A conceptual framework for zero-emission and zero-waste urban design that emerged in the 1990s, Green Urbanism advocates compact energy-efficient growth, metamorphosing and re-engineering existing cities, and revitalising post-industrial urban centers.
An ongoing international discussion on eco-city theory has taken shape and evolved as a relevant research subject over the past half a century, probing the future of urbanism and the very existence of the city itself.
Several architectural schools of thought have been instigated during this time. Technical Utopianism is one such discipline – a technological idealism that focused on a quick ‘techno-fix,’ as articulated, for example, in the work of Archigram – an avant-garde London-based architectural group formed in the 1960s that was neo-futuristic, anti-heroic and pro-consumerist, drawing inspiration from technology in order to create a new reality that was solely expressed through hypothetical projects.
Other early writing on Green Urbanism may be found in Ebenezer Howard’s 1902 book, ‘Garden City of Tomorrow’, with the ideas within its pages having recently made a comeback due to their political and social agendas. In 1969, Reyner Banham, an English architectural critic and writer best known for his theoretical treatise ‘Theory and Design in the First Machine Age’ (1960) and for his 1971 book ‘Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies’, put forward the idea that technology, human needs, and ecological difficulties should be considered essential components of design. At the time, these were radical thoughts and concepts.
As a result, nothing really changed for a while. Cities such as Tokyo, Sao Paulo, Mexico City, Mumbai and Beijing developed to become seemingly endless urban landscapes by the end of the twentieth century, with these megacities demonstrating the difficulty of systematic planning and strategic management. It was clear that something had to change, and slowly it has begun to happen.
Several architectural schools of thought have been instigated during this time – Technical Utopianism being one such discipline
A Philosophy for the Twenty-First Century
There is a new Green Urbanism philosophy for the twenty-first century that attempts to convert current cities from fragmentation to compaction. The goal of eco-city theory is to improve the link between the city and nature, with Saudi Arabia leading this revolution, particularly with its giga-projects on the Red Sea coast.
Within this transformation, globalization, urban sustainability, ecology, communication technologies, and other related fields are being investigated by prominent sociologists and urban theoreticians. Of course, Green Urbanism is interdisciplinary by definition; it necessitates the collaboration of landscape architects, engineers, urban planners, ecologists, transportation planners, economists and other specialists, as well as architects and urban designers.
Cities such as Tokyo, Sao Paulo, Mexico City, Mumbai and Beijing developed to become seemingly endless urban landscapes
Green Urbanism strives to reduce the use of energy, water, and materials at every stage of a project’s lifecycle, including the embodied energy in the extraction and transportation of materials, their fabrication, assembly into buildings, and, finally, the ease and value of recycling when an individual building’s life is over.
Today, an architectural design must embrace the use of energy in the city’s or building’s upkeep and changes in use, in addition to the principal energy expended for its operation, which includes lighting and temperature regulation.
A Common Sense Solution
Every conurbation has its own distinct set of characteristics in terms of orientation, weather topography, noise, and air pollution, among other things. Climatic conditions are a fundamental influence in the design of any project and a major way of understanding the site and its context, which is essential at the beginning of any sustainable design project. And by working with the existing landscape, topography, and infrastructure, it is possible to optimize orientation and compactness to help reduce the city’s heat gain or losses, thus achieving a minimized environmental footprint.
Retaining complexity in the system (whether biodiversity, environment, or neighborhood design) is at all times desired, and a high degree of complexity is always advantageous to society. Refining the opportunities provided by topography and natural surroundings results in a city that is appropriately tailored to the local climate and ecosystem. Due to the unique qualities of each region, individual cities must develop their own methodologies and specialized schemes in order to achieve sustainability and capture the essence of the place.
Green Urbanism is largely common sense urbanism and must become the norm for all future city projects.