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Scoop.it!
Ethiopia is due to launch a light rail transit system later this year, the first of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa. Via ismokuhanen 
Scoop.it!
Light Park is a skyscraper that hovers over the streets of Beijing like a giant airship. Architects Ting Xu and Yiming Chen have conceived the future of high-rises to be a conglomerate of mega-structures that make up for the shortage of urban open spaces on the ground by lifting them up in the air. The Light Park skyscraper is lifted off the ground with a helium-filled balloon, and it uses solar energy for propulsion, enabling it to function as a non-polluting transportation deck as well as a floating urban park. The technology is based on existing helium balloon designs, using solar-powered propellers, airbags and atmospheric pressure for takeoff and cruise flight. Solar power is utilized to power the uses below, with translucent solar panels located on the top of the aircraft. In order to avoid additional weight and decrease wind resistance, the skyscraper uses a cable-suspended structure to attach the slabs to the mushroom-like cap. The planting slabs are irrigated with rainwater collected on the large cap surface and are distributed in a way which allows maximum exposure to sunlight on each level... Via Lauren Moss
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Scoop.it!
The 19th century was a century of empires, 20th century was a century of nation states and the 21st century will be a century of cities... This outstanding infographic (courtesy of postscapes.com) begins with some information about our current state of urbanization. Did you know that 1.3 million people are moving to cities each week?! It then explains the need for smart cities and delves into what is required to establish these intelligent connected environments, how the smart city may take various forms in the developing worlds and what specific technologies are necessary to achieve such grand goals in practice. Via Lauren Moss, association concert urbain
luiy's curator insight,
December 18, 2014 4:31 AM
We have been grateful to the wide array of planners, architects, techies, entrepreneurs and students of the built environment who have joined us on this journey. And the ‘Smart City‘ has featured again and again, whether it be a futurologist’s insights into the bionic, nature-centric adaptable cities of the future, or an economist’s keen ideas on instilling happiness in the built environment. 
Eli Levine's curator insight,
December 18, 2014 10:45 AM
There is an evolution taking place where politics, policy, technology, the environment, and the economy all intersect. This movement towards technical, empirically driven local policy making could be our saving grace.This could be the future of government. |
Finally something positive.
As Africa, namely Sub-Saharan Africa, lacks the technology that is required to develop and maintain this type of transportation is a great start. Time shows that if a country is given a decent amount of time to develop something good will come to it. Advances in technology today make it easier for development to happen, but once again it comes down to the ease of access to this technology in order to properly develop this and maintain it at all times.