reSITE 2019 REGENERATE

For a decade, “smart cities” have been an article of faith in urban regeneration. Build a new district, just add sensors and cameras, and profit from the data collected from residents. But resistance to this model is building. In Toronto, Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs has met stiff opposition to its plans to build a private city-within-the-city. Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, the Brainport Smart District is pursuing a different approach in which residents own and control their data. And the company more governments turn to than any architecture or technology firm to design their smart cities is the consultancy McKinsey. Are “smart cities” really about building better cities, or different aims completely?

In contrast to cities, natural ecosystems are perceived as self-regulating and self-healing, able to regenerate themselves after disasters. What can the urban world learn from nature — to which it is typically seen as being opposed — and how can we “rewild” our cities? From renewable energy to biomimicry to new types of infrastructure designed to co-exist (rather than resist) nature, how will we regenerate our cities in the Anthropocene Era?

Dýchá, šumí, hučí, zvoní, rozpíná se, kope a nikdy nespí. Naše planeta potřebuje hodně energie, ale v posledních letech ji nekrmíme zrovna zdravými věcmi – spálené uhlí, plastová voda a dezerty z odpadků. Jak dostat Zemi do rovnováhy, aby to s námi dlouho vydržela? Pojďme společně s architekty, inovátory a energetiky hledat tu nejlepší dietu pro naši planetu. Málo karbonu a hodně zelených voltů. Jste kreativní a baví vás urbanismus, ale o energetice nic nevíte? Tak to jste tu správně. Přidejte se k našemu workshopu a společně vymyslíme, jak zužitkovat, vyrábět, sdílet a obnovovat elektřinu ve městě jako je Praha. Připravíme recepty, které můžete zkusit hned zítra.

Urban mega-redevelopment projects are typically fraught, all-too-often producing sterile, cookie-cutter districts or stalling during economic downturns. What have we learned about the near-impossible — and absolutely necessary — art of building new pieces of cities from scratch? How do we make a place urban long before the foundations are dug? And what stories do they tell about the cities they belong to?

Co-hosted by Central Group

How could this method better solve and coordinate the urban challenges faced by Prague. Open discussion on the topic of digitization in the urban setting. Digital twinning: What is it? How can it be used to design the best urban environment fostering quality of life? How can it be used to model and optimize desired features of the cities? We will look into the example of Singapore, who is using digital twinning and reflect how could this method help solve the infrastructure and urban challenges faced by Prague.