Strategies for a Changing Planet: Shelter
Smarter Cities The LO2P won first prize in the 2011 Skyscraper Competition, sponsored by design journal eVolo. The Flat Tower won second prize in the same competition. Bryan ChristieClimate change will drive people to urban areas, and smarter cities will be needed to shelter them Climate change is already happening, and it's time to get ready. Here's how we could adjust our most basic needs--food, water, shelter--to survive. The world's population will top nine billion by 2060. Because of climate-change-induced environmental degradation, scientists project that tens of millions of people will move into today's small and medium-size cities. To prepare for the influx, says Dennis Frenchman, an architect and professor of urban planning at MIT, city designers must make decisions today to mitigate the migration of tomorrow. And those decisions should focus on making systems more efficient. Transportation networks need to be rethought to limit congestion. Politicians should offer incentives to...