/AkzoNobel_A_Magazine_issue_9_cities_urban_living_tcm54-650 by AkzoNobel

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THE AKZONOBEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 9

citIES & URBAN LIVING

www.akzonobel.com

TOMORROW’S ANSWERS TODAY

THE AKZONOBEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 9 September 2011

AkzoNobel is the largest global paints and coatings company and a major producer of specialty chemicals. We supply industries and consumers worldwide with innovative products and are passionate about developing sustainable answers for our customers. Our portfolio includes well known brands such as Dulux, Sikkens, International and Eka. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, we are a Global Fortune 500 company and are consistently ranked as one of the leaders in the area of sustainability. With operations in more than 80 countries, our 55,000 people around the world are committed to excellence and delivering Tomorrow’s Answers Today™.

Iconic Skylines As supplied by International Paint

Building on our expertise When it comes to protecting major urban infrastructure, we have a long and proud history of supplying high performance coating systems that meet the toughest standards and requirements.

International Paint’s Protective Coatings business has been supplying iconic landmarks of the world with high performance coating systems for over 100 years.

As well as being used on buildings, the products developed by our International Paint business are often specified for bridges. Sydney Harbor Bridge in Australia, the Oresund Bridge connecting Denmark and Sweden and Gateshead’s Millennium Bridge in the UK are just three examples of structures that already feature our hi-tech coatings.

Tested Products, Trusted Solutions

We’re also currently involved with two high profile projects which have been making headlines across the globe. The most recent is in India, where we have been chosen to supply products for the Chenab Bridge, which, when completed, will be the world’s highest arch bridge. Due to be finished in 2013, it will form part of a new railway line linking the Kashmir region with the rest of India. Slightly closer to completion is the overhaul of San Francisco’s Bay Bridge in the US. AkzoNobel is the sole supplier of protective coatings for the massive project, which involves the complete replacement of the existing span on the Oakland side (pictured in the foreground of the computer image above). The west span has already undergone a major seismic retrofit, while the east span is being completely replaced at a cost of more than $5 billion.

protectivecoatings@akzonobel.com www.international-pc.com

WELCOME AUSTIN WILLIAMS

We are clearly living in an Urban Age… and that’s a “good thing”. India’s cities are home to 285 million people (equivalent to the total population of the United States) driving a vibrant productive sphere. Meanwhile, since 1990, 120 million Chinese people have moved into urban areas and three times as many have been lifted out of poverty. These correlations are not coincidental. While this explosion of urban life could be greeted enthusiastically as a sign of progress and modernity – moving people off the land and backbreaking labor, for instance – rapid urbanization is often seen through the contemporary prism of social, political and ecological concerns. Forbes magazine prefers to interpret the global urban shift as causing “a dearth of talent and labor” in rural areas, and causing urban migrants to have “a miserable existence on the margins.” Negativity is the spin of choice in the West, it seems. Just as the developing world’s urbanization is seen as somehow dodgy, urbanism in the West engenders connotations of rioting, binge drinking, environmental harm and community fragmentation. Thus “futureproofing” is the new buzzword. It may sound positive and “futuristic” but it’s an urban discourse that focuses on potential harms rather than potential benefits. In this way, the city of the future has been transformed from a source of eager anticipation, to one of looming trepidation. The stories of slums, pollution and climate change in this issue of A Magazine (which focuses on cities and urban living) indicate to some extent how we all tend to see the world… and ourselves within it. Negative or limited aspirations for the developing world – reducing their ambitions to “basic infrastructure”, for example – predominantly reflect the prevailing riskaverse thinking in Europe and the US. Elsewhere in the world, a renewed appetite for development, change and “real” development is leading to massive transformations in places such as China, India, Brazil and the Arabian Gulf. Admittedly, their pace of change is often met with apprehension in the West, but fortunately, the dynamic cities of the soon-to-be-developed world are unstoppable. More power to them. Austin Williams is director of the Future Cities Project and lecturer in architecture at XJTLU in Suzhou, Shanghai. futurecities.org.uk

The A team Chief Editor David Lichtneker, AkzoNobel Design and Art Direction Claire Jean Engelmann, AkzoNobel Corporate Director Communications John McLaren, AkzoNobel Head of Corporate Branding Berry Oonk, AkzoNobel Traffic Manager Sarah Roozendaal, AkzoNobel Publisher Akzo Nobel N.V. The Netherlands Editorial address A Magazine AkzoNobel Corporate Communications PO Box 75730 1070 AS Amsterdam The Netherlands Printing Tesink, Zutphen The Netherlands

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Additional imagery Blizzard Entertainment, Getty Images, Kitson & Partners, Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industry Group Ltd.

