Technology and the future of cities

Technology and the future of cities G. Karteek Ghoniya Rahul Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture, School of Planning and Architecture, Vijayawada Vijayawada, India [email protected] Student of Department of Architecture, School of Planning and Architecture, Vijayawada Vijayawada, India [email protected] Abstract— The recent technologies have changed the way we used to build our cities. It has changed our daily habits, social pattern, our work centers, work tools, connectivity and in general the quality of urban life. Technology has changed the way we think about personal spaces, work spaces, recreation, activities and our aspirations gradually. Just like the "Industrial revolution" brought out a radical departure to existing systems of work and economy and triggered concepts like the “Radiant city” and the “Garden City” to evolve different ideas of social and economic patterns that influenced generations, the newer technologies are also creating a new digital revolution in transforming the urban form and future of cities. Cities are constantly transforming and interacting in different ways. Still the built matrix of form and spaces both physical and historical bind us constantly. The technology enables us to be more independent and connected, at the same time all our pre-conceived notions of personal and work spaces change. Both physical and electronic structure of cities is undergoing transformation through the progress of time and new redefined spaces. The paper would discuss about the evolution of typologies under the influence of technological advancements from industrial revolution to the present day and how technology at different levels contributed to create the unimaginable future at the same time what negative consequences it bought to the society. Keywords- Cities, Technology, Urban Form, Space I. INTRODUCTION “It is not the strongest of species that survive, not the most intelligent, but the most responsive to change” - Charles Darwin. Technology has a great influence on cities and urban form. The technological revolution has caused dislocation of time. There has been faster replacement of historical methods of construction by recent technologies i.e. 100 years of history may be considered equivalent to 60 years of technological progress. Only technological advancement has brought in the idea of anticipating the future of our cities. The potentialities of technology and its active and passive effects on the city structure are important to make standpoints for the creation of sustainable future cities. It began with the impact of industrial revolution in Britain during 1800’s which was an evident and tangible change. From then, there is a dislocation of time and value which implied the development of urban form. The mass production of steel, glass and cement lead to faster and durable forms. In addition to these, invention of lifts led to the evolution of skyscrapers. The spatial structure of post industrial cities was shaped by increase in automation in all levels of activity. Machines replaced the working population and reduced large quantities of time, offering all sorts of benefits and opportunities. Thoughts were transforming into realities much sooner, stretching our abilities of creative imagination and visualization. Globalization of economies in this technological era has lead nations often to be more competitive and sometimes co-operative. In the information age, economic restructuring of cities and telecommunication based globalization has been associated with profound urban social and cultural change. Advances of telecommunications along with the liberalization of media regulations are helping to support emergence of truly global cultural and media industries. It has eliminated the dichotomy between centralization and decentralization and allowed decentralization with centralization. In the informational city, boundaries between home and work, public and private, electronic and physical are becoming increasingly blurred. The city is becoming much more fragmented and polarized as physical and electronic space is used in new ways. Technology has been progressive through time and as far as we use technology for shaping our cities, the future urban forms would be unpredictable which will be driven by new technological advancements. II. INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION Industrial revolution during 1800 began with exploitation of natural resources, water and coal. The industrial revolution marked a significant transition in the world history, as a number of societies began to shift from agrarian to industrial economies. As a consequence, urban population drastically increased. The scale and nature of forces of production underwent a transformation, with increasing circuits of capital and associated new forms of spatial organizations. A heterogeneous industrial and social landscape evolved. Life in industrial cities illustrated high levels of deprivation through poverty, overcrowding and disease. Demand for new buildings greater than ever before grew, new typologies emerged-the FACTORY (its towering smoke staff became a symbol of progress and pollution), the row and Apartment housing, the departmental stores, the massive SHIP and RAIL yards, technical institutions, offices (Multistoried construction). Industrial revolution also lead to the evolution of post industrial garden cities- Letchworth and Welwyn. Other major change was the transformation of building technology. The transformation came in the form of new man-made building materials, new structural techniques and new technical services. Together they produced a universal structural system that could be applied to the new building