Digital cities.
The relationship between the construction and digital technologies is beginning to acquire the character of direct dependence.
Branched computer networks, interactive television, wireless communication channels are becoming an integral part of modern office and residential buildings and ensure their functioning.
However, high technologies, in addition to functional conveniences, can and should have a conceptual vector of their development.
The answer to the question of whether technical progress can fundamentally influence urban development has been found today — this is the so-called concept of «connected real estate» (Connected Real Estate), which has found its real embodiment in the South Korean project of New Songdo — a digital city being built 65 kilometers from Seoul International Airport, on the site where until recently there was the bottom of the Yellow Sea.
A bridge 12.3 km long and 74 m high will connect New Songdo with Incheon, located an hour's drive from Seoul, which is called the main gate of Korea.
The area of the «connected real estate» city will be 5.5 square kilometers, and the population will be 500 thousand people.
New Songdo is planned to become one of the largest economic centers of Asia, the capital of high technologies, a real «smart city» completely controlled by electronics.
The highlight of the new city is not the layout or appearance of the buildings, although the architects were allowed to go all out here: there will be skyscrapers, golf courses, streets with establishments open 24 hours a day, boulevards that reproduce the incomparable atmosphere of Paris, and 6 kilometers of canals reminiscent of Venice.
But the main thing is that the entire city will become a huge computer.
Buildings will be able to communicate with each other, their “control centers” will have a common database.
All operations that require personal identification – paying for utilities, groceries in the store and hairdresser’s bills, voting in local elections, unlocking the doors of their home and even starting the engine of a car – city residents will be able to perform using one smart card.
The project is being implemented by the American company Gale International, one of the largest in the global real estate market, and the South Korean POSCO Engineering & Construction Co.
Microsoft is the strategic partner that will help integrate the Microsoft Digital Literacy course and the Microsoft IT Academy program into the Songdo International School curriculum, and will also provide assistance to the U-Life International Institute of Technology, which plans to provide technical training for specialists in the field of global economics. Investors intend to invest 25 billion dollars in this construction.
This money will return a hundredfold, especially if the owners of the city, declared a free economic zone, manage to lure young and ambitious Asian and transnational companies specializing in high technology, the IT industry, and the like to New Songdo.
In the very center of the city under construction is the multifunctional complex of buildings First World Towers, which is four towers of 50, 55, 60 and 64 floors respectively.
The total living area of the complex is 275 thousand square meters.
This facility uses a conceptually new system of ventilation and air conditioning of residential premises based on water-air heat pumps manufactured by LG Electronics.
Air is prepared in units located in each apartment, and then distributed through air ducts and adjustable air dampers.
Unlike the classic VAV system, which has a unitary refrigeration center and a high-capacity central air conditioner, here there are multiple local sources of heated or cooled air.
Another advantage is the use of low-potential energy sources for heating rooms in the off-season.
We are talking about the condenser circuit of water-to-air heat pumps operating in heating mode and supplying warm air to the serviced work areas.
This ensures much higher energy efficiency of the building's air conditioning system and makes its operation much easier to manage.
New Songdo is designed from the outset as a “digital city,” where electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles will be connected to a single city grid, pneumatic garbage chutes will deliver household garbage directly to a methane plant that produces fuel for engines, and intelligent electronic road signs will automatically change depending on the density of vehicle and passenger traffic.
New Songdo is becoming a center for testing the latest urban planning concepts on an unprecedented scale.
“Our goal is not to build buildings with ready-made wiring.
We want to inspire people to build amazing cities and buildings where technology empowers people to choose their own lifestyle and empowers companies to innovate without limits,” said Stanley Gale, Chairman and Managing Partner of Gale International.
“Want to get information through your computer or display it on your wall instead of a screen?
No problem.
Do you need personal transportation?
You’re welcome – just insert your New Songdo resident card into one of the 10,000 hydrogen-powered electric vehicles dotting the city streets.
At the same time, we want the technology to be unobtrusive, as if dissolving into intuitive services that take into account the natural habits of a person living and working in a modern city.”
