Climatopia, A Prototype Community of the Future: Subtropical Coastal Region

Climatopia

A Prototype Community of the Future: Subtropical Coastal Region

By Raymond Fort

A “climatopia” is a concept developed by University of Miami PhD Candidate Alizé Carrère to describe aspirational climate responses for the built environment that also consider sociopolitical transformation for inhabitants. A climatopia assumes that changes in our natural environment due to climate change will inevitably impact our built environment, and that significant social, political, and economic changes will likely be required for equitable, climate-resilient futures.

Arquitectonica is an architecture, landscape architecture, interior design and master planning firm headquartered in Miami, Florida with offices and projects globally. The firm specializes in several building types including mixed-use, residential, hospitality, office, retail/entertainment, public assembly, civic/government, educational, cultural, sports and transportation projects. Through the collective knowledge of multidisciplinary design, the firm aims to push the boundaries of our built environment to improve quality of life on earth and promote sustainable ways of living.

Inspired by the concept of a climatopia, the conceptual illustration envisions what a subtropical coastal built environment might look like in the future. Below are several key climatopic aspects that influenced the creation of this rendering, and which could be applied more generally for the future of urban design in various climatic regions across the world.

Temporal Context:

Today, we can observe a broad spectrum of historical architectural and urbanistic typologies that humans have built over time, evolving from the earliest shelters of the paleolithic era to the skyscrapers of contemporary architecture. The choices humans make in creating their built environments are critically influenced by social, economic, political, technological, and environmental pressures. These criteria are interdependent and collectively drive the evolution of our dwelling spaces. As the climate continues to change at an accelerated rate, our future built environments will also necessarily evolve, becoming drastically different from what we see today.

The representational illustration of this climatopia is set in a subtropical coastal region 200 years in the future (circa 2224). In such a region, climate change has resulted in dramatic sea level rise, frequent and intensified storm occurrence, and a scarcity of dry land; factors which have forced humans to completely reshape their built environments. The overall approach to the planning of this region, and perhaps many others like it, was to invert the current model of living that spatially prioritizes the human-built environment over nature. In other words, significant portions of land have been forfeited back to nature, while human-made environments are spatially limited to only what is necessary. The result is a series of interconnected urban islands that have large swaths of wilderness habitats in between them.

Design:

The regional plan of this climatopia is defined by a network of urban islands. Each individual urban island is a master plan of concentric zones, with each zone having a designated land use. The concentric zones start with the urban population center at its core, then a ring of specialization zone, recreation zone, agricultural zone, and finally wilderness which extends without a boundary. The geographic location of the urban islands was selected based on the population density of regions 200 years prior. The densest areas became the center of the urban islands, while the medium and low density areas were forfeited back to nature. Encircling the urban islands is a perimeter recreation zone in the form of a linear park that functions as connector of various recreational areas which eventually peels off and becomes a main transportation avenue between various urban islands. Adjacent to the urban island and perimeter park is a modest tract of agricultural land attached to each of the islands intended to support more localized food production and minimize distances that food needs to travel. Encircling these human occupied zones are wilderness areas that were once suburban and rural environments, which over the course of 200 years of human retreat, have slowly been overtaken by nature. Wilderness separates each urban island in some cases by hundreds of miles. A robust high-speed train network connects the urban islands, transporting both goods and people. Between the urban islands and coastal zone there is a buffer of mangroves which protect the inhabited urban environments from wave action, support marine life, and promote new land growth. Beyond the mangroves are large swaths of seagrasses, which were sowed to help sequester carbon from the atmosphere from generations prior. Deeper waters off the coast are home to reefs that were revitalized through coral propagation and strong conservation measures to ensure a balanced ocean ecosystem. Energy is derived from renewable sources such as wind, solar, and tidal currents to power a lifestyle that has dramatically reduced dependency on petroleum and the burning of fossil fuels.

