SUSTAINABLE FUTURE CITY

Blogpost 05, human movement

Tessa Gielen, ILS1G
Sustainability is very important for the future of our planet. Ever since the 1980s,
the earth can not keep up with the speed of human developments. The ever
increasing world population is one of the reasons why sustainability becomes so
important in the future. In the period of 2010-2020, the world population will
grow by 1.1% annually (Libertus, z.j.). There is not enough natural, raw materials
for this growing amount of people in the future. From an economic perspective,
the growing demand for raw materials leads to higher prices. Therefore, the use
of fossil sources, like coal, gas and crude oil, is increasing. The solution? Working
together with nature! We need to think about economic models that work
together with our planet instead of destroying it (Veltenaar, 2015).
From ego to eco
In a city of the future, a good sustainable way of life would be self-sufficient. At
this time, an eco-village is being built near Almere. This village is an example of a
solution for problems like the growing world population and urbanization. Self-
sufficiency plays an important role in this village. The intention of the village is
that it does not break down, but restores the nature. To achieve this, techniques
such as regenerative agriculture will be used. The idea of regenerative agriculture
is that the output of one system is the input for another system. A combination of
energy sources such as solar, wind and biogas will be used in the houses of the
village. The eco village has several advantages for the environment, but also for
the people itself. It would be much cheaper to live in an eco-village. In addition,
less transport is required because of the self-sufficiency aspect. The village will
get about 100 houses and will be finished in the fall of 2017 (Vaan, z.j.). It is a
good example of living in the future because the economy and the people in this
village are adapting to nature. Nature helps us a lot by giving its services. It has
always been this way, but often we do not realize this. Now it is time to adjust our
economy to nature. This village is a good start to the new future economy
(Planbureau voor de leefomgeving, z.j.).

Eco village Almere (Vaan, z.j.).

Urban parks
In an eco-village like this (described above) you live with a lot of nature around
you. It has been scientifically proven that nature around us is positive for people.
Research indicates that the presence of natural areas contributes to the quality of
life in many ways. The experience of nature in urban surroundings is the source
of positive feelings. So besides many environmental and ecological benefits,
urban nature also provides important social and psychological benefits to human
societies, which enrich human life with meanings and emotions (Chiesura, 2014).
Energy-neutral house in four days
The French architectural agency, Multiple Studio, proves that building sustainable
buildings does not have to take long. In just four days, they built a sustainable,
spacious (130 square meters) and relatively inexpensive energy-neutral Popup
House. The house can be put together by yourself, and it seems not to be
difficult. All materials will be delivered by the architectural firm. The pop-up
house is being built passively. This means, the house is so well insulated that it
needs on average ninety percent less energy to be heated. Currently, the house
is only available in France, but the architectural firm hopes to be able to deliver
the Popup House shortly throughout whole Europe (Wienen, z.j.). It is a good
development to make people able to live sustainable in an easy and fast way.

