Opinion – Claudio Bernardes: Trends that can improve our future

The search for more efficient, resilient, inclusive and environmentally balanced cities is present in most planning models that aim to idealize an urban future with better quality of life for people.

Effectively, this is not an easy task, and there are no rules that apply equally to all cities in the world. However, there are trends that can be used as guiding principles for city planners.

Building cities for people, a concept presented by urbanist Jan Ghel, is perhaps the most universal trend. Automobiles should no longer drive urban planning. Urban areas should be designed on the scale of pedestrians and cyclists, with more space for walking and cycling, always bringing buildings closer to the roads.

Cities need to be planned and designed for people, but with green streets and public spaces designed as new corridors, with the potential to become centers of social life. It is important to create more public parks and nature-based solutions in the urban environment, promoting a closer connection between people and natural spaces, especially in cities with higher population density.

Even though we live in cities, we spend most of our time indoors. Therefore, the design and construction of workplaces and housing, schools and even hospital environments must be given special attention. Improvements in ventilation models, thermal conditions, insolation and chemical composition of building materials will dominate actions to improve buildings and their use.

One of the important strategies for urban regeneration are the so-called innovation districts.

Massive, mixed-use developments with a wide variety of housing types to encourage a diverse population mix, combined with diverse employment and retail areas that can be comfortably navigated.

Innovation districts are characterized by the existence of two or more anchor locations, such as universities, hospitals and research centers, with a multiplicity of mobility options, favoring public transport over automobiles.

Cities as a whole must work to offer digital, intelligent, autonomous and intermodal mobility. Some major changes in the way people move around cities are underway. But these trends will be further accelerated over the next decade, with electrification, autonomous driving, smart infrastructure, modal diversity, integrated, shared and sustainable mobility, all systems being driven by disruptive business models.

Social inclusion must be a fundamental pillar of urban growth and development for the cities of the future, structured in three blocks identified by the World Bank: spatial inclusion (providing affordable housing, water and sanitation), social inclusion (expansion of equality rights and participation) and economic inclusion (creation of jobs and economic development opportunities for citizens).

Last but not least, cities are evolving to be people-centric and designed by and for their citizens. Thus, the massive participation of citizens in a collaborative process, built through open government policies, but totally different from the inefficient models used so far, is fundamental.

With mass participation, supported by open data and technology, and with local government acting as a platform, cities can use citizens as sensors and benefit from greater innovation, better use of resources, and greater harnessing of population sensitivities. regarding the problems of the city.