the structure, however, the supports on the top part of the model were too difficult to remove, therefore the overall outcome was a partial failure.

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Attempt 03

3D Print Job: 03 The third and final trial was printed using the ‘Original Prusa’ 3D printer. This model was significantly larger than the previous ones, around 40cm in height, it was printed with support structures in place. The model was divided into 3 main parts, which were glued together. The process took around 120 hours of continuous fabrication time.

Result: Success - The supports were still difficult to remove in the central part of the structure, however, it was much easier than trial 02.

- The increase in output size was crucial for the success of this model, however, a few parts did break and were glued back together.

- Gluing the different components of the model was difficult, due to the fragility of the model.

- The materiality of the model was very rough because of the supports. The post-production process included sanding the model to smoothen it, blow-drying the model to melt excess support structures, and the application of hair spray to give it a shiny finish.

- The final outcome was success; however, the overall model is very fragile.

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Appendix: Digital Fabrication

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