After having reported on American cities which could be lost or become wastelands in the future, we found a list of 20 cities that are already lost. The WebUrbanist blog, a blog on urban design, travel, architecture and alternative art, has composed a list of 20 abandoned cities from around the world.
There are many reasons why cities get lost; some, like the ghost towns of the American West, have become tourist destinations while others have been condemned or simply forgotten. A list of 20 abandoned cities of the world share an eerie, haunted quality that is part of what makes them so fascinating. When you are interested in more amazing abandoned places by region, visit the WebUrbanist abandonments archive.
These are the 20 lost cities:
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It has pretty much become universally accepted that global warming is having an effect on global ocean levels. With sea levels rapidly rising, millions of coastal and island inhabitants are threatened to loose their homes. Major cities including London, New York and Tokyo are seen as being at huge risk from oceans which could rise by as much as 3ft by the end of this century. To be prepared for this, new solutions must be found.
The ultimate solution to rapidly rising sea levels are so called “Lilypad Islands” by the award-winning Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut. Based on the design of a lilypad, they could be used as a permanent refuge and a new place to live for those whose homes have been covered in water.
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General @ 31 Jul 2008 07:20 am by Robert Schmidl
Urban civilizations continue to evolve and history is testimony that great civilizations have crumbled either due to the onslaught of natural disasters or gradual shift in economic trends. Environmental Graffiti, a blog with an eclectic mix of the most bizarre, funny and interesting environmental news on the planet, takes a look at such cities in the United States that may be endangered. News editor Ben Ray explores cities, which in the distant future could be reclaimed by nature. Like before, climate change and changing economies continue to influence the state of our cities.
In the latest article on Lost Cities of the Future, five American cities were listed. According to Ben Ray, these cities are:
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One factor of the current poll is “Gardening and landscaping”, which is defined as maintenance of public green areas. It also means creating and building new public green areas and there is an interesting project to find in New York City: A defunct stretch of railroad on the Far West Side of Manhattan is destined to become a park in the sky.
The High Line is an abandoned 2.33 km (1.45 mile) section of the former elevated freight railroad of the West Side Line, along the lower west side of New York City borough of Manhattan between located in the West Village. The High Line was built in the early 1930s by the New York Central and has been unused by freight service since 1980. It is in a state of disrepair, although the elevated structure is basically sound. Wild grass and plants grow along most of the route.
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General @ 23 Jun 2008 09:51 am by Robert Schmidl
According to the MasterCard Worldwide Centers of Commerce Index™, an annual research initiative designed to evaluate and rank how major cities compare in performing critical functions that connect markets and commerce around the world, London remains the global economy’s most influential city. The future, however, appears to belong to Asia and Eastern Europe, whose cities represent the fastest rising regions within the Index.
In overall rank, Shanghai had the largest jump – moving eight spots from 2007 to 2008 - bringing it into the top 25 of this year’s Index and demonstrating the growing importance of Asian cities to a progressively urbanized global economy. Moscow, a gateway for the fast-growing Eastern European region, showed the greatest improvement in actual Index score and had the most significant gain on London year-over-year. Further confirming the importance of Asia and Europe in the global economy, this year’s study also marks the displacement of Los Angeles from the top 10, making New York and Chicago the sole North American cities in the top grouping. The decline of Los Angeles in rank is due, in part, to factors around its role in the global financial services network, as well as the rise of European cities in the area of knowledge creation.
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One of our blog roll partner has an interesting contest. The World Mayor project, organised by City Mayors, seeks out mayors who have the vision, passion and skills to make their cities amazing places to live in, work in and visit. The World Mayor Project aims to show what outstanding mayors can achieve as well as raise their profiles nationally and internationally. It honours those who have served their communities selflessly and courageously and who have made significant contributions to the well-being of cities. The most outstanding mayor of 2008 will be presented with the World Mayor Award. Mayors from North and Latin America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa are competing for the annual World Mayor Award.
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While doing some research for our different factors in the current poll on “Economic Environment”, we found an interesting study on tourism. “City Tourism & Culture: The European Experience” is a report commissioned jointly by the World Tourism Organization (WTO) and European Travel Commission (ETC) and provides insights into the expansion of European cities as cultural tourism destinations.
The study provides a conceptual framework for the analysis of city tourism with a cultural motivation and aims to contribute to the marketing and product development of city tourism by throwing more light on the evolution of cultural tourism in Europe from ‘traditional’ to ‘innovative’. Based on the concepts of ’heritage’, ‘cultural’ and ‘creative’ cities, the study clusters destinations according to their predominant cultural product, and analyses the recent performance and positioning of each cluster - as well as their opportunities for future growth.
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As we have learned when we were focussing on mega-cities, by 2050, an estimated two-thirds of the world’s population will live in urban areas, imposing even more pressure on the space infrastructure and resources of cities, leading to social disintegration and horrific urban poverty. To grow enough food to feed the people, if traditional farming practices continue as they are practiced today, an estimated 109 hectares of new land (this about 20% more land than is represented by the country of Brazil) will be needed. Today, almost all of the fertile ground all over the world is in use. New solutions have to be developed to avoid an impending disaster.
A potential solution to approach the problem is skyfarming. Skyfarming or vertical farming is a conceptual form of agriculture done in urban high-rises. In these high-rises (also called "farmscrapers") food such as fruit, vegetables, fish, and livestock can be raised by using greenhouse growing methods and recycled resources year-round, allowing cities of the future to become self-sufficient.
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Which infrastructural improvements do you anticipate for the districts, in which such arenas are going to be built?
Less infrastructure. More on site sustainability. More functional off grid built space.
Which personal benefits could be a result, in your opinion, from potential changes in social structure and job market situation?
Individual and community independence. Live and work.
In how far does a new arena change the skyline of a city? Do you know any example personally?
The skyline i see does not extend above the canopy. I see most of the built space in the US to become non functional in the next thirty years minus discovery of new energy source equal to oil.
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