Sustainable cities of the future

Written by: Joshya Mudaliar & Khooshi Jajoo

Edited by: Parinaaz Bains

Illustrated by: Sunaina Lala

The Department of Liberal Arts, known for its motto of making sustainability a part of daily life, had hosted a presentation/showcase of various models of sustainable cities which included the goals of Vision Zero and 15-minute city. Vision Zero refers to the vision of having 0 accidents in a city while 15-minute city refers to ease and accessibility of transportation so that any place in the city is accessible in 15 minutes. The 6 models were created by the students of second year in liberal arts. 

To meet the goal of sustainability, the groups tried incorporating renewable sources of energy like solar power, hydroelectric power, wind energy, etc.  The layout of all the cities was very different - all trying to incorporate various concepts like Kaplan’s matrix and Maslow’s need hierarchy model. Waste management was stressed upon in almost all the cities, as it is one of the major contributors to pollution. Judicious use of resources by reusing water in various ways, harnessing resources for energy, etc. added on to the credibility of the cities. Many designs had certain elements which were inspired by present-day systems in the world. For example, the subway system of South Korea, drainage system of Singapore, etc. There was a heavy emphasis on public transportation to reduce traffic and achieve a 15-minute city as well as Vision Zero. 

With innovative ideas like spiral cities, distribution of the sectors of economy for accessibility, clubbing together of things related to each other, the students of liberal arts had an impressive and insightful presentation. It showed that they had done their research beforehand and tried incorporating new elements as well to build their version of a sustainable city of the future. The presentation was another step towards spreading the idea of sustainability as a lifestyle of all rather than just the elite