As people continue moving into densely populated urban areas, a new vision is emerging for the layout of our cities and neighbourhoods.
The cities of the future will be more compact, connected, sustainable and pedestrian-friendly, with residents able to access most amenities within a short 20-minute walk or commute from home, according to Andy Cohen, co-CEO of the international architecture and design firm Gensler.
He believes this “20-minute city” model will become the norm as communities look to reduce their environmental impact through more localised development that encourages walking, biking and public transit over long car commutes.
“Cities today are antiquated because they’re all based on the car and the city of the future won’t be based on the car, it will be based on the people,” Cohen said in an interview with Arabian Business on the sidelines of the COP28 climate conference in Dubai.
Gensler’s philosophy of the ’20-minute city’
The 20-minute city model would see cities built at a more human scale with wider sidewalks and dedicated bike lanes to encourage walking and cycling over private vehicle use.
“During COVID, we learned that everyone who was living in cities only wanted to walk for about 20 minutes to everything they needed, whether that’s residential, dining, stores, healthcare or education, it’s all within a 20 minute district,” he said.
“Whether it’s a small neighbourhood or a little district, every city is made up of multiple 20-minute cities. That’s what makes it so exciting; we think that this is what the future of the world is all about.”
After surveying 50 cities around the world, Gensler’s City Pulse Survey found that people want three main attributes in cities: safety with great architecture and resilience, employment, and transportation.
Design has an enormous role to play in shaping our world today and what it will look like tomorrow. We invite you to immerse yourself in #DesignForecast2024 where we break down how design can make a profound impact in the way we work, live, and play. https://t.co/1AZVUZkD9P pic.twitter.com/08ypjGcTVr
— Gensler (@gensler_design) December 7, 2023
“Autonomous vehicles are going to change the face of cities that we design,” he said.
“We have been working heavily on the transportation side – both on mass and multi-modal transportation. Within the next five to 10 years, autonomous vehicles are going to be here for every city. We’re going to be able to take our city streets back for people and not for cars.”
Autonomous public transport in these mini-cities could resemble a point-to-point service, like Uber, where people can get in the car to go to another location, but there won’t be parking. “Here in Dubai, all the parking stalls you see will not longer be used for parking. [Instead] it’ll be used for amenities, restaurants or green spaces,” he said.
And with there being millions of gas stations around the world currently, cities of the future, as Cohen sees it, will be based on autonomous vehicles and more pedestrian areas, hence diminishing the need for them and instead, creating opportunities for more sustainable developments.
“For architects and designers, it will change the way we design cities so that they are walkable, pedestrian, 24/7, they live work play, and they’re high density but not governed or necessitated by cars.”
Gensler is already worked on numerous projects across GCC cities, he said, hinting that the 20-minute city concept might come to the region soon.
“All [our projects in the Gulf] are based on that philosophy of mixed-use, the philosophy of the 20-minute city, and thinking of sustainability holistically for the city, not just for one building. That is what it’s all about how — how does the city function as a whole and creates behaviours in people that they really want to be sustainable.”
It’s a vision Cohen says can radically transform urban living. The firm has developed its own sustainable standards for buildings. “As the largest architect firm in the world, we think it is our responsibility.”
COP28 in GCC sends an important message to the world
In Cohen’s view, COP28 has been very successful. “It’s bringing Governments, NGOs, and private sector together, to really brainstorm the future of how we can really take action, actionable things we can do to make climate change and take on climate action.”
“I think that’s what’s been great about this one compared to other ones, is that it’s been very successful to meet with both government agencies and NGOs and private sector where we’re really coalescing and coming together to make positive change happen and the timing is now, we can’t wait anymore.”
Cohen emphasised that hosting the UN climate talks in Dubai underscored the urgency of climate action for the Gulf region as it highlight’s their commitment to addressing climate challenges and “sends a message to the world that sustainability and climate change matter. Now is the time to take action.”
“COVID was local, but it was also a global problem. That’s similar to what’s happening now with climate change. It can’t just be solved locally, it has to be solved globally and that’s what is so great about this conference, because we’re bringing together global leaders to talk about global solutions that we can implement locally,” said Cohen.
As negotiations enter the decisive final phase at #COP28 in Dubai, re-watch the highlights from the past two weeks: pic.twitter.com/YNAvwIfzVq
— UN Climate Change (@UNFCCC) December 12, 2023
Follow us on
