Mangroves and Fireflies - Bio-Cities for a Harmonious Future

Since cities are the embodiment of how we live, I’m designing a zero carbon-footprint regenerative bio-city whereby the relationship between humans and nature will emulate the harmony achieved in the relationship between mangroves and fireflies. The bio-city will tackle the seemingly unbreakable social and infrastructural inertia in our society.

Because of our global infrastructure, based on inertia, we are separated from nature. This is exacerbated by the social inertia that inhibits much of the necessary change. There is no other place where this connection is more important than in our urban communities, where there is a one way and one time intake of resources, depleting the origin. Our cities and urban communities need to restore the regenerative cycle with nature, create new sustainable ways of living, and give hope to those who have lost it.

The bio-city will free us from the physical and social constructs of inertia. Never again will we approach the natural world the same way. Emerging technology, combined with elements of nature (the city design) will restore the regenerative cycle and create a sustainable lifestyle. The core building will be a massive tree, combining the natural tree and programmable protocells (living architecture). Living architecture will create buildings that can grow and provide sustenance to our environment while also ending architectural inertia. Ecosystems will be integrated into the design of the city - such as wetlands that purify and store water.

The regenerative bio city will be built, or more correctly, grown, by willing people in at-risk communities all over the world, reconnecting them back to their roots in nature and paving the way for a comprehensive, long lasting, and sustainable way of living in harmony with our environment. My bio city will create an Academy to inspire future generations to design, build, and engineer harmoniously with nature, further proliferating this original design and the goals of the city as the bio-cities are scaled across the world.

Count the micro, neighborhood sized cities built across the world - Micro, neighborhood sized bio-cities are built in 10 notable at-risk communities around the world, such as the disadvantaged areas of Trenton, Rio, and Africa.

Functionality as city and goals of city are met and operative. - The success or failures of the micro bio-cities will be recorded, repaired, and then the first bio-city will be built.

There are so many new and emerging technologies that have the potential to bring about great leaps in sustainability. My solution is innovative because it incorporates these new technologies with the natural world to enhance both their values. For example, Capacitive Mixing and Reverse Electrodialysis is a technology that could provide 40% of the world's energy needs just from where freshwater meets saltwater. By incorporating this technology with the wetland ecosystem of the city, dual use of generating massive amounts of energy and purifying/storing freshwater water as an ecosystem service can be achieved.

My regenerative bio-city must be built and no other group of people would be more suitable for that job than the people who the city will serve-those geographically, socially, and economically disadvantaged. Those who will live in the city will build it in collaboration with experts, all the while acquiring fundamental skills in design, architecture, engineering, technology, and more. Finally, when the city is built, those who helped build it will feel an attachment to the city and understand its inner workings, and bring other people to live there with them. 

My solution will first be deployed as mini neighborhood-sized versions of the bio-city within the United States to test the viability of the building methods and transport of materials. After, more mini neighborhood-size cities (slightly different bio-cities will likely be necessary for different environments) will be built in at-risk communities in the rest of the world. These new cities will combine with the original cities to provide data and allow us to fine tune and perfect the concept before either upgrading them to full-size cities or building new full-size cities. This choice depends on the results of the “trial” cities.

Although this bio-city plan has been given meticulous thought, and does use proven and emerging technologies (check the website for more details that was unable to go into the submission), the project still is in its early formulation stage. This project is something I plan to take into college with me, where I can incubate and improve the regenerative bio-city concept, consolidating knowledge and feedback from my peers and professors while acquiring financial support from angel investors, governmental, and NGO assistance. I hope to attract those investors who share in my belief that the world is dying from our unsustainable way of living, and that my bio-city can be the connection where there is disconnect. These investments will power the research. In turn, the investor’s money will be made and paid back through tenant commissions (rent).

The factor most limiting for the bio-city to succeed is the ability of the city to generate money and as a result, attracting funding and investors. It may be difficult to get investors on board because there is no clear way that the city will make money other than tenant commissions. However, even these tenant commissions may be an insecure source of income because the cities are meant to serve at-risk communities in addition to more developed communities.

I believe that my regenerative bio-city, in its current stage, will improve with recognition and collaboration. By becoming a Solver and tapping into the community of Solve, I hope to spread knowledge about my idea of the bio-city and garner the support and feedback of knowledgeable and passionate individuals to aid in the city’s development. Further, I feel that joining such a community like Solve is the best way of achieving my hope to bring about the positive and necessary change in our world.

I have no official organizational partners. I have a team comprised of my advisor, friends, acquaintances and family all working together on my vision of this regenerative bio-city.

I have no competitors that I am aware of. In fact, I am actively looking for individuals and groups