In a rare in-person episode, Tim and Joe speculate about how technological trends will shape the future of cities.

Use hashtag #ana016 to reference this episode in a tweet, post, or comment

View full show notes at anarchitecturepodcast.com/ana016.

Intro

FINALLY WE CAN TALK SERIOUSLY ABOUT FLYING CARS

Discussion

Joe’s report from the future: Living in Australia is like living 15 years ago in the US Actually, Amazon Australia Launched 3 weeks after we recorded this episode. WE MAKE THE FUTURE HAPPEN Australia’s NBN: National Boondoggle Network By the time it’s installed, it’s obsolete Crowding out private investment A perfect example of why governments shouldn’t build infrastructure Status quo thinking Grandiose infrastructure projects vs. necessary maintenance The Strong Towns approach

Smart Cities Sensors and centralized management Algorithms and AI Informing future development Roads and complexity – Can AI optimize traffic? Smart grids – balancing demand Hayekian knowledge problem How useful is all of this information? What’s the real benefit? Incremental development vs. political grandstanding Joe’s market solution for traffic light priority To optimize road systems, privatize them

Automated Vehicles A giant leap, or incremental adoption? Communication, reaction time, and automatic re-routing Vast improvements in vehicle safety Induced demand Expanding the suburban catchment area: an exponential relationship

Urbanization, Suburbanization and Exurbanization Telecommuting Robots building robots to build other things Benefits of face to face meetings Milton Keynes – No relation to defunct economists Patrik Schumacher’s EXTREME view: a 15 minute commute is too far Economies of agglomeration “Cities are the brains that direct the rural muscle” Ed Glaeser – Triumph of the City Skyscrapers and Universities “We could be the new Pittsburgh!” Another Adelaide boondoggle – the new medical precinct Adelaide’s coming rental market crash Foreign buyers will lose their shirts A paucity of safe investment opportunities – because CENTRAL BANKS Job opportunities draw people to cities Slums and favelas – a symptom of opportunity Resourcefulness of slum dwellers to compensate for lack of capital Property rights for slums The Long Now Foundation Demographics – Human population as an “S” curve

Feeding the Cities Vertical Farms – might make sense if they’re horizontal A long way from crowding out the land Permaculture – pigs are high tech Monoculture – the result of subsidies

Logistics Automated Delivery Online grocery shopping – more energy efficient Night time deliveries Fedex’s parking ticket manager

Automated Vehicles, Congestion, and Parking Drop you off, go park itself Changing multimodal transit Dynamic routes – adapting to needs in real time Doubling peak hour congestion? Eliminating on street parking? Induced demand strikes again

FLYING CARS – THE REAL SOLUTION Peter Thiel – “We wanted flying cars, and we got 140 characters” Jetsons? Rin tin tin? Flubber? Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! Automated vehicles are a necessary prerequisite to flying cars Flipping the city upside down Streets become streets again – more public spaces Don’t park – Hover! Helicopter taxis in Sao Paulo Energy density is essential Micro nukes flying around the city driven by self-aware AI’s – what could possibly go wrong?

Other Advances in Energy Thorium reactors Virtual power plants – aggregating decentralized power sources “Behind the meter” schemes Solar farm shares rather than roof-mounted Photovoltaic roof shingles Solar roads – a non-starter Batteries Your car can power your house Quick charging stations WE NEED THE ENERGON

Construction Industry Technology Modular construction Bricklaying robots Tim loves watching masons work 3D printed buildings Drone cranes – what could possibly go wrong? Japanese demolition – No more working at heights VR Drone site visits Holographic design Augmented Reality

Virtual Reality Will we still build real places? Authenticity matters Cities provide authentic experiences VR allows people to live where they want Virtual 20th High School Reunion is better than the real thing Are haptic hugs creepy?

The Future of Politics A path to privatization? The trend towards decentralization favors free markets and deregulation Technology – tool for liberation or control? Liberty Minecraft – The Virtual Built Environment of a Stateless Society Two trends: individualization and voluntary socialization Two more trends: Technology disrupting jobs and technology creating ultra-abundance Low skilled workers becoming more entrepreneurial Passive income opportunities Reason to be optimistic



Links/Resources

Support Anarchitecture Podcast on Patreon!

Related

Contact:

Follow:

Subscribe:

Support:

Email us: info@anarchitecturepodcast.com Tweet us: @anarchitecturep Website: https://www.anarchitecturepodcast.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anarchitecturepodcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anarchitecturep/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/anarchitecturep/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/AnarchitecturePodcst Minds: https://www.minds.com/AnarchitecturePodcast iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/anarchitecture/id1091252412 YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWELM_zTl7tXLgT-rDKpSvg Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5pepyQfA25PBz6bzKzlynf?si=4UiD6cLkR6Wd26wJC4S4YQ Podbean: https://anarchitecture.podbean.com/ Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=85082&refid=stpr Bitchute: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/MIq2dOnSaTOP/ RSS (all posts): https://www.anarchitecturepodcast.com/feed/ RSS (Podcasts only): https://www.anarchitecturepodcast.com/feed/podcast/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anarchitecturepodcast Bitbacker.io: https://bitbacker.io/user/anarchitecture/ Steemit: https://steemit.com/@anarchitecture Donate Bitcoin (BTC): 32cPbM7j5rxRu1KUaXGtoxsqFQNWD696p7