On Street Level: Random Thoughts on our Urban World » Visionaries

The Venus Project

onstreetlevel — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 01:53:33 +0000

The Venus Project culminates the life long work of industrial designer, social systems engineer, and inventor Jacque Fresco, now age 94 (as of 2010).

The Venus Project presents a bold, new direction for humanity that entails nothing less than the total redesign of our culture. There are many people today who are concerned with the serious problems that face our modern society: unemployment, violent crime, replacement of humans by technology, over-population and a decline in the Earth’s ecosystems.

As you will see, The Venus Project is dedicated to confronting all of these problems by actively engaging in the research, development, and application of workable solutions. Through the use of innovative approaches to social awareness, educational incentives, and the consistent application of the best that science and technology can offer directly to the social system, The Venus Project offers a comprehensive plan for social reclamation in which human beings, technology, and nature will be able to coexist in a long-term, sustainable state of dynamic equilibrium.

Although it appears to be nothing more than a pipe dream, the Venus Project does sound like an interesting project. It has certainly stimulated some discussion over at Skyscraper City. The obvious problem with such a concept is the economic impact of it all – it doesn’t make any current economic sense. If anything, the Venus Project seems to look like the ‘World of Tomorrow’ visions from the 50′s, 60′s and 70′s. Regardless, some of the photos and renderings of the Venus Project do look stunning and if you take it with a grain of salt (who wouldn’t want some kind of utopia where all our current problems are eliminated?), then it is a cool distraction. You can check out the Venus Project by clicking on the link below:

The Venus Project Design

Straddling Buses: A New Alternative for Public Transit

onstreetlevel — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 02:23:21 +0000

I will refer you to a recent July 31st entry at China Hush entitled ‘Straddling bus- a cheaper greener alternative to public commute’. The Straddling Bus is a brand new public transit concept for cities that are becoming increasingly congested and increasingly expensive to maintain. As the video above displays, the bus essentially travels over cars decreasing the number of vehicles on the road as well as eliminating buses on tight schedules getting caught in severe traffic. But the advantages of the straddling buses don’t stop there. According to China Hush, the buses are also far cheaper to build than a below ground subway. Not to mention that the actual track will take a far shorter time to manufacture (1 year for 40 km vs. 3 years at best for a subway).

Perhaps the only part of the concept that needs work is how passengers will actually board these futuristic buses. One idea is to install a kind of ladder system which riders can climb up and down. However, this idea will not only be detrimental to anyone in a wheel chair but it will also increase wait times at the actual stops as passengers will take far longer to board than a regular bus.

However, in the end, it is very refreshing to hear a public transit option that may indeed some weight and merit behind it. In fact, the bus will be put into pilot use in the Beijing’s Mentougou District in the near future.

Model Cities: Shrinking our urban environments

onstreetlevel — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 02:58:13 +0000

I have to say that after reading this article in Wired Magazine online, I really would love to see the model cities they mention in person. The article starts with the story of how 50 year old software engineer Michael Chesko created a huge model of Manhattan in 2000 hours with nothing more than a X-Acto knife, a nail file, and a Dremel. The model now resides in the skyscraper museum in New York City (which I actually visited during the summer). However, the model that takes the cake in the article is the absolutely enormous projected model of Shanghai in the year 2020. The photos alone make Shanghai look like the size of 5 Manhattans.

Yet, for all the great photos and awe that these models inspire, many of them have a purpose. The article details how the US Army Corps of Engineers created a model of the Bay Area to help determine the impact of such natural disasters as earthquakes. As well, model cities provide a door into the future and allow individuals to see a vision of the aesthetic future of the city the model represents. The Shanghai one mentioned above is a perfect example of this. Even still, at the very least, model cities are an amazing and brilliant representation of our urban environment.

Light Rail Finally Becoming a Reality in Seattle

onstreetlevel — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:45:59 +0000

If you visit the website of Sound Transit (greater Seattle’s main public transportation provider), you will notice a major announcement indicating that light rail has finally begun testing along it’s initial route between downtown Seattle and the SeaTac airport. Expansion routes both north of downtown and east towards Bellevue will follow in the years to come. To see an interactive map of the route, you can click here. I for one believe this is long overdue. Seattle may be one of North America’s largest cities without some form of faster public transit. The city’s mass transportation system cannot simply sustain itself without something more substantial than buses within the inner city. I will be visiting Seattle sometime later this year and look forward to seeing the progess on this exciting new development. You can visit the Sound Transit website here.

Mile High Tower in Jeddah, Saudia Arabia

onstreetlevel — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 02:21:25 +0000

For those that have any kind of ear to the ground with regards to urban development will have likely heard about this project years ago, yet there still seems to be plans to build this 1600 metre tower. I have read that the Kingdom Holding Company is inviting bids this month to build the tower (which could cost in excess of $10 billion dollars.
You have got to ask yourself if this is economically feasible. This is a whole other beast to contend with when compared to the current world’s tallest project (Burj Dubai) which is half the height (see image above). To me, this project sounds more like a bragging right than anything else. But we will see how this all pans out.

How to board a train that doesn’t stop

onstreetlevel — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:54:35 +0000

Don’t you wish the bus/train you commute on would only stop at the stations you get on at and get off on. The above video is a demonstration of a new potential public transit system in Taiwan in which the train never actually stops. Passengers board/exit through a car attached to the train which travels between two stations. The train will pick up the car at one station and drop off at the next. This will not only save time, but also energy. However, there still looks to be some possibly huge safety issues to overcome. Even still, this is a very exciting prospect.