Awards Best of Customer Media Excellence Award (2010) ABRE Awards Certificate S of Excellence (2009) European Excellence Award (2009) Art Directors Club Bronze Cube (2009)

Cover image: Once known as the Wall Street of Asia, the Bund in Shanghai is a signature strip of riverfront architecture befitting a global megacity. Photography: Tony Burns.

Opinions in this magazine do not necessarily represent those of AkzoNobel, and AkzoNobel accepts no responsibility for these opinions. While the information in this publication is intended to be accurate, no representation of accuracy or completeness is made.

4 Picturesque locations such as this are seemingly becoming less appealing as more and more people are abandoning the countryside to go and live in the city. Photography: David Lichtneker.

Contents 6 Size matters A new breed of metropolis is thriving, one which is transforming the face of the planet. Welcome to the megacity. 16 Out of the blue Find out how the residents of a small town north of the Arctic Circle have embraced a new blueprint for the future. 22 Are slums the cities of the future? Author Robert Neuwirth explains why he thinks some of the world’s slums are unfairly being given a bad name. 28 Phantasmagoria When you’re bored of life in this reality where do you go? To the fantastical realms of the online world. 32 Keeping cool in a crisis We look at how climate change is impacting the construction industry and prompting the development of a new generation of products. 36 Reach for the sky Cities are getting bigger – and so are buildings. The age of the kilometer-high skyscraper is dawning. 42 Torg of the town Find out how light and bright paint are being used to thwart crime in Stockholm. 46 Why pollution is a dirty word It’s a challenge which faces every major urban center, but what can be done to tackle the problem of pollution? 52 A new hope What does the future hold in store for the way we live? One imaginative Belgian architect has some particularly striking ideas. 58 Heading for a fall? Running a successful city is tough. But a little knowledge goes a long way.

Size matters They occupy just 2 percent of the Earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s surface, but our cities house half of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s population and consume 75 percent of its resources. Now, a new breed of metropolis is thriving, one which is transforming the face of the planet. Welcome to the megacity.

