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How working from home is changing the future of cities

  • min read
    • The switch to working from home that accompanied the pandemic is accelerating underlying trends in urban living and improving quality of life in cities. The pandemic isn't over, and no one knows what's next, but trend-spotters in marketing, research and other disciplines are noting change in how we live. I agree with them: Our environment is changing thanks to the influence of remote work, new technology and interacting physical and virtual worlds. Here are some of the big shifts to watch out for. How homes will change Never before have people around the world found themselves living in such similar ways at the same time. For the second year running, we're seeing remote working en masse. The change has boosted some sectors. E-commerce has thrived as visiting bricks-and-mortar stores became more complicated. We've seen higher shipping parcel volumes and evidence of expansion in delivery services. People are getting used to spending more time at home, so in commerce 'dark stores' (local stores being converted into fulfilment houses for online orders,) food delivery and digitalization will keep growing. Contactless payments will be the norm. COVID-19 has accelerated intelligent buildings and smart home technologies already being implemented. Keyless entry, voice-activated elevators and digital room service have become more valuable as consumers embrace hands-off technology at home. For smart homes, essential security includes correctly configuring Wi-Fi networks and protecting devices and control panels with strong, unique passwords. But consumers have a way to come to adopt good security practices widely. Kaspersky's recent research found only 48 percent protect their Wi-Fi network with a password, and just 58 percent use security software beyond what their devices have as standard with their operating system. There's encouraging news in emerging 'cyber immune' technologies bringing greater security by design to the new fusion of digital and physical worlds. How the office will change Millions of employees working from home have felt the need for a virtual office. The hybrid work model is coming to the fore for many businesses, which means heading to the office just two or three days a week. This 'pop-up' workspace paradigm means virtual work will become more widely available. The need to organize IT support adds a burden for employees. Simple advice: Always use a virtual private network (VPN) at home or on public Wi-Fi – it will protect your data, hide your IP address and ensure no one intercepts your online communications. How urban living will change Demographers and sociologists have trotted out the 'death of the suburbs' narrative many times over the years. COVID-19 caused a return to suburban and country life: Millions changed out downtown apartments for green places with less human contact. "First there were boom towns. Now there are Zoom towns," said Lilly Smith in Fast Company, describing vacation destinations turning into real estate hot spots. My study of economic sociology tells me people will find a middle ground between Zoom towns and big cities. The pandemic has blurred the boundaries between suburban living and metropolitan life. Improved rural infrastructure means country living is an option for people who have never considered it before. More than ever, people can choose their lifestyle, mixing and matching living arrangements according to family and seasons. I think Zoom towns are here to stay, but the way people use them will evolve. But another thing the pandemic has taught us is, we want to meet face to face. It's human nature to communicate and live together. People want to go to bars and restaurants, and they need eye contact in meetings and to feel connected to teammates to be productive. All this is why we'll always want to live in cities. Urban trends triggered in 2020 include 15-minute cities, where citizens can get daily needs within a short walk or fresh air while teleworking. Malls have made way for local grocery stores, and we're favoring getting around on bicycles rather than driving or by public transport. In Fast Forward audio series episode Cities of the Future, filmmaker and vice-chair of Women in Architecture Sarah Akigbogun predicts the flight from downtown to suburbia may be good for tackling inequality. It might empower talented people in marginalized communities recently shut out by inner-city gentrification. These may be long-lasting urban tendencies. Post-pandemic habits will shape the look of future neighborhoods, providing a more family-friendly environment for those who enjoy city living. When planning a living environment, developers must create opportunities for communication and leisure, enhance sense of community and prioritize health. Technologies that sanitize public spaces, allow contactless entry or enable stay-at-home virtual and augmented reality tourism will bring us closer to a future of smart and secure homes and cities. In the past, cities grew through planning decisions and municipal visions of the future, but we're entering a time when technology is giving many the flexibility to choose where and how they live and work. As global challenges like pandemics and climate change demand fast, decisive change, this growing flexibility in our lives could be a valuable asset.

