In the 21st century, in connection with the technological development and the need to develop cities according to the green economy concept, including sustainable pro-ecological development, is it possible or will be to build a fully autonomously energetically and ecologically, economically self-sufficient smart city?
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I guess it is not entirely possible to build a fully automated smart city. There are certain issues which can be only performed by humans. Hence, autonomous systems can only be used to a certain limit.
Short answer: No.
Longer answer: I think you are asking is it possible for a city to be able to contain it's entire ecological footprint, with a closed loop on nutrients, using only the energy it can collect from within it's boundaries. With current technology, this is not possible.
At the very least, the city would have to include all of the surrounding rural lands which supply the ecological services that the urban portion relies on. And then you'd need to have some 65 kW (or some other, based on the community you're in) of solar or wind generation to replace fossil fuels (unless your city is over an oil/gas reservoir). And your city would have to have all of the trainers for all of the skills required to build and maintain all of the infrastructure you're using. So that's possible, but you can't point to an example on the earth today.
I can put together a yet longer answer, but I think that covers it.
Yes, this is definitley possible in the near future and most strongly relies on our ability to engineer closed systems and efficiently reuse and recycle nearly every byproduct and end-of-life mechanics. If we think far ahead with an LCA (life cycle analysis) approach that accounts for all the ins and outs of energy and materials utilization. Using a systems perspective in sustainability engineering will allow for technological harmony and ecological abundance. I can see smart cities becoming abundant and nearly fully self sustaining in the next 50 years, but I do think the research done in computer science required for full autonomy at this scale has yet to impress me. In 100-200 years all the wealthiest nations will have nearly fully autonomous technology, seamlessly integrated everywhere around us.
I agree with Douglas Nuttal! The constraints to achieve 100% sustainability are posed by the 2 laws of thermodynamics. I believe that the paper here attached can expand and clarify what I mean. Aiming at the highest, possible level of sustainability is a worthy endeavor but I am afraid that a 100% achievement of sustainability is NOT possible.
Bruno Borsari, that's an interesting paper. I'm curious about the philosophy. It reads like you're talking about Super Strong Sustainability, which suggests that any impact humans make is too big, and will lead to the eventual collapse of the human population.
I prefer to define Sustainability as the ability of a community to meet all of the needs of all of it's population, using the skills of that population and the resources/ecological services from the land the community manages and is obligated to, beyond any planning horizon. While the community can redefine their boundary of needs over time, at all times it must be able to show that no-one is obstructed from being able to meet all of their needs in 24h/d/ca. Which means eliminating poverty is a requirement, but also eliminating excessive affluence (which is just as dangerous).
This definition implies there is a threshold, using your work, of a x b x c where the community would be sustainable that potentially is less than 100%. And equally, there can be communities will not have such a threshold that is less than 100%, and they would need to redefine their boundary of needs to something the ecosystem they are in can support.
it is already possible to have zero energy houses and even houses which produce more energy than they consume. It is possible to have smart transportation systems that do not require more energy than it is possible to generate within the area the transportation is needed. From a technological side it is surely possible; right now it is still too costly and also the political will to go for such solutions on a large scale (city wide) is not there, especially as it would require lots of change in what is already there....
I guess it is not entirely possible to build a fully automated smart city. There are certain issues which can be only performed by humans. Hence, autonomous systems can only be used to a certain limit.
Dear Colleagues and Friends from RG,
Due to the increasingly faster global warming process and the increasingly frequent weather anomalies and climate disasters that are a derivative of climate change, the most recent question in the field of construction sciences regarding technical and economic possibilities of constructing energy-autonomous, renewable energy-powered cities built as ecological smart the city is no longer categorical. Well, we should no longer ask if it is possible or not only that it should be strived for it to be possible and subsequent cities should be built in accordance with the above concept of ecological smart city, i.e. cities that meet the principles of sustainable economic development implemented according to the concept of green economy.
What do you think about this topic?
What is your opinion on this topic?
Please reply
I invite you to discussion
Thank you very much
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