Unlocking a city’s randomness
Ideas festivals around the world are flourishing. Bringing together a diverse range of creative thinkers at events like Vivid Sydney and the Melbourne Festival, prompts us to think differently and connect in new ways.
AECOM Vice President Chris Choa, who spoke about future-focused ideas including aerotropolis strategies and automated vehicles at the Adelaide Open State Festival and at the NZCID Building Nations Symposium, shares with us his thoughts on why cities must be open to cooperation, collaboration and new ideas in order to succeed.
How do you think a community engaged in ideas festivals can help solve the social and economic challenges of a city?
We are limited by our imagination! We already know what we can imagine for ourselves, but we need others to reframe our thinking. We learn from ‘accidents’ and we learn when we are confronted with other people’s experiences.
In evolutionary terms, we need randomness in order to generate successful mutations that allow a species to evolve – cities are the same. Ideas festivals, especially when they have the right mix of new faces, help us think about things in an unexpected manner. We can consider social and economic challenges in fresh and useful ways.
How can a network of connected global cities offer a better quality of life?
We are living in an extraordinarily globalised age. Global cities have increasingly more in common with other cities thousands of miles away than they do with their own hinterlands. This creates both opportunities and challenges.
Globally connected cities allow their residents and their hinterlands to more easily participate in global opportunities. Well-planned cities that also integrate emerging digital infrastructure can rationalise benefits and reduce many of the internal frictions that limit quality of life.
We learn from ‘accidents’ and we learn when we are confronted with other people’s experiences.
What will the effect of connected or automated vehicles be on our cities?
Autonomous vehicles (AVs) will have extraordinary implications for our cities. Most importantly, in addition to the environmental and safety benefits, AV’s radically reduce the amount of area that needs to be set aside for streets and parking. This creates opportunities for more housing, more public realm, more community facilities, more commercial and leisure development within the heart of the city.
How can airports and the idea of the aerotropolis drive growth for cities? What are the fundamental components for their success?
In past centuries, new growth and development always formed around trading gateways: seaports, canal locks, railway stations and motorway interchanges. These developments created value for themselves and for the surrounding area when the land uses specialised to support the connectivity of the gateways. In our globalised century, hub airports are the gateway to the global economy.
Aerotropolis strategies encourage developments that support the economic functions of the airport and also make effective links to the surrounding city.
The fundamental component for success is cooperation and specialisation. The airport and the city have to work together. The related urban developments have to be relevant to the needs of both the airport and the surrounding city.