types. The macrocosmic effect of transportation is a giant and complex mesh of mobility and communications, spanning nations and continents on the ground and in the air. The microcosmic effect is the metropolis itself, spreading outwards along the structure of its corridors. And also brings in the three ways of city growth-horizontal, vertical and interstitial. The rail road induced decentralization but also brought about an opposite effect in the form of the trolley lines that pulled commerce out. Residential enclaves, new and old were trapped by the transportation systems. But other technologies like electric lighting, the elevator, telephone were encouraging centralization. in 1852. Electric lifts were common from the early 1900s. Soon skyscrapers emerged as expressions of individual prestige, status and corporate power. Figure 2. Telephone led to business dispersal New building materials and construction techniques like structural steel and reinforced concrete led to a range of highrise and wide space structures transforming the urban form. Later the production of automobile had a considerable impact on the urban form. It initiated the decline of central business districts. Just like the automobiles allowed a new pattern of residential development, the increase in commercial trucking contributed to a more dispersed employment pattern. Mass production grew rapidly and processing of new construction materials like steel, glass etc extended. From then steel has revolutionized the whole construction processes creating large and tall forms. New building materials and pre-fabrication techniques and mechanized on-site works lead to faster process of building construction. Figure 1. Railroad introduced decentralization The invention of telephone led to the decline of old business neighborhoods and gave people the option to move to cheaper areas. In the tall buildings it gave the option to go up instead. Earlier business activities sustained being close to the business contacts but later it helped business districts to disperse to new suburban business and shopping centers away from the city. Telephone also contributed to suburbanization though parallel means of transportation has to be available. The disproportionate growth of the main nodes of the urban system was reinforced after 1870 by electric power and a succession of industrial steam engines by electric motors enabled production centers to be located even more flexibly. Electrical communications, principally the telegraph and telephone also fostered the clustering of metropolitan knowledge-based institutions and contributed to upward and outward growth of cities. All these developments triggered in the evolution of the Skyscraper, most important building type of the modern era. What made skyscrapers possible was the invention of lift Figure 3. Car led to decline of central business district The time when air conditioning came into picture, man had a better control over the environment and he succeeded in creating artificial climate for work and play spaces irrespective of seasonal variations of a geographic location. This changed our relationship with nature and climate. After World War II, mechanical cooling allowed the development of the modern glass-walled skyscraper-the symbol of freedom from traditional construction systems as well as heating and cooling methods. Figure 4: United nations building, completed in 1952 Glass-walled skyscrapers such as the United Nations (1952) linked modern architecture with the new technology. Since 1940, eight of the ten fastest growing cities in the U.S. were located in the Southeast and Southwest parts of the country which was the direct result of air-conditioning. The air conditionings widespread adoption led to the demise of front porches, wide eaves and high ceilings. Tall buildings with low floor heights were preferred. III. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY Information and communication technology is creating a new urban hierarchy, in which certain cities will function as international information capitals, with the most extensive electronic infrastructure and richest opportunities for human interaction. As William Melody argues, “Information gathering, processing, storage and transmission over efficient telecommunications networks is the foundation on which developed economies will close the twentieth century” (Melody, 1986). Information Technology and communication technology caused business depart from CBD and the same time relocate in metropolitan areas. Technological advances have shaped and continue to shape the economic and physical development of cities. Many cities have recognized the new frontier and have adopted to enhance the new technology and freedom it offers. The Central Park, New York, for example, recently was ‘wi-fi-ied’. This meant that the people working in the busy business district can now work at the park and enjoy the setting. So in the future where technological innovations in all fields are aimed at liberating people from their existing paradigms of space, size and location, the urban environment has to also re-invent’ re-adjust itself to be compatible to the newer lifestyles. The boundaries separating what is ‘private’ and what is ‘public’ within cities are shifting fast. Urban life seems to be more volatile and speeded-up, more uncertain, more fragmented than at any time since the end of the last century. The character of Informational City (Castells Manual, 1993) is determined by space of flows over space of places. By space of flows, Manual Castells refers to systems of exchanges of information, capital and power that structures the basic processes of societies, economies and societies. Moving out from the core city has resulted in urban sprawl