WORDS David Lichtneker Photography Jason Hawkes

ur world is changing. For the first time in history, Those challenges are hardly inconsiderable. In Mexico City, for more people live in cities than in the country. Which example (the kidnap capital of the world), its population inevitably means that our cities are growing. In 1950, produces an Olympic swimming pool full of human excrement only one place met the megacity criteria of a every minute. Space is so tight in Tokyo that soccer pitches are population in excess of ten million – New York. Now there are built on rooftops. London alone produces 20 million tons of more than 20 megacities. By 2050, 70 percent of the global waste a year, and only around 25 percent of it is recycled. population will live in cities. By the end of the century, three- Gridlock is causing traffic mayhem everywhere. In Delhi – where quarters of the planet will be urban. around 20 percent of people are thought to live in slums – the This epic emptying of the countryside is happening infant mortality rate was reported to have doubled in the space everywhere, with Asia – home to two-thirds of the world’s of a year in 2009. Food, healthcare, power supply, crime. The inhabitants – at the forefront (in fact, almost all the world’s modern megacity has to contend with a burgeoning list of population growth over the next 30 years will take place in the demands and problems resulting from their ever booming cities of developing countries). It’s a mass migration which is populations. being prompted by the promise of wealth and a better life. There is, however, another way of viewing the rise and rise Millions are looking to climb the ladder of opportunity, but most of the megacity. As an opportunity – or a mega-opportunity. fail miserably. Where do those poor unfortunates usually end Because these huge metropolises offer possibilities for up? Having to endure a life of abject poverty in one of the everyone, especially if they can be made to work efficiently and 200,000 slums that people now call home. effectively. In Africa, for example, the 18 largest cities are The statistics are mind-boggling. Tokyo – the largest city on expected to have a combined spending power of $1.3 trillion by Earth – is home to a staggering 33 million people. There are 2030. But future cities can’t be built on old models that don’t more than 20 million in both Shanghai and Mexico City, while work. They need new technologies and new ways of thinking. Lagos in Nigeria is set to overtake Egyptian capital Cairo They need to be retrofitted to turn them into the sustainable (population 16 million) as Africa’s biggest city within the next five urban centers of tomorrow. “It’s clear that we all need to years. For the record, Europe’s only megacity is London (13 innovate and find smarter ways to improve our buildings,” says million). And what of India? Delhi is said to be creaking at the Nico Maaskant, AkzoNobel’s Director of Sustainable seams, while Mumbai has roughly doubled in population in the Construction. “People expect more from a building than it last 25 years. Over the border in Bangladesh is one of the simply being a roof above their heads. We are spending more world’s most densely populated cities, Dhaka, where 85 and more time indoors, so we want our buildings to be safe and percent of its 13 million people live in slum conditions. healthy, even to the point that they clean the air for us. They In 2009, a World Bank report said that this rapidly escalating should also make us feel good. All of this will require new process of migration should be welcomed and encouraged as functionality and new solutions, which could open numerous a way of lifting people out of poverty. But the sheer weight of doors for companies such as AkzoNobel.” numbers is putting huge pressure on land, resources and urban But with the construction industry currently consuming infrastructure. It’s perhaps easier to grasp when put like this – around 40 percent of all energy and 40 percent of all raw around 7,500 people are estimated to be moving to the city materials, simply building more and more is totally unsustainable. every hour. Some are coping better than others. In Shanghai, for “Currently there is a very strong focus on reducing energy use,” example, 100,000 new homes are being built on the edge of the continues Maaskant. “Improving energy efficiency and increascity every month. Described as the fastest-growing city on the ing energy generation is a huge challenge, but at the same time planet (and capital of the world by some), back in the 1980s, represents another opportunity. Legislation is increasingly Shanghai used to house 121 buildings over eight stories high. forcing us to build in a more energy-efficient way, so products Now there are more than 10,000. By contrast, in Dhaka, half a such as the heat reflective paints and high visual spectrum million new people arrive every year, the majority of whom end reflective coatings that we supply are making it easier for up in the slums and are left to salvage scrap and waste in an contractors to meet these requirements.” effort to eke out an existence. Yet the pull of the city is only Look around any megacity and some form of construction going to intensify. is likely to be going on somewhere. The pace of change and “The tide of ever-increasing congregations of people in an sheer rate of growth simply demands it. So it begs the question, ever-sprawling urban region is unstoppable,” says renowned what will happen if they continue to grow at the alarming rate architect and planner Dr. Liu Thai-Ker, who is Chairman of the we’re currently experiencing? It’s taken just 50 years for us to Advisory Board of the Center For Livable Cities Singapore. So witness the birth, growth and dominance of the megacity. What what can be done to help cities cope? “It is imperative that a happens during the next 50 might not only reshape the way we new theory or urban structure be considered,” he continues. live, but could also have a major influence on the well-being of “To make such an area livable, the challenge is to find out how to the entire planet. recognize the need for a higher density environment, to minimize the encroachment of valuable agriculture, and to create an environment which is livable, green-and-clean, with ample amenities and flowing traffic. Once you recognize that, we need to rise above the vested political interests and legal boundaries Over the next few pages, a trio of guest writers offer a flavor of the towns and regions, and focus our energy on solving the of what it’s like to live in three of the world’s biggest and most challenges presented by megacities.” dynamic megacities.

Previous spread: For many years, New York was the only metropolis to qualify as a megacity. Below: The concrete and fiberglass Cheminée d’aeration tower by Raymond Moretti in the La Défense area of Paris, France, the city’s prime high-rise office district. Photography: Anthony Gelot.