“We believe that digital technologies will have the same profound impact on cities as electricity, water, and transportation technologies have dramatically changed the face of cities over the past 150 years,” said Wolfgang Wagener, who is responsible for urban technologies at Cisco’s IBSG and edited the book “Connected Real Estate,” published by Cisco Press in June 2007.
“Cities account for 10 percent of global GDP and employ more than 100 million people, yet they remain largely untouched by digital technologies.”
Meanwhile, according to Mark Golan, vice president and program manager for Connected Real Estate at Cisco IBSG, connectivity is playing a major role in transforming the building industry.
The book «Connected Real Estate» is a collection of articles in which leaders of the global construction, design and architecture industry discuss how new technologies are changing the lives of users, optimizing processes, reducing costs and protecting the environment.
The collection convincingly demonstrates that construction and digital technologies are becoming inseparable.
The following factors contribute to this.
The emergence of the «fourth utility».
Communication infrastructure will be created not after, but during the construction of buildings and will become the “fourth utility”, an integral component of the design and construction of any building, just like water supply, sewerage and electricity.
Moreover, all network systems of the building will be consolidated into a single communication infrastructure operating under the control of the IP protocol.
The evolution of the workplace.
It is estimated that about 60 percent of office space is idle: those who are supposed to use it do not always work at their desks, but go on business trips, meet with clients, attend various events.
This situation will certainly change: companies do not want to put up with such wasteful treatment of expensive assets.
According to Mark Nichols (responsible for workplace optimization at Bank of America), “a half-empty office during working hours is like bundles of dollars flying up the ventilation pipe.”
Transformation of the urban environment.
Digital technologies are not only affecting individual buildings, but are beginning to influence the entire urban environment.
The most striking example of this is New Songdo, but it is not an isolated example.
The Spanish city of Zaragoza is also creating a digital urban environment.
The idea of a digital environment circulates on the market under different names (“ubiquitous cities”, “U-Cities”, etc.), but its meaning comes down to the same: basic information systems and sensors are initially built into all homes, streets, cars, offices and medical facilities, and all these systems are fully integrated with each other.
Different experts estimate the efficiency of office space differently, but, as already mentioned, many experts believe that up to 60 percent of this space is idle.
In the book “Connected Real Estate”, Mark Nichols writes that “sometimes offices are only 14 percent full.
At the same time, in industrial production, the occupancy rate of premises must be at least 70 percent, otherwise capital construction does not pay off.”
Thus, a radical revision of the basic concepts of office construction that have dominated the market for the past 50 years is brewing.
“Why should we adhere to the established rules of using office space: creating individual workstations, conference rooms, rooms for social communication, etc., ignoring the new realities?
“The modern worker is becoming more mobile and spends more time outside the office,” writes another author of the book “Connected Real Estate,” professor of architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Bill Mitchell.
He believes that the ubiquity of network technologies and the spread of portable and mobile devices makes the office space flexible and elastic: “If you have a laptop or a cell phone connected to the network, then any place where you want to stop becomes your office space.
In this case, all work materials and tools are stored in the memory of your device or transmitted over the network. In such circumstances, the cost of changing workplaces is practically nothing.
To move to a new office, you simply take your laptop and move it to the new place.»
Mitchell compares the flexibility of the modern office space to the work of a computer hard drive.
The problem with the modern office environment is that over time this environment changes: people move to new workplaces, conference rooms are converted into offices, etc., etc.
At the same time, the rigid, inflexible structure of the building conflicts with new requirements and is difficult to adapt to them.
A process similar to the fragmentation of a hard drive occurs in the building.
“The original configuration of the office may be ideal, but it also changes over time, so that the original ideas embedded in it lose their former meaning,” notes Bill Mitchell.
– Unfortunately, there is no software in construction to defragment office space.”
In the new construction paradigm, office space is designed in several broad categories and is highly flexible.
Office cells begin to behave like computer memory cells. They are loaded to perform a specific task, then released when the goal is achieved.
As a result, space is used much more efficiently than before.
The cells are not tied to a specific person and do not remain idle when the employee leaves for a meeting. Changing the office configuration becomes a quick, easy and cheap task.
But how does an employee know which cells are currently available and where they are?
Bill Mitchell believes that mobile communications will solve this problem.
It is necessary to develop sensor technology that will track the occupancy of rooms and direct employees to free cells using mobile devices.