but skyscrapers have slowed the spread and hence intensified the downtown congestion. Globalization of the economy has allowed for large scale production facilities to leave the country altogether. The corporate sector has left the inner city with large numbers of unemployed people to compete for what few low paying jobs are left. Information has become essential resource, but way things are developing it has become a commercial property that functions along the dictates of the market and that fuels worldwide competition between cities. Developing countries thus, are encouraging urbanization of their societies so as to ensure that they will be part of the competitive network of cities. Recent innovations in communications and other technologies have further reduced the cost of moving people, goods, products and ideas, facilitating the spin-off of business operations to suburban locations. The availability of interactive video catalogues in most homes with smart terminals, greatly accelerate shopping from home. Home shopping may imply further urban decentralization of commercial activity since many catalogue operations may merely serve as brokers and deliveries may be direct from manufacturer to customer. Emergence of the EDGE CITY, applied to the rise of population clusters surrounding suburban office parks is a reflection of how both transportation and communication technologies have fostered the outward migration of work and housing from central city locations. A. Urban social and cultural change Technological advancements have forced social and geographical polarization within cities. While affluent and elite groups are beginning to reorient themselves to the internet other groups are excluded by price, lack of skills and fear of exploitation, trapping then into INFORMATION GHETTOES. The parallel shift towards market based telecommunication regimes had added further momentum to this polarization and growing unawareness in the social landscape of cities. B. Time space compression through technologies The result is working, shopping or socially interacting in a virtual system rather than using physical urban spaces. Socially liberating and progressive changes within cities are supported. The social and geographical polarization within urban locales is a rising phenomena. The human experience of place and social construction of cultural identities by groups and individuals radically altered in emerging global cultural systems by integrating people and places through circulation of images, knowledge, information, symbols, etc.in ‘real time’. C. Virtual Public realm Also, the ground breaking technological innovations in communication and transmission devices have revolutionalised the urban human. The technologically dense devices (latest mobile phones, PDAs, Blue Tooth sets, Laptops) allow carrying our world with us. It helps to create a personnel sphere, insulated from physical confrontation with other people as well as creates a personnel sphere of safety and anonymity. If the 19th and 20th century of space and sophistication was a reflective of the physical setting and architecture around us, then the new century heralds on communication network and electronic gadgetry. The virtual anonymity created by the technology has opened up a new realm in the cyberspace. Online communities and email make people communicate all over the world, at the same time. People are building alter egos on net and new virtual identity. It is leading into the newer form of social behavior and social spaces. Are cyber cafes the new public place? Human needs disconnected from the notions of specific place and time will lead to the concepts of ‘non city’. It reflects the dilemma faced by the future tech cities New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong etc. Another of the major manifestations of this process of infusion of telecommunication based interfaces into the urban geography is the formation of cities with same looking Central Business Districts, similar looking corporate towers, similar architecture of steel and glass, similar shopping malls and lack of active public realm. With the advent of the new software, people can actually walk down the streets of the city and explore the sites of the city, without being there. It will allow people to sit on their desktops at home and get transported into the streets of New York or Paris, see the buildings, go into the cafes and experience the city. Urban commercial centers are dying as a consequence of car centered environments, as people prefer to do shopping at the mall or travel long distance for work and commute long distances causing environmental pollution and eventually causing death of social culture. D. Advanced computer integrated based construction technology At the outset of modern technology the question arises as to why not use the same technology to make your life simpler? Why only make robots, why not buildings? Well an almost near answer to that question is the introduction of computer integrated construction (CIC) or computer integrated designing. This means in simpler terms the use of computer to control and execute a design solely based on the machines to which it is connected. Instead of manually giving commands or executing the labour, let us make it less labour intensive by programming all of it into a computer so that everything is done through the computer based technology. This idea, if worked out would lead into a great construction technology as it would mean an all together different approach to the word design, and it would make designers think forward and aspire for more complex and demanding structures. Computer aided manufacturing is creating revolution in the building industry making the final product innovative