Anna Lech Green Cities of the Future

In this issue of The TeenActive magazine, we are talking about the future. Do you have any idea how many people will live on Earth in the year 2050? That’s 9.8 billion people! Quite amazing, isn’t it? But will there be enough space for all the people and where will they live? Well, 70 percent of us, that is about 6.7 billion people, will live in urbanurbanurban areasareas [area]areas – in cities or near big metropolisesmetropolises [metropolis]metropolises. We have talked to scientists and architects about what they call cities of the future. They would like their cities to be “people friendly”. Everyone in the city should be able to live a pleasant, safe, and healthy life. How are the designers going to help us to become happy city residentsresidents [resident]residents? Let’s have a look at some of their ideas for cities of the future.

1.

You probably have a smartphone or a smartwatch but in the future all the buildings will be designed to be smart! They will also be eco‑friendlyeco‑friendlyeco‑friendly. We will live in apartments in skyscrapersskyscrapers [skyscraper]skyscrapers. Each building will produce its own energy thanks to solar panelssolar panels [solar panel]solar panels on the walls and a wind turbinewind turbinewind turbine on the roof. What is more, you will not have to go to your greengrocer’s to buy vegetables. The smart buildings will have pleasant roof gardensroof gardens [roof garden]roof gardens where residents will relax and do some small‑scalesmall scalesmall‑scale farming. You will grow your own fruit and vegetables just above your head! There will also be parks and gardens inside the buildings to improve air qualityair qualityair quality.

2.

Are you tired of traffictraffictraffic jams or slow and crowded buses? The scientists promise that in the future public transport will not produce any pollutionpollutionpollution. There will be high speed trains which will let people commutecommutecommute to work or school comfortably. That is why people will not have to use their cars in the city centres. This will make air in the cities much cleaner. Most of the trains will travel underground which leaves a lot of safe green areasgreen areas [green area]green areas for cyclists and pedestrianspedestrians [pedestrian]pedestrians on the ground.

3.

Do your parents and teachers talk about saving energy all the time? In the future, there will not be a problem to get energy because each building will produce as much wind or solar power as it will consumeconsumeconsume. All the energy used in the city of the future will be 100 percent sustainablesustainablesustainable. Every free space on the walls and roofs will be designed to produce electricity from the sun and the wind. What is more, all the wastewaste [waste]waste in the city will be turned into energy as well. Houses will be able to storestorestore energy in ultra modern batteriesbatteries [battery]batteries underground. These big power banks will be used in emergenciesemergencies [emergency]emergencies.

4.

Many people are tired of travelling around big cities. Cities of the future will be designed to provide everything their residents need locally. Shops, restaurants, schools and offices will be located within a 10‑minute walk from apartment buildings.  Modern city residents will just walk down beautiful green neighbourhoodsneighbourhoods [neighbourhood]neighbourhoods with almost no traffictraffictraffic.

1 Źródło: Anna Lech, licencja: CC BY-SA 3.0.