Building tomorrow’s Megacities smartly

How will we deal with the growth of urbanisation? With over 200 megacities expected by 2020, the implementation of smart technology is needed to make our cities greener and more efficient.

More people today live in cities than rural areas; and by the end of the century it is expected approximately 80% of people will inhabit urban spaces as the global urban population projected to hit nine billion.

These numbers pose huge challenges for the megacities of tomorrow – especially those in fast developing regions such Asia, Africa and Latin America. Cities such as Shanghai, Sao Paulo, Istanbul and Lagos are examples of economies that now contain populations well over the ten million mark.

The colossal migration to urban areas can be explained, as people leave their homes for the big cities in search of a better quality of life – better jobs and wages, access to education for children, and more variety of things to do in their spare time and people to meet. To put this into perspective, back in 1950, it was almost the opposite of today with 70% people living and working in rural areas.

Chongqing, China

New York and Tokyo may be amongst the most well-known megacities – meaning cities with a population of over ten million people, but by 2020, China will lead the way with 121 urban conglomerations. India will follow with 58 and the US with 46. Subsequently, the societies, governments and businesses of such megacities will face challenges in the form of congestion, waste management and sanitation to name a few. It is also well documented that urbanisation poses serious concerns for the future of our planet, as pollution becomes more and more damaging to both the environment and the health if citizens living there. Burning fossil fuels to feed rapid urbanisation not only leads to harmful emissions, but it means that we are and will continue to use resources at an unsustainable rate.

In spite of some of these challenges, urbanisation can be tackled using the power of creativity to make cities smarter. The implementation of ‘smart cities’ can accommodate for our growing needs by essentially making cities greener and more efficient.

Singapore, Gardens by the Bay

One such frontrunner, Singapore, is trying to accelerate the adoption of smarter technologies process to make 80% of its buildings “green” by 2030. This year, Singapore is on target as building professionals plan more than 60% of their work to be green, compared to only 19% back in 2009 (according to Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority).

Efficient urban planning and infrastructure development are significant factors in ensuring successful urbanisation and smarter cities. Nonetheless, it remains to be seen if other countries will implement such technologies. In China, there have been investments of €532Bn for residential units and €210Bn for commercial units, with these numbers only expected to rise.

From a building and infrastructure perspective, overcrowding is one of the top challenges facing megacities. An estimated 85% of the existing urban and commercial floor space will need to be developed by 2025. The world’s answer to this has been the building of mid to high-rise buildings that not only occupy less land, but allow for green areas in the city. Such benefits have established a trend and in London, high-rise construction has increased by 56%, with 263 buildings over 20-storeys approved for building according to New London Architecture (NLA) and consultancy GL Hearn.

High-rise living, Kiev

As buildings get taller, elevators and technology to keep people moving becomes more important. For example, although sometimes overlooked elevators transport more than one billion people every single day. They also contribute to approximately seven per cent of a building’s total electricity consumption and depending on the size of the building, the elevator footprint can occupy between 25% and 50% of a building’s floor space. To work around this, technologies pioneered by companies such as ThyssenKrupp – like MUTLI or the “Willy Wonka” it as some like to call it – have been developed that use two cabins operating in the same shaft across different floors, resulting in energy savings of 27% and a 30% reduction in floor space being occupied. Also buildings can now evolve, reach new heights, shapes and purposes.

Another new technology introduced in partnership recently by ThyssenKrupp and Microsoft will make getting stuck in an elevator a thing of the past. The technology nicknamed MAX is a game changing predictive and pre-emptive maintenance service solution. By monitoring individual elevators that are connected to the Cloud, tapping into the Internet of Things it is capable of identifying in real-time the need for replacements in components and systems before the end of their lifecycles. This will save time, stress and also make the lives of service engineers and building managers that little bit better.

There are significant decisions for developing nations to make as our world continues to grow and evolve. What is pleasing is how companies are working hand in hand offering their skills to design infrastructure and technology to make sure our cities are the best mankind has ever lived in.

Andreas Schierenbeck, CEO thyssenkrupp Elevator

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