The WHO stated in 2014 that 54% of global population is living in cities, and in the following 5 years they estimated an expected urban population growth of 1.84% per year. This trend makes it crucial to make cities less impactful on the environment, and one step to reach that goal could be the so called Smart Cities.
A Smart City uses digital technologies to enhance performance and wellbeing to reduce cost and resource consumption. Some ideas that have allready been realized to reach this goal are described in an article of theguardian.com. One idea are for example glowing trees during nighttime. Scientists and architects created some kind of bioluminescent plants, that with the help of bacteria can create a jellyfish-type glow. This method saves energy and cleans the air at the same time. Including plants in modern architecture can go even further. In Hamburg for example, an algae powered house creates it own energy by producing biogas which is then be used as main energy source. Another very interesting project was created by Lima University of Engineering and Technology. They created billboards that filter the humidity out of the surrounding air and create 96 liters of drinking water a day. In London Heathrow streetlight is powered by pedestrians themselves: the kinetic energy of walking pedestrians to power the lights above their heads.
For even more Ideas check out this article on the guardian.com!
Written by: Max Unterthiner
Source: http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/apr/16/ten-quirky-ideas-for-making-our-cities-more-sustainable