As an illustration, Mitchell cites the example of the so-called «Student Street» on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
In the late 1990s, the institute's leaders implemented a multimillion-dollar project that combined innovative architectural solutions with modern technologies.
The result is a long, winding Student Street with many turns and nooks where students can meet informally and retire to their favorite book. The street space is flexible and diverse.
Like all students, MIT students love new technologies.
According to Wolfgang Wagener, a modern work environment should adapt to the needs of young people.
In addition to the word processors and spreadsheets that are familiar to our generation, it should offer instant messaging, social networks, and mobile functions.
“This is understood by the most forward-thinking companies, such as Bank of America, which is building a landmark building in New York with state-of-the-art energy-saving features, sustainable design and flexible office space,” says Wolfgang Wagener. “The bank is taking into account the needs of young people who have grown up in the technological age and is creating a completely new working environment for them.”The new building will dramatically increase the efficiency of expensive office space, as cutting-edge companies pave the way for a new era of architectural design.»
But the architects of the New Songdo project, including John B. Hines, a senior executive at Gale International, know they will have to overcome many challenges.
There are other similar projects, and in Asia alone the foundations have been laid for at least two computer cities — Cyberport in Hong Kong ($2 billion in investment) and Cyberjaya in Malaysia ($17 billion).
New Songdo must have what every city that has gone through the stages of historical development has: character.
That is, style and, above all, life.
New Songdo must become a city born to live.
This is what the managers and experts involved in the project are thinking about.
New Songdo must become a representative of a new wave in urban development megaprojects.
If Cyberport and Cyberjaya are to become the center of the main offices of multinational corporations specializing in high technology, then New Songdo is counting on more.
It will have more space for convention centers, parks, schools, cafes, sports and health centers. There will be an opera house and museums.
New Songdo will also be open in the architectural sense: in addition to the port, an international airport will be built there.
New Songdo is not the only example of high technology penetration into urban development.
The Spanish city of Zaragoza is also creating a digital urban environment, the idea of which is circulating on the market under various names, such as the “ubiquitous city” (Ubiquitous City or U-City), but the meaning comes down to one thing: basic information systems and sensors are initially built into all homes, streets, cars, offices and medical institutions, and all these systems are fully integrated with each other.
The Digital Mile (Milla Digital) is a public high-tech area that is being created today in Zaragoza.
The project designers intend to integrate digital resources into the daily life and work of city residents as much as possible, and also to make the appearance of the ancient city unique. Every large city considers it an honor to be called a «city of knowledge».
The fact is that in the largest cities there are certain economic prerequisites for this: for example, in the USA less than 10% of the urban population is employed in manufacturing, while the need for qualified personnel working in the field of information technology, science, and education is constantly increasing.
Therefore, the task of a modern architect is to create a city project equipped with a technical base and corresponding to the specific working conditions of the population.
The possibility of incorporating such innovative systems into the design of already existing cities is confirmed by examples of similar projects in New York, Cambridge, Helsinki, Seoul and Singapore.
Zaragoza is a relatively small city with a population of about 700,000 and a history of 2,000 years. It has a strong industrial base and a stable socioeconomic status.
However, weak information conditions and a lack of high technology cast doubt on the city's future prosperity.
Therefore, the Digital Mile has not only urban planning but also social significance, since it will give citizens the opportunity to organically acquire the knowledge and skills they need to work in the field of high technology.
Work on the Digital Mile began in late 2006.
The project includes the creation of 4 thousand new apartments, 243 thousand square meters of office and retail space and about 231 thousand square meters allocated for public spaces, several squares and parks on an area of about 1 million square meters.
All elements of the project will be connected by a telecommunications network providing wireless communication capabilities.
Fiber-optic cable will connect all residential properties, which will provide full control over their condition.
The introduction of information technology into everyday life will increase the mobility of workplaces, giving people the opportunity to do business in any of the parks or cafes.
The architects faced a global task of fitting the Digital Mile into the landscape of Zaragoza, while preserving the historical architectural features of the old city.
The designers proposed using traditional elements of the Spanish style to stylistically connect the old and new areas.
