Sep – Dec 2018
Living City is a project reimagining urban centers to provide dynamic and universally accessible shared spaces for all. With the advent of autonomy and connected smart cities, Living City seeks to redefine human mobility.
Living City is a boundless metro without curbs and borders. Built upon Hans Monderman’s Shared Spaces, Living City has seamless access to mobility and equitable motility for everyone.
Streets today place vehicles first, neglecting pedestrian mobility and inefficiently managing curbs. These designs congest cities and cause mobility bias. With autonomy and connectivity, cities can reimagine public spaces with greater safety and pedestrians in mind.
Comprised of colorful dynamic blocks, Living Cities evolve with demand to meet the unique needs of urban centers at any moment of the day. Flexible mobile programming and adaptable routes meet desire lines while accessible utilities make updates simple.
A 1:100 scaled section of downtown Los Angeles made from acrylic and card stock demonstrates in mixed reality the experience of Living City. Augmented reality projects moving life into the city as the LED base demonstrates the adaptability of dynamic blocks.
Living Cities can return up to fifty-percent of land surface to pedestrians. Cities today like Los Angeles contain endless roads, parking, and loading zones even though cars are driven for only five percent of the time and parked the rest.
High speed through traffic is placed underground with optimized micro transit openings directly to the surface. Living City optimizes access to utilities without needing to unearth roads and plants are optimized to reduce root damage. Porous blocks manage rainwater without curbs, making the city flat and accessible everywhere.
Traffic flow was simulated within Pedestrian Dynamics to identify the motility of Living City. Even at peak demand times of the day, Living City never went above 50% of max density. This assisted the design of the environment and programming in Living City.
Microtransit and light electric vehicles redefine mobility. Accessible rideshare vehicles take advantage of the flat streets for easier entry and exit. Within a connected city, transits are optimized for efficient pick-up and drop-off.