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Welcome to ExplainingTheFuture.com
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This time, I'm going to talk about future cities.
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A modern city can be thought of as gigantic creature
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that depends on resources fed to it from around the planet.
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However, in the future,
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such global supplies cannot be guaranteed.
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Cities have evolved into sophisticated cybernetic machines
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for keeping civilization alive.
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In some aspects, cities are therefore humanity's greatest achievement.
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Nevertheless, most cities would decend into anarchy
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in only 48 hours without a constant supply
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or food, energy and clean water.
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The Industrial Revolution saw a mass migration
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of people from the country side.
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Those who remained on the land
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then had to develop increasingly intensive farming methods
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to meet the food requirements of urban dwellers
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who could not feed themselves.
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Canals, railways and roads allowed the first industrial cities
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to be supplied with their daily nutrition.
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However, this resulted in a food chain
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dependant not just on the complex transport infrastruture,
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but also fuel and modern fertilizers.
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As a consequence, today, every calorie we eat
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also requires the consumption of 10 calories of oil.
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And within a few decades at best,
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this addiction of the modern city to petroleum
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will no longer be sustainable.
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There are, however, possibilities that the farm
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may migrate from the countryside.
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So called 'vertical farming' could involve multi-tiered city farms
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in future glass skyscrapers or pyramids.
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Such stacks of artificial fields would allow city dwellers
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to harvest crops all year round in areas without available land.
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They would also significantly reduce
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the energy required for food transportation,
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would lower crop loss associated with shipping and storage,
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could recycle their own water,
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and, within their sealed environments,
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may even use fewer pesticides.
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One vertical farm could potentially feed 50,000 people.
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However, even before the construction of such massive projects,
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laws could be passed requiring all new buildings in large cities
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to have at least some space dedicated to food production.
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For example, new apartment blocks could be required to include
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hydroponical lodgements on the roof.
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In addition to food, all cities currenly require significant natural resources
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to meet their raw energy needs.
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However, alternative technologies,
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including solar cells, rooftop wind turbines,
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ground source heat pumps,
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and methane power plants fuelled from domestic rubbish
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could see future cities becoming at least partly energy sufficient.
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Micro power generation may even extend to piezo-electric paving slabs
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to generate electricity from our footsteps,
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as well as hydraulic plates in road surfaces
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that would generate power as vehicles drive over them.
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In addition to producing at least some of their own food and power,
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future cities will also have to use fresh water far more efficiently.
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In part this is because treating and transporting fresh water is energy intensive.
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However, half of the world's population now live in countries
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where the water table is falling.
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Future cities will therefore need to capture
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and recycle water whenever this is possible.
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Future food, energy and water supplies are at best uncertain.
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The global population of city dwellers also continues to increase.
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Future cities will there have to become leaner and more self-sufficient.
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For more information, please see ExplainingTheFuture.com.
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But now that's it for another video.
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And remember, the future is in your hands.