SUSTAINABLE & CREATIVE CITIES

Integrated concepts for sustainable and creative city development. Activate the powers of sustainable architecture, new technology and dynamic human habitat design.

As the built environment makes up a dominant share of our energy and material consumption, the path to sustainable futures is intrinsically linked with how we design and plan our cities, houses and buildings.

The good news is that room for improvement is tremendous. Sustainable architecture, green material choices and renewable energy systems are overflowing the market for new developments these years in all possible forms and variations. Similarily, a vast array of technical and architectural solutions are available that can significantly improve existing buiding structures.

At the same time this is the chance to reinvent the way we use our city structures and built landscape for living, working and everything in between. Thus, the city can become the creative city redesigned to fullfill our dreams and hopes as humans and as local communities. With open structures and people-driven processes people can be part of the creative redesign where the city gains its true purpose as a forum for cultural, economic and social activity.

Creative City Planning

With the sustainable and creative city approach a holistic perspective is applied that focus both on constructions, but also on neighborhood design with integration of workspaces, shared facilities, local shops, transportation infrastructure as well leisure and cultural activities.

Even the local production of (renewable) energy and food production can become part of a smart and sustainable city plan that takes into account the many aspects of green human habitats.

From an innovation perspective this particularily calls for strategic innovations that support sustainable living.

Lots of opportunities exist for social innovations with regard to new forms of family life across generations, or the possibility of more flexible buildings that can accomodate shiftings needs across a person or family's lifetime.

Also, whereas many efforts are concentrated on how to make super-efficient mega-cities, new solutions are also needed to transform life in rural zones and suburban neighborhoods to become sustainable.

Lots of inspiration can be gained from the myriad of ecological villages across the globe where people have fused their ideals and living conditions into real sustainable and experimental settlements making sustainable living a wholehearted mission. Many of these ideals can with success be transformed into a series of mainstream solutions that provide a golden middle way.

Beyond Green Buildings

Most issues regarding sustainable architecture adress how to green existing buildings - as opposed to challenging the basic assumptions on how our physical structures for living and working could be like.

A suggestion is to simply rethink what a house could look and functionlike. One example is the micro-living initiatives that are demonstrating how a very high quality of life can be realised within a minimum of space.

Another challenge would be to focus on space allocation for workplaces, shops and public buildings. Many buildings are only in use for 1/3 of the day, and most are only using a smaller part of the capacity leaving room for a more efficient and environmental use.

So both on the private and working arean buildings could benefit from a sustainable rethinking in search for more flexible building solutions to unfold our lives within.

The need for pioneering projects

At some point in the future sustainable and creative city building practice will have become a standard. But for the moment we are in the midst of a process of introducing a new mindset with many dimensions.

This calls for educative and communicative initiatives to diffuse the new ideas and establish strong and positive images around the sustainble city. And preferably it is accompanied by positive lifestyle examples, that hold a broader appeal to more than just technical enthusiasts or the ecological avantgarde.

Cities and buildings are spaces of living and so the best ambassadors are humans that actually lead a happy and fullfilling life in green and creative structures. We are dealing just as much with human and cultural inventions as with technical inventions.

This is a call for demonstration sites, that make the benefits and advantages of sustainable and creative cities clear and concrete to the public.

Take Action

Co·Creative offers strategic consulting services and assistance on the development and communication of sustainable and creative city solutions.

We also run creative workshops and camps for people-driven innovation activities.

Please contact Project Developer & Director, Søren Femmer Jensen for more info: +45 30 279 111 / soren@cocreative.com

 

Ancient Sustainable Architecture: water reservoirs with natural windcatcher cooling in the desert city of Naeen in Iran.

 

 

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