Thus, the appearance of the newest district included towers, walls marking the city boundaries, bridges over rivers and canals, which are an integral part of the urban landscape.
As for the digital component of architecture, its use implied solving three problems, the first of which was the widespread introduction of high technologies.
All squares, parks and buildings should be provided with wireless access to the Internet and to all Digital Mile systems.
Local services provide the ability to connect via mobile phone, and consultants help to contact directly, for example, the railway station.
The second task is to create digital systems that are able to monitor the state of the environment, they are located along the entire perimeter of the territory.
Based on the data from this system, sidewalks and buildings are illuminated depending on the time of day and the intensity of natural light.
Street equipment — electronic signs and pointers — contain information about the nearest parking lots or transport schedules.
The third and most interesting task is to create digital landmarks that have practical significance.
For example, the facades of houses will be equipped with special moving shields that provide protection from rain or sun.
In addition, in Zaragoza you can find “magical” things.
One of them will be a fountain – a wall of water controlled by high technologies, which can change the intensity and direction of the water jets depending on a person’s wishes or the vagaries of the weather.
The water has the ability to move in different directions when a child jumps through the fountain, disappear during rain or create certain, programmable plastic images.
The functioning of all Digital Mile systems will be ensured through the campus, which acts as an intermediary between the infrastructure and its users.
The campus consists of two units, one of which includes the Digital Mile Museum, the other is a center for art and technology, which is engaged in research, training and exhibitions in the field of communications.
Each of the two structures is located in a separate building, but is connected by a special communication system. Acting as an institute of governance, the campus is designed to meet the needs of access to existing and new information.
The process of creating a new computer reality is enthusiastically supported by the city authorities, and despite the fact that a colossal amount of work will need to be done before the project starts functioning, the prospect of writing a new page in the history of the ancient city gives optimism to the project participants and residents of Zaragoza.
In Russia, the creation of new digital cities from scratch has not yet been achieved and is limited to a rather modest market of high technologies, united by the concept of «smart home» and used exclusively in the segments of elite housing and the hotel business.
Thus, the new Korston-Kazan complex, recognized as the most technologically advanced hotel in Eastern Europe, opened in Kazan.
The complex includes a four-star hotel with 220 rooms, a congress center, shopping and business centers, a chain of restaurants and bars, a casino, and a movie theater with five auditoriums.
For its project, the Korston group of companies, specializing in the hotel and entertainment business and the rental of office and retail space, chose a technological solution that combines integrated information systems.
The advantage of the integrated solution is a single information space, which, together with advanced functionality, provides management of management and service tools.
Each hotel room in the complex is equipped with an IP telephone with a color touch screen, which displays reference information in 15 languages (interactive city map, flight schedule, exchange rates, advertising of goods and services, taxi ordering, hotel directory, etc.).
Integration with the IP television system allows you to display all this information on the plasma panel screen, order movies via the Video-on-Demand system, food to the room and any other services both from the IP phone screen and from the TV screen using a wireless keyboard or remote control.
In the restaurants and bars of the complex, waiters take orders using a pocket PC, and the wireless network transmits data to the Food & Beverage system, which significantly saves time for the client and staff.
The future plans of the Korston company include opening a network of similar complexes throughout the Russian Federation.
Allowing the possibility that similar centers may have an expanded set of functions, in addition to permanent or temporary housing for wealthy people, it can be assumed that they could become the city-forming enterprises of the new digital era.
If earlier, in the era of industrialization, cities were formed on the basis of large-scale industrial production, now, given the general trend of moving production capacities outside the city limits, other needs are becoming relevant.
Nowadays, a large shopping center with leisure and food service establishments located on its territory is more likely to be a city-forming unit.
It is shopping centers that accumulate a significant amount of human resources in the form of workers and visitors.
By providing such complexes with a conceptual “digital” component and increasing the range of services offered, it is possible to obtain a kind of center of consumer and cultural activity, a kind of city within a city, which could become an experimental platform for adapting high technologies to the mass needs of city dwellers.
Thus, through satisfying consumer characteristics, the urban utopia – the “digital city” can become a reality in which we will have to live in the near future.
According to review and analytical materials from Cisco Systems, Inc. and LG Electronics and materials from the magazine «Construction and Transport».