Shanghai: A truly global megacity

The 30-kilometer train journey from Pudong airport to Shanghai takes just over six minutes. For those passengers who have never travelled on a Maglev (magnetic levitation) train before, there is always a tangible thrill of excitement, not just at its sheer speed (over 400km/hr), but also at the prospect of arriving in one of China’s most dynamic cities. Shanghai is China’s largest municipality, with an estimated population of 23 million people. To house them all, the metropolis boasts 2,000 buildings of more than 30 stories in height. The tallest is the Shanghai World Financial Center, which is almost half a kilometer high. In short, everything about Shanghai is on a gigantic scale, making it a truly global megacity. As befits the nation’s leading center of commerce, business folk in Shanghai exude confidence. This is entirely justifiable, as the city already has a GDP larger than that of many European countries. For example, according to The Economist newspaper, in 2010 the GDP of Shanghai and Finland were roughly on a par ($250m and $239m respectively). Yet the pure size of the economy does not seem to satisfy the city government, as they want to see Shanghai become a global shipping and financial center too. Like Hong Kong, Shanghai is also a place where you can buy almost anything, with locals and tourists alike regularly giving their credit cards a good bashing in one of the city’s gigantic shopping centers. A city whose residents exude confidence acts as a powerful magnet to outsiders, which is one reason why more than half of all foreigners in China reside in Shanghai. But it’s not just those with passports who are attracted to the city. An estimated four million migrant workers who hail from the four corners of the People’s Republic also reside

there. Without these temporary workers, the place would probably grind to a halt, since they take on jobs that the locals don’t want to do, such as construction work, domestic service and garbage collection. Such is the star attraction of Shanghai that during the last ten years it has been growing at a rate of more than 630,000 people a year. Put another way, this equates to a net inflow of around 1,700 new residents (about 35 busloads of people) every day. Such a figure might seem impossibly high, until you take a trip to Shanghai’s main railway terminus, with its enormous station concourse covered with seething hoards of new arrivals. Most of these new “recruits” arrive with nothing more than the clothes they stand up in, a few hundred RMB in their wallet and a bedroll. They might also nervously clutch a mobile phone, containing the number of some relative already working in a Shanghai factory or building site. So much for the hype, but what is it really like to live in a city which has a population of 23 million people? Well, for a start it is incredibly crowded, which means that trying to board public transport during the rush hour can be a life-or-death struggle. As a comparison, the most densely populated city in the United States is New York, with a maximum population density of 27,000 people per square kilometer (sq/km) in Manhattan. Yet parts of Shanghai (such as Huangpu District) have a population density of double this, with upwards of 50,000 people per sq/km, which puts huge pressure on everything from public transport to office rents and living space. Life is also incredibly fast-paced in Shanghai and the office politics can be brutal, with the result that every year, thousands leave simply because they cannot cope with the stress of working here.

In addition, like many other megacities, Shanghai has a pollution problem. Although exhaust emissions per vehicle are likely to halve during the next decade, the number of cars in Shanghai is projected to more than double, so air pollution is likely to get even worse, not better. Finally, Shanghai is not a cheap place to live, partly because of massive pent-up demand for housing, and partly because of property speculation (“stir-frying houses” in the local lingo), both of which drive up rental costs and make buying an apartment a dream for all except the rich. Despite these teething troubles, Shanghai’s population continues to grow. Although there is crowding, pollution and a feeling that everyone is always in a desperate hurry, it’s also a place with lots of charm and much to see and do. Just being here you can feel the verve and drive of this metropolis, regardless of whether you are strolling around the old European quarter, or concluding a business deal in one of the city’s numerous skyscrapers. Tony Brooks

About the author: Tony Brooks is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge in England. An expert on Chinese government relations and investing in China, he was formerly Business Manager at the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China.

Top: Migrant workers are moving to Shanghai in droves, often arriving with nothing more than the clothes theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re wearing. Above: Shanghai already has a GDP larger than that of many European countries.

São Paulo: Brazil’s economic and cultural heart

The last weekend of June was particularly hectic in São Paulo. Hotels in the downtown area were fully booked, restaurants and cafés were crowded. On the streets of Jardins, the fanciest neighborhood in town, the miscellany of languages and accents made you feel as if you were strolling around London or New York. Half a million tourists from different parts of Brazil and the world had come to São Paulo to take part in what has become one of the city’s largest annual events – the Gay Parade. In the afternoon of June 26, four million people gathered at Avenida Paulista carrying balloons and umbrellas with the colors of the rainbow. Artists, celebrities, business people – even the Mayor, Gilberto Kassab, and Governor, Geraldo Alckmin – they were all there. Visitors who came to the Gay Parade spent around 200 million Brazilian reais over a single weekend, making it the most lucrative event in the city after the Formula 1 race. More than

