NEXTOKYO-abstract

“ We are the first generation to be able to end poverty and the last generation that can take steps to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Future generations will judge us harshly if we fail to uphold our moral and historical responsibilities ” Ban Ki-moon

Our planet is our home, and we have been abusing it for years until it became unable to cope with our behaviors and constant greed; extracting resources, producing harmful emissions to the environment by burning fossil fuels, high consumption of energy, throwing trash in the sea, cutting down forests, developing land for farms, cities and roads. Ironically, now we are fighting to save the planet because we want to survive. Unfortunately, every action has a reaction and now we are paying for our inconsiderate and unethical behaviors.

In this context, we are aware that climate change consequences are inevitable and in order for us to come up with a solution we need to understand the complex urban systems and be able to provide sustainable solutions for resiliency. “NEXTOKYO” project seeks to understand consequences of climate change in specific sea level rise and rapid urbanization in coastal regions. Hence, hundred of low-lying cities such as Tokyo are likely to exposed to frequent or permanent flooding in the near future; leading to land scarcity, housing shortage, drinking water availability and other survival necessities. Currently, the strategies for coastal protection and methods to defend sea level rise are limited and therefore reveal vulnerability to collapse and failure. Moreover, sea level rise will provoke other issues dealing with more complex measures.
“NEXTOKYO” is a comprehensive urban multi-scalar strategy that deals with sea level rise caused by global climate change in the next 150 years. The project does not accept traditional measures of hard infrastructure defense methods as a solution. However, it comes up with an alternative approach for urban redevelopment strategy. Within Edogawa, In Tokyo-Japan; the region is susceptible to both flash flood and storm surge. A comprehensive approach should acknowledge the high density and complexity of issue which defends the city, its citizens, and assets. The resilient strategy plans ahead in time using sea level rise data and other related data to avoid post flooding scenarios. The objectives of the manifold are many and start with recycling exposed housing to find an alternative housing that survives floods and earthquakes as well. All the low-lying parts of a city that will be covered with water are likely to become a semi-floating habitat that is able to sustain itself in terms of using renewable energy, food production, wastewater management. The project proposes a prefabricated compact housing that is designed to float in man-made lagoons created on the site. These elements can be transported to site and flexibly be installed to create new urban clusters. These units are designed to provide an alternative housing for all the population exposed in that region and provide them with a resilient housing that is adaptable to floods and even earthquakes. NEXTOKYO does not only address an alternative housing but provides solutions such as managing urban water system to mitigate floods, re-naturalization of the urban fabric and using an alternative clean source of energy.

NEXTOKYO does not serve as an autonomous new artificial island in the open seas like all the recent futuristic approaches. This does not necessarily mean that floating cities are unfavorable or stand as a Utopian approach. However, the author tries to come up with a solution that considers surviving in land and respects human attachment to its neighboring environment. The development of man-made lagoons in cities such as Tokyo could enhance the living quality of future civilizations by adapting to the environmental changes yet not completely deviate from our norm.

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