Energy-neutral house in four days

(Wienen, z.j.).
Living in a greenhouse
Another example is about a family that lives in a very special way. They live in a
greenhouse, which is a very sustainable way of life. Design students from the
Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences made it possible for the family to live
here. A pipe, three meters below the house, gives cool air in the summer and
warm air in the winter. Heating and cooling costs are therefore a lot lower than
average. As you can expect, the house is made of natural materials, such as
loam, wood and glass. On the roof is a garden that provides fruit and vegetables.
There is also a system installed that collects rainwater in tanks. This is used for
irrigation and flushing of the toilets. It is not a normal home, but very
environmentally friendly and the family likes to live there a lot (Vaan, z.j.).
 Greenhouse (Vaan, z.j.).
Degrowth economy
Today's economy is not very sustainable and, among others, bad for climate
change. Questions like "Why should the economy continue to grow?" and What
about: enough is enough? are everyday's business. The degrowth economy is
about how we can adapt our economy to the possibilities of the earth. As you can
expect, we can not endlessly go on with material production and consumption.
However, degrowth is an economy that focuses on less production and less
consume.
In addition to a new economic model, degrowth is also about a new way of
thinking. Nowadays people often think that money makes happy and successful.
Within degrowth economy, happiness is about doing something you like.
The world will change when people focus on a degrowth economy, there would be
almost no advertising, no new building and a standard basic income for all.
Economists with an educated background do not believe in this idea. According to
them, the economy must focus on growth and this idea of degrowth economy
would lead to unemployment (Andreoni, V., & Galmarini, S., 2013).
Future vision
I am one of the people who believes in working together with the nature for a
sustainable world and city. It seems a nice life to me. I also think that the social
aspect is very positive, creating a group feeling in a city is better for the society
instead of todays individualism. However, I think more people have to believe in
it, because only then it is going to work.
The degrowth economy will be leading this society when everybody finds out it is
really necessary to live according to the degrowth economy. I expect this takes a
long period of time, but more and more people get this realization.
References
Andreoni, V., & Galmarini, S. (2013). On the increase of social capital in degrowth
economy (University of Huddersfield). Geraadpleegd van http://ac.els-
cdn.com/S1877042813002929/1-s2.0-S1877042813002929-main.pdf?
_tid=3897596e-3491-11e7-a3e1-
00000aab0f01&acdnat=1494318578_1a875d3826c9285aac394e37f5448ac6
Chiesura, A. (2014). The role of urban parks for the sustainable city (Wageningen
University). Geraadpleegd van http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0169204603001865/1-s2.0-
S0169204603001865-main.pdf?_tid=d4f5d8a8-2f19-11e7-9a6b-
00000aacb361&acdnat=1493717545_b27f9e1cb58be8f594ca2247e7bebb34
Libertus. (z.j.). Waarom is duurzaamheid ook alweer belangrijk? Geraadpleegd
van http://www.libertus.nl/waarom-is-duurzaamheid-ook-alweer-belangrijk/
Planbureau voor de leefomgeving. (z.j.). Natuurlijk Kapitaal Nederland | natuur &
economie verbinden. Geraadpleegd van http://themasites.pbl.nl/natuurlijk-
kapitaal-nederland/over-natuurlijk-kapitaal-nederland/achtergronden/natuur-en-
economie
Vaan, L. de. (z.j.). Het eerste zelfvoorzienend ecodorp in Nederland is een feit.
Geraadpleegd van http://www.bedrock.nl/2016/12/19/het-eerste-zelfvoorzienend-
ecodorp-in-nederland-is-een-feit/
Vaan, L. de. (z.j.). Wonen in een kas: deze familie van vier doet het.
Geraadpleegd van http://www.bedrock.nl/2017/04/19/wonen-een-kas-deze-
familie-van-vier-doet-het/
Veltenaar, R. (2015). Duurzaamheid en de noodzakelijke revolutie. Geraadpleegd
van http://www.ruudveltenaar.nl/spreker-filosoof/toekomst-duurzaamheid/
Wienen, J. (z.j.). Dit energieneutrale huis van 130 vierkante meter bouw je in
slechts vier dagen. Geraadpleegd van http://www.bedrock.nl/2017/03/28/dit-
energieneutrale-huis-van-130-vierkante-meter-bouw-je-slechts-vier-dagen/
Pictures
Vaan, L. de. (z.j.). Het eerste zelfvoorzienend ecodorp in Nederland is een feit
[Foto]. Geraadpleegd van http://www.bedrock.nl/2016/12/19/het-eerste-
zelfvoorzienend-ecodorp-in-nederland-is-een-feit/
Vaan, L. de. (z.j.). Wonen in een kas: deze familie van vier doet het.
Geraadpleegd van http://www.bedrock.nl/2017/04/19/wonen-een-kas-deze-
familie-van-vier-doet-het/
Wienen, J. (z.j.). Dit energieneutrale huis van 130 vierkante meter bouw je in
slechts vier dagen [Foto]. Geraadpleegd van
http://www.bedrock.nl/2017/03/28/dit-energieneutrale-huis-van-130-vierkante-
meter-bouw-je-slechts-vier-dagen/