and futuristic (CAM). CAM System controls the entire manufacturing process through degrees of automation. Because all CAM manufacturing interfaces are computer controlled, that allows us to achieve high level of precision, which is not possible manually. CAM uses the process design based automated system. It also keeps tracking consumption of material and automates ordering of stock and list. This reduces waste of material and cost of manufacturing. CAM is linked with CAD (computer aided design). In this process of automated manufacturing machines get inputs from the computer and acts as per the command. Computer converts feed data or design into multiple computer-controlled process such as drilling, turning, chopping etc.Interface algorithms are usually used to extract such information from the Cad interface. Another major advantage of the CAM system is it is very beneficial for mass production. Standard Design can be done in CAD, and when client ask for modification or customisation it can be easily done in CAD and manufacture as per clients requirement. For geometric development modeling, interface algorithms are used to extract information from CAD interface which is a basis for CAM activities. CAM activities usually would need lot of CAD information or data. In case of process planning, features that are utilized in manufacturing must be recognized to enable efficient planning of manufacturing. NC (Numeric control) programmes, along with ordering tools and fixtures, result from process planning. Once parts are produced, CAD software can be used to inspect them. This is achieved by superposing an image of the real part with a master image stored in its model database. After passing inspection, CAM software can be utilised to instruct robot systems to assemble the parts to produce the final product. (Reference: IGNOU article) A good example of a large-scale concurrent engineering effort in the manufacturing industry is the development of the Boeing 777 that was entirely designed on the computer. A key enabler of this successful concurrent engineering effort was the use of a solid modelling system –CATIA as the common platform for product design and development. Further the use of solid modelling enabled further concurrent product and process design because using solid model, it was easier to perform great many tasks such as engineering analysis, manufacturing analysis, and assimilability analysis and manufacture planning and verification. (Reference: D. Veeramani, H.P. Tserng, J.S. Russell, 1998) IV. A. CASE STUDIES The Lagoons, Dubai Figure 5: The Lagoons, Dubai The Dubai creek waterfront project at figure 5, The Lagoons was planned to accelerate Dubai’s Position an International position, which will provide highest possible quality of life. In terms of providing these facilities Dubai needs a state of art infrastructure. The project consists four signature towers of the district contains more than 6 million square feet of office, hotel and residential space. This project was already challenging in terms of construction because of its location, and the radial geometry of the towers with unique floor plate at every level made it more challenging. Construction of these towers using traditional methods would be very difficult and result in cost overrun and extremely time consuming. So to achieve this design in given time schedule and budget, TVS associates used Bentley’s generative components to automate design process and to speed up design essential of the four signature tower. This software reduces time required to visualize design. Every floor plate is unique so single modification in the structure would create impact on structure, core placement and the curtain wall system. B. Sagrada Familia, Barcelona Figure 6: Sagrada Familia, Barcelona Sagrada familia is a roman catholic church designed by architect Antonio Gaudi. Construction of Sagrada familia as shown in Figure 6 was started in 1882. But the work after Gaudi’s death discontinued his design, and is not yet complete. So to rapidly complete the construction the architect, Jordi Boneti Armengol put his trust in Dassault Systems solutions. First time in 1989 Architect Mark Burry took initiative and turned to IT based construction solution. Now they have 3D model of the design and they can produce parts of the building, supposed to be in granite, directly from 3D models with the help of CATIA V5. This software helps to connect mechanics and architecture and makes it possible to produce any shape in three dimensions. These machines get data from software and generates path as per the design with accuracy in millimeters. This can easily create design and cavities to be made in the capital. C. Beijing National Stadium, Birds nest Beijing National Stadium which is shown in figure 7, also known as the “Bird's Nest” was designed for use throughout the 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. Figure 7: Olympic stadium Bird’s nest, Beijing Geometry of stadium and roof was very complicated in nature and extremely difficult to achieve within given time. To built this iconic structure with traditional construcion techniques within given time was not possible.So to do it rapidly and accurately designers and engineers choose to work with CATIA, Digital Project and MS Excel. CATIA is a 3D software by Dassault Systems was developed to design and manufacture aircrafts. “Digital Project” is a CATIA based architectural 3D software developed by Gehry Technologies for Architectural design development and execution process. These two softwares were integrated with MS Excel to feed statistic data. During design development stage it allowed many consultants and designers used to work on the same thing at a time with all complete updated