being a celebration of diversity and tolerance, the parade is a symbol of 21st century São Paulo: a cosmopolitan and vibrant city, a global metropolis connected to the most important centers and countries of the world. Seen from an airplane landing at Cumbica International Airport, it might look a soulless place, an ocean of concrete stretching as far as the eye can see. On the ground, though, São Paulo has never been more lively and energetic. The largest urban agglomeration in South America, with 20 million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, São Paulo has reinvented itself. In past years, as industries traditionally based in the city moved away to different regions of Brazil, it evolved from the industrial heart of the country into a center of modern services, particularly in the financial and commercial areas. Today, it is Brazil’s economic and cultural heart. Until recently, visitors came here mainly for

business purposes. But now cultural tourism is booming. People come to see the fashion shows of the São Paulo Fashion Week, to shop on Oscar Freire Street or dine in chef Alex Atala’s D.O.M. (recently elected the world’s seventh best eaterie by British magazine Restaurant). International concerts have also become common, with Eric Clapton, Rihanna and Aerosmith just a sample of the big name artists to have played this year. Once regarded as one of the most violent places in Brazil, São Paulo is becoming safer. The number of murders is now back to what it was 50 years ago, although still much higher when compared with more affluent areas. Life in São Paulo also reflects Brazil’s exceptional economic situation. Unemployment in the metropolitan area has fallen to 6 percent. Today, 4.5 million inhabitants have a monthly income of at least 4,500 Brazilian reais (€2,000). According to a recent Pricewaterhouse

Left: São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil and its most important financial center. Right: Many foreign companies are being attracted to São Paulo, which is well known for its skyscrapers and shopping malls.

Coopers survey, by 2025 this number will have more than doubled. There is a growing feeling among the population that life is getting better – due mostly, it’s true, to an increase in citizen purchasing power. More people now own a car, travel by plane or are able to afford a plasma TV. “São Paulo cannot stop,” used to be the city’s slogan in the mid-20th century. As industrialization attracted millions from other areas of Brazil, the city grew with no proper planning at all. The metropolis exploded, and with it came a huge poor periphery. “São Paulo has to stop [growing],” people would then say. This is finally happening. Throughout the past decade, the city’s population grew by just 0.76 percent a year on average. Ironically, São Paulo’s weaknesses have never been more evident. “The city grew way over its capacity to invest in infrastructure,” reckons economist Ladislau Dowbor, a professor at the Catholic University of São Paulo. “We

are facing the consequences.” Take urban mobility, for example. This is a metropolis focused on individual, rather than public, transportation. There are currently seven million cars registered in the city, making São Paulo’s infamous traffic even worse every year. The paulistanos – particularly those who live in the outskirts and work downtown – spend on average more than two hours in traffic daily. A drive from the financial area to the international airport can take anything from 45 minutes to three hours. Government has been investing in the bus and underground systems, but at such a slow pace that little difference can be felt on the streets. São Paulo’s underground network is only 70 kilometers long. Shanghai’s is 420 kilometers. Basic demands, such as sanitation, are also a problem in certain areas. In some remote neighborhoods, 40 percent of households have no connection to the sewage system.

Hopefully, new problems will help solve historical deficiencies. In 2009, São Paulo was one of the first cities in the developing world to adopt a comprehensive climate change policy. The plan is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent through measures focused on waste management, transportation, energy efficiency and land use. Dowbor approves: “Now that it has stopped growing, São Paulo finally has a chance to concentrate on quality, rather than quantity.” Cynthia Rosenburg

About the author: Cynthia Rosenburg is a journalist and former editor of Exame magazine and Época Negócios magazine. Born in Belo Horizonte, she has lived and worked in São Paulo for 13 years.

14to expand Mumbai international airport will Plans involve more than 80,000 families being relocated from the surrounding slums. Photography: Tony Burns.