The infrastructure and building designs within the urban islands utilizes biomimicry inspired by dune formations found along coastal environments. The sectional form of the dune is low at its perimeter and tall towards the center, which helps mitigate high winds during storm events. When applied to the built environment, the buildings are low rises along the perimeter and high-rises at its center, which also promotes view corridors even from the densest areas at the center of the urban Islands. Additionally, the urban islands have an organically shaped gridiron plan, which allows for an efficient layout of buildings while also making the perimeter recreation zone easily accessible at any point within the island. Individual urban islands have a high population density that ranges between 50,000 and 150,000 people per square mile and can hold up to 500,000 people per Island depending on its region. While each urban island is autonomous, some are more specialized than others, giving them a unique identity. These specialties include sectors like technology, finance, education, manufacturing, agriculture, energy and culture. These uses are located within the specialization zone of the master plan. The compact urban centers are comprised of mixed-used buildings with residential, commercial, civic, institutional and specialty uses. Many buildings are retrofitted high-rise buildings from the original urban centers 200 years prior. Additional low-carbon buildings were built over time to maximize density in the designated urban islands, each built with biomaterials that store carbon, technologies that enhance carbon sequestration processes, and façade components that capture solar energy.

Importantly, in this future, land ownership structures have drastically changed. Urban islands are structured in a hybrid community land trust-cooperative housing model, which has removed the parcellation and lot lines making each island a large, interconnected network of buildings, much like a campus. Residents of each urban island do not own their individual units but rather own a share of the collective property of their home island. This guarantees housing for all residents, encourages affordable costs of living, and promotes greater care for the commons, for the value of inhabitants’ shares grow only as the value of the entire urban island grows. Buildings have been redesigned to share mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, making for greater energy efficiency and reduced consumption. With the limitation on land expansion, there are also connections between buildings to create additional land and building typologies, such as skybridges with outdoor community spaces and edible gardens. At the street levels, tree lined streets include shopfronts, cafes, and restaurants. The sidewalks are flush with the vehicular streets (no curbs, much like woonerfs), which by this point have become car-less, making way for personal transportation vehicles only (bikes, multi-person bikes, scooters, and other non-motorized mobility devices). Certain streets have on-grade light-rail that takes people to key locations within a given island. The street level is a quiet park-like setting, where noise is mostly generated by talking, laughing, music-playing, barking, bicycle bell ringing, and bees buzzing over an array of nativized flora.

While life in the urban islands makes for a leisure-oriented lifestyle, access to the wilderness beyond is allowed and encouraged. Some former suburban homes were preserved and converted into outposts within the wilderness for people to enjoy immersion into nature and for scientific research.

Social Structure

Social structures have been inherently reshaped by the compact planning of the urban islands. Living in car-less urban clusters has increased daily interaction and interconnectivity, fostering new relationships, closer bonds, and a stronger sense of community. By inspiring community interdependence and collective care and cooperation, kinship structures include both biological and chosen members, thereby relieving and reducing population pressures and anxieties generated in the capitalist era (i.e., the ‘nuclear family,’ individualism, and associated feelings of scarcity, anxiety, and isolation). Consequently, only some individuals opt to procreate, and extended families/kin participate in the raising of future generations as well as elderly care, keeping the overall population flow healthy, happy, and balanced.

Economic and Political Systems

Over time, the major urban islands eventually specialized according to different sectors, taking on unique identities and characteristics: an urban island focused on finance and government, one for arts and culture, one for industry and manufacturing, one for agriculture and food production, and one for research and education. The economic system has thus transformed to accommodate the organization (and flow) of goods and services between these urban islands. Jobs in each urban island correspond with their primary economic activity, but this does not restrict inhabitants: they are encouraged to find their passions and hone specific work skills, and move freely between urban islands for work, living, and leisure activities.

The political system also transformed to favor a form of Taoism, with the intent that government facilitates a harmony between humans and nature. Elements of physiocracy were implemented that created laws around the permitted uses of land to support the concept that the wealth of a nation is derived from the use and management of its land, resulting in economic stability between the urban islands. Economic growth is not a key factor in this system; rather economic balance in the system is prioritized.

Conclusion

Overall, the design of this climatopia emphasizes the concept that humankind can flourish in compact, densely inhabited environments, much like an augmented village, immersed in nature. When nature is given the chance to thrive, the benefits to human ecosystems are lasting and immeasurable. By 2224, we imagine a future where humankind has organized itself to recognize and honor the power of this relationship, bringing greater balance to all systems in the face of a changing climate.