information. Even a single modification in design will change many things. In case of 2D drafting these changes creates complication and it becomes very difficult to do modification again and again. But this software allows designer to do modification as many time as required, and it allows modifying through statistic as well as directly in model and it will change design and data accordingly. During execution process, manufacturer was able to produce structural components through digital fabrication with help of CATIA accurately and rapidly. Because of these advanced technologies Beijing Olympics stadium an imagination was able to be created which is an extraordinary piece of architecture. D. Visionary models 1) Bionic tower: Place Bionic tower is composed for twelve vertical neighborhoods of 80 average meters of height each one. Each level has two groups of buildings around large vertical gardens and reservoirs. Wheel shaped base incorporates shopping malls and car parks. Artificial lake around the tower would absorb vibrations caused by any earth tremors. It is a 1228m high tower with 1km diameter artificial base land. III. CONCEPT OF TECHNOPOLES An emerging form of specialized development is the "technopole". It is a planned centre for the production of high technology industry. These may be developed by the private sector or by the co-operation or partnership between the public and private sectors. Large corporations and small business locate in technopoles. The cities have transformed from pedestrian-based more compact urban form to completely footloose electropolis. TECHNOPOLIS is a constellation of massive transportation, telecommunications and information networks to move goods, people and information. A combination of wheels, wires and waves with policy focussing on economic efficiency. Figure 9:Boom tower, Beijing IV. Figure 8: Bionic tower, Hongkong 2) Boomburbs: A new type of large, rapidly growing suburban city emerged in the latter part of the 20th century along with the Sunbelt and the suburban-dominated metropolis. When late 19th and early 20th century satellite cities reached a large scale, they developed as dense urban cores. Just as satellite cities reflected the dominant urban pattern of their time, Boomburbs may be the ultimate symbol of the sprawling postwar metropolitan form. They typically develop along the interstate beltways that ring large U.S. metropolitan areas. At highway exit ramps and major intersections gather the commercial elements of the new suburban metropolis- the office parks, big-box retail, and, most characteristically, strip development. Beyond these strips lie subdivisions, dominated by large-lot, single-family homes. United States currently contains 53 Boomburbs. CONCLUSION Technological revolution is dramatically transforming cities into information intensive zones loosing their identity as administrative capitals, as manufacturing and as production centres. The consequence has led to a new urban form characterized by suburbanization, functional and vertical zoning, decentralization of population, increasing levels of social diversity, spatial polarization, emergence of an elite inner city (gentrification), spatial separation between jobs and labour, decentralization of population and employment and finally the fundamental dimensions of human society. Advancement in technology is causing its affect on culture and commerce, eventually challenging institutions based on finance, education and health. Both transportation and communication technologies have fostered the outward migration of work and housing from central city locations. Affluent society is on the rise which encourages awareness quality of life and sense of place. The negative effect that technology is causing is the information ghettoisation and social diversity. The society is becoming increasingly networked with information technology connecting everything to everything else, making these connections into cultural connections. Cities are becoming much more fragmented and polarized as physical and electronic space is used in new ways. Utopians and futurologists are supporting the technological advancements saying that they are eradicating the negative effect on environment and society by industrial cities. On the other hand, dystopias’ are blaming that technology has created polarized communities dominated by global corporates influencing the future urban form of cities. Globalization is fuelling decentralization and causing cities to move outwards and this dispersal of urban areas is challenging the very concept of human agglomeration called CITY. High level movement corridors are becoming barriers for continuous, uniform and humane urban environment. Growing disparities between rich and poor is increasing and alarming. Rapid transformations in the land use patterns are evident in cities in most developing countries with centralization and subsequent decentralization. And due to this rapid transformation shrinkage of time and space shall change the movement pattern of people. Future of cities is taking a new dimension changing all preconceived notions of space, time and behavior. ACKNOWLEDGMENT The authors wish to thank the advancements of technology for its valuable contributions in the advancement in all aspects of life. REFERENCES [1] Bouchet Dominique (1998) Information technology, the social Bond and the City: George simmel updated. Volume 24, number 2/3, 1998, pp104133 [2] Budman R.A. (1992) The power of the Machine, The impact of Technology from 1700 to the present, London: penguin. [3] Castells Manual, 1993, European Cities, the Information Society and Global Economy, Wiley publications [4] D. Veeramani, H.P. Tserng, J.S. 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