How a digital copy of itself is helping Singapore find climate solutions

  • min read
    • Singapore's light-up trees, sparkling skyscrapers and robot delivery companies make the 21st-century Southeast Asian metropolis look like it's already in the next century. But the financial hub city-state is now making leaps in the fight for the environmental future every global city faces, thanks to a copy of itself. Digital Climate Urban Twin (DUCT) is a digital city using 3D semantic modeling designed to help Singapore plan its future. It can display buildings, streets and different modes of transport and plug-in other real-time information like climate, traffic flow and energy use. Singapore's environmental challenges It's worse than a natural disaster: The US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention says extreme heat poses more human health risk than tornados, hurricanes and floods. It's happening because Singapore is subject to the Urban Heat Island effect. Heat gets stored through the day in artificial materials like asphalt and concrete, then released at night. Dr. Winston Chow, Associate Professor of Science and Technology at Singapore Management University, says city living compounds the heat island effect: "Urban elements like vehicles and air-conditioning units emit a lot of waste heat." How the digital twin helps urban design The Digital Urban Climate Twin (DUCT) was created by a Singapore-​ETH Centre, a Swiss and Singaporean research partnership. It receives real-time information on things like climate, traffic and building energy expenditure so urban planners, engineers and architects can see how these forces could affect a proposed building. It lets try 'what if?' scenarios and examine proposed solutions to environmental issues. Professor Gerhard Schmitt of the Singapore-ETH Centre says, "Many cities use simple digital twins to look at energy or transport concerns, but DUCT does more in terms of temperature and outdoor thermal comfort for people." Green architecture expert Chiara Calufetti-Lim says in times past, they would manually collect the information DUCT provides. Teams would count cars and buses driving along a thoroughfare or take a 3D model of a proposed building to a wind tunnel to see how it affected airflow. And Calufetti-Lim says the information they've traditionally worked with is about the building, not its surroundings. "With this extra information, you can consider nearby structures," says Calufetti-Lim. "If there is a building next door with a reflective glass façade, we can use this tool to anticipate its impact." Calufetti-Lim's colleague, master planner and urban designer Chris Panfil, says DUCT's extra information for architects and planners could be good and bad. "Too many options can confuse the client. It's exciting but adds another level of editing for the designer or architect." Applying the digital twin to urban challenges The success of DUCT, says Singapore-ETH Centre's Schmitt, relies on using and maintaining it. "It needs to be supported and shared by all involved in managing, planning and running a city," he says. Town planners in Singapore's Yuhua district have already used the digital twin to plan how to integrate a pedestrian bridge over one of its highways with local parks. Another Yuhua program is also using the twin to look at how to enhance pedestrian networks with more environmentally friendly solar panels and sensor-controlled LED lighting. While DUCT is new, Singapore has long been fighting to reduce temperatures with architecture and nature. In 2006, it opened the world's largest underground district cooling system. By 2023, it will open Singapore's first smart, sustainable town: Tengah. The nature-centered neighborhoods will have a car-free town center. Singapore has also turned to natural solutions to cut air pollution and increase shade. It plans to plant one million trees over the next 10 years, creating tree-filled Nature Ways along highways to make streets cooler and more pleasant and for all households to be no more than a 10-minute walk from a park by 2030. Professor Gerhard Schmitt says planting can help curb the Urban Heat Island effect, but cities must realize it can hinder more than help if done incorrectly. "In parts of Europe or Australia with dry air, trees provide cooling by evaporation and shade, but in the Tropics with its high humidity, the evaporation is lower," says Schmitt. "If you plant trees too close to a building that gets sun during the day, they might trap heat and stop the area cooling at night." Schmitt adds that air won't pass through tightly planted trees. "You must plant trees at the right distances, or it can be counterproductive," says Schmitt. "DUCT also deals with this." Game-changing solution for cities DUCT can be rolled out for any city. Dmytriy Pereklita, President of DK Studio Architects, which has offices in North America and Asia, says DUCT is "a game-changer in analyzing existing cities but also in planning new cities and communities." Pereklita thinks the construction industry needs innovation. "Building is generally slow, and feedback takes years. Constant data and almost immediate feedback mean a chance for faster turnaround and improvement." Professor Schmitt says DUCT wants to stop environmental issues compounding. Schmitt says DUCT should be seen as a long-term solution. "A city takes a long time to be built and rebuilt. A typical city in Europe renews itself at most, one to two percent a year. But if you have DUCT, you can plan long-term and adjust." He believes DUCT can help create more livable cities across the globe. "The temperature of cities and pollution and noise levels will go down, and people's health will benefit," adds Schmitt.
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