Carmel and Kiechel consider what experimental cities such as Neom can teach established cities about sustainable urban development, arguing that the most useful innovations are those that can be adapted to the complex communities where most people already live.
Key Takeaways:
- Purpose-built cities can serve as laboratories for new approaches to sustainability, technology and urban design, but their innovations have limited value if they cannot be replicated or scaled in existing cities.
- Neom illustrates the tradeoffs that can accompany ambitious urban experiments: despite goals around walkability and lower operational emissions, the authors point to significant social, environmental and feasibility concerns.
- Carmel and Kiechel argue that existing cities are ultimately the future of urban life, pointing to successful innovations in places such as Curitiba and Medellín as examples of solutions grounded in local needs that can influence other cities.
“Existing cities are the future.” — Future Cities and the Future of Cities, by Victoria Kiechel and Erran Carmel.
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