This is the most exciting thing I have seen in quite a while! If you only click on my post title links once, do it today! For a start, today's linked article from NPR has it all - text, audio and video - so it's very entertaining. But the story itself is truly inspirational. It outlines groundbreaking plans for a carbon neutral city that will be built over the next decade in the United Arab Emirates. 
Masdar City, which will house 50,000 people, will run on renewable energy, recycle its waste and water, and blend modern and traditional architectural styles to create comfortable housing that can withstand a desert climate. But the centerpiece of this project is its 'personal rapid transit' system (reminiscent of Blade Runner, apparently - how cool is that?!) - communal transport pods that the rider can program to travel to their chosen destination. You really have to watch the video... It's a grand vision of how people could live more sustainably in future - except that the future is only 10 years away...
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
208: building the city of the future - today
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5 comments:
Personal Rapid Transit
Thanks for the link, Mr Grant. And, yes, RTBH readers, I took the plunge and it's legit - i.e. not virus-ridden blog spam as, sadly, so many posted links like this so often are... E
Sorry if I triggered your spam alarm. I know spambots are getting cleverer, especially ones that seem to exploit Wordpress. Oddly, a blog I have that uses old Haloscan never gets spammed.
PRT is a compelling concept and sometimes it seems appropriate to simply let the link speak for itself. It is so compelling that I know of or have personally corresponded with perhaps a dozen people from around the world who "invented" it themselves out of frustration with traffic and wasteful transportation.
I hope you and your readers look up the various PRT designs, you'll find there are many at various stages of development, and some like Masdar that want to use the ones at the most advanced stage of readiness. The one pictured is called ULTra, and it's getting its first installation at Heathrow Terminal 5. Hopefully it will work better than the terminal!
Oddly, though most PRT designs use straightforward engineering and have been validated by experts, government agencies, and environmental groups (the latest is the World Wildlife Fund, which is advising Masdar) there is a very vocal minority who oppose PRT and most other proposals for new transit technologies. So beware of opposition propaganda!
well, hello again mr grant. Thanks for the fuller explanation of PRT. I must say I find it hard to see what one would object to, since PRT would seem to be the perfect blend of personalization and energy efficiency. Perhaps PRT detractors are allies of the automobile industry, or the petrochemicals industry, and therefore have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo? E
Who can say for certain why people do what they do. But the reason change is resisted is usually either fear or self-interest.
Being in some way vested in the status quo is certainly a powerful reason.
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