Circular Economy and Co-Design Summer School hosted at Aalto University | Helsinki, Finland
It was a two-week program in Helsinki with students, professors, and experts from seven universities worldwide. Together, we learned about and imagined sustainable development and how change can be achieved through cross-disciplinary collaboration. I had the pleasure of working with Songzhilin Shi and Frida Tørring on a speculative urban design proposal that led to long discussions and reflections about urban metabolism, industrial symbiosis, and post-Anthropocene design.
https://www.aalto.fi/en/news/summer-school-created-sustainable-concepts-for-the-future-through-co-design
https://www.aalto.fi/en/news/summer-school-created-sustainable-concepts-for-the-future-through-co-design
THE in(FINITE) CITY
We would like to begin by acknowledging the land politically designated as New York City to be the homeland of the Lenape (Lenapehoking) who were violently displaced as a result of European settler colonialism over the course of 400 years.
In 2035, New York City (NYC) metamorphosed into a circular city. NYC has removed itself from the global economic system—all material inflows and outflows will have a local source within the geographical boundaries of the city.
To achieve circularity, NYC has…
- Densified its urban areas, moving all residential and commercial areas to Manhattan.
- Restored the natural ecosystems in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island.
- Created symbiotic industrial “hubs,” where food production, industrial production, and waste management takes place.
- Decentralized NYC’s urban energy, food, water, and waste systems, transforming every city block into an agent that can share inflows and outflows with adjacent city blocks.
The Circular Urban Citizen… carefully monitors their material inflows and outflows. They receive a monthly report that highlights how their consumption patterns compare to the city goal and the average urban citizen and provides tips on how to improve their individual circularity.
The Units of the Urban Fabric… respond to the ‘needs’ of adjacent city blocks and can share material stocks (food, rainwater, food waste, energy, etc.) The decentralized system alleviates strain on inflows coming from industrial hubs and also allows city blocks to contribute to the production of material stocks for the city.
Urban Symbiosis… is achieved by the accountability and interactions of circular urban citizens, the units of the urban fabric, symbiotic industrial “hubs.
Symbiotic Urban System Example: ENERGY
How might we reduce energy impacts without compromising energy reliability or accessibility?
Objectives:
Reduce Energy Impacts
Energy Reliability
Equitable Accessibility
This solution…
Eliminates the use of toxic batteries
Eliminates use of non-renewable energy sources
Eliminates private, centralized utility companies
Reduces the need of extensive cable systems
Symbiotic Industrial Hubs
Each Symbiotic Industrial Hub has a mix of energy production, manufacturing, agriculture, food production, waste management, and water systems. Each industry interacts with the others, sharing material inputs and trading outputs in order for the industrial production of the city to be circular. Symbiotic Industrial Hubs receive outflows from the urban area and will use and reuse materials in their processes. Symbiotic Industrial Hubs then provide material inflows needed to urban citizens.
Symbiotic Industrial Energy System (CENTRALIZED)
Symbiotic industrial hubs will primarily be powered by two sources – wind energy from off-shore wind farms, and bio-mass from consumer and industrial waste that can not be reused, reprocessed, or upcycled. Excess energy produced within the urban fabric by consumers can also sell their energy units to the industrial sector.
Symbiotic Urban Energy System (DECENTRALIZED)
Each city block will have a solar-powered hydro-battery. The solar panels on each building will power the building during sun hours and will pump recaptured rainwater from a lower tank to a higher tank, storing solar energy as potential energy. During dark hours, when solar power is not being generated, the battery operates as a hydroelectric generator.
This solution restructures the utility system and decentralizes energy sources. It also isolates residential and commercial energy use from industrial energy systems. It is built on the idea of the Prosumer, community accountability, sharing material stock, and equitable distribution. This solution also relies heavily on social and behavioral changes: having a raw diet or communal cooking, applying architectural changes to buildings so that there are passive heating and cooling systems as well as natural lighting and ventilation, applying energy caps on usage, and providing incentives to the consumer to save and produce energy.
