A strategy for bottom-up urban development
2004 – Ongoing

Can city and nature develop in correlation rather then in competition? Can they truly integrate, creating a high-density urban environment in which the public domain is green and car-free?

How can we create infrastructures that support spontaneous bottom-up development? What regulations will enable maximal freedom for the individual while protecting the collective interest?

Can urban environments develop in response to the needs of the pedestrian rather then to those of the motorist?

Our strategy takes on these challenges. It can be implemented universally – in each site using unique infrastructure and regulations. The following video simulates implementation at a specific site:

Environmental, social and economic advantages

The strategy generates environments in which city and nature develop in correlation rather then in competition. When the built area expands it does not bite into nature, but rather makes nature expand as well. Our simulations show that a population density three times higher than that of Mumbai can be reached, while maintaining at least 70% green public domain.

The compact mixed-use environment, rich in trees and car-free, is ideal for walking. It promotes public health by helping reduce obesity, stress levels, air pollution and car accidents. The area provides a ‘green lung’ for the wider environment, and also acts as a ‘filter’ transforming movement by car into movement by train. 

The lively, green and pedestrian-oriented qualities of the public domain encourage human interactions. Such atmosphere, combined with the diversity of the human landscape typical to an area of transit, encourages pluralism and acceptance of the other. This is highlighted by the facts that all users contribute to the emergence of the environment on an equal basis, and that all dwellers share the same large and high-quality public area regardless of different income-levels.

The combination of relatively cheap land (found near interchanges), high population density and the infrastructure’s modularity, results in a low infrastructure per person cost. This makes the area attractive for developers, thus turning free-market forces into an agent of collective interest.

The strategy enables growth that is generated by the needs of the users as and when these needs arise. Rather then pre-planning the settlement as a collection of objects, it allows unexpected future parameters to influence the process of development. This adds life to the system, making it more flexible, capable of adjusting itself to the challenges of the moment. A system which lives the moment is best suited for the unknown future.