"[...] large, densely populated, impoverished neighborhoods are in many ways on the cutting edge. Innovation comes of necessity, not because it's trendy, and due to the likelihood the future will bring larger, more densely populated slums, an unusual realm of urban planning has begun to take shape -- one that looks at making slums sustainable, rather than simply blights to be eradicated.
 |
| Mumbai (www.ibtimes.com/) |
As urban planners seek eco-friendly ways to house a projected 1 billion more slum residents worldwide in the next 35 years, they’re focusing on concepts like gondolas, rainwater catchment systems and vegetative walls that can be easily replicated -- in some cases across other economic zones. What works in the slums may be equally useful in high-rent neighborhoods, or in densely populated, middle-class high-hrise "towns" that are being built in Singapore.
One of the reasons such slums are useful to study is they are indicative of what a consumer society forced to grapple with declining resources could look like. And because the slums consume less than more affluent districts, residents' demands for transportation and water supply infrastructure are often easier to address."
Keep reading.
Ross, P. (2014) "Climate Change Solutions: Architects Look To Slums As Models For Sustainable Living". International Business Times, July 14, 2014.