Mumbai: Doomed to die, determined to live

Nearly two decades ago, when I Mumbai had an ugly side, but there has decided to move to Bombay (as it was never been a repeat. Friends tell me called then), the unanimous comment that it is only a matter of time before from my friends was: “You will either love radical religious groups succeed in their it or hate it.” Not once have I regretted brainwashing attempts and create my decision. Mumbai is home and will divisions within the city’s reasonably continue to be so for years to come. secular fabric. There have been signs Its crumbling roads and poor of decay. Such as the time when governance are hardly the virtues of a cabbies from another state were beaten city which is touted as India’s commerup, or when minority communities cial capital. Its overcrowded trains, filthy complained of discrimination regarding roads and exasperating traffic jams can finding accommodation. drive anyone up the wall. The growing Is this an indication of things to come chasm between the haves and in the future? I wish I knew the answer. have-nots is there for all to see, what The constant rhetoric of right-wingers with wealthy kids speeding by on their across the country is having its effect on flashy bikes while a five-year-old holds the next generation and Mumbai is no his begging bowl in pouring rain at a exception. Today, I hear murmurs in railway station. trains and buses on the ills of immigraAll this is what prompted a friend of tion and why outsiders have to be kept mine to write years ago in a magazine at bay. Sure, it worries me no end, but that Mumbai was doomed to die, but then the world has not been the same determined to live. Terror attacks over since 9/11 either. The paranoia has the years have threatened to destroy the percolated across different nations and strong fabric of faith within the people. people are getting increasingly The latest bomb blasts in July were a obsessed with religious identities. grim reminder that the city continues to Mumbai is no exception, especially be vulnerable and assuring the security when it has had its back against the wall of more than 20 million people on a with one tragedy following another. The limited land mass is a staggering train blasts of 2006 served as a potent challenge. Mumbai is not the easiest of reminder that forces were at work to places to live. Property prices are high, create instability, while the terror attacks while daily travel to work can wear of 26/11 had the city paralyzed with fear. anyone down. Despite all this, it is head July’s bomb blasts shook people out of and shoulders above the rest of the their complacency and were a warning country as India’s most cosmopolitan that the worst was not yet over. city. And the most tolerant too. Strangely, some of these events have Not once in my 18-year tenure here provoked derisive comments from have I been asked anything about my friends, with the icing on the cake being: caste or religion, which is in sharp “So where is this great spirit of the contrast to what I have often encounMumbaikar?” To them, I retort that it is tered in other parts of the country. the courage and incredible patience Nobody really cares in Mumbai, so long levels of its residents that they don’t as you deliver on your promise. The guy chicken out when such events occur. who sells his hot, delicious street food Sure, there is no choice at the end of the has a loyal clientele who couldn’t care day. All of us have to make a living in a less if he comes from Mars! Sure, there city where the wear and tear of travel is are always the divisive forces, which do far, far more rigorous than most parts of their best to create chaos in a tolerant the country. Yet, the show will have to go system, but they have not made any on, even though there is fear in the air. headway yet. The riots of 1993 I remember the time when some of reminded us that even cosmopolitan us had to trudge for over 20 kilometers

on July 26, 2005, when a cloudburst hit Mumbai and literally sunk the city. We were in a car all night, hoping for the best, only to figure out the following morning that there was just water everywhere. During the marathon walk, when we had to hold hands to ensure that nobody slipped into the water, people kidded about the municipal system and the politicians. We were from different parts of the country, but the bonding was so strong that it reminded me at that moment why I loved the city to death. Some of us sang to keep stress levels at bay, while the others laughed good-naturedly. It was only when I later saw the TV pictures that I realized the magnitude of the catastrophe. So what lies ahead for Mumbai? Clearly, it is not the same city that I arrived in back in 1993. Even the name was different then. Years of poor governance have taken their toll and industry talks about the high levels of inefficiency and corruption in the system. During this time, states like Gujarat and Tamil Nadu have moved on at a rapid pace. What Mumbai has, though, is a big heart. Its spirit of enterprise continues to be unparalleled. When people talk about the unique pulse of the city which hardly sleeps, it is the truth. Make money by fair means and your stomach never goes empty. How many other Indian cities can boast of cabbies and auto rickshaw drivers handing back the exact change? Murali Gopalan

About the author: Murali Gopalan is Business Editor of The Hindu Business Line in Mumbai, where he tracks the auto and energy sectors. He is also an avid collector of comics.

Out of the blue You’d think a town bathed in the midnight sun and illuminated by the northern lights wouldn’t need brightening up. But the changes sweeping through Sortland in Norway are about more than just adding a splash of color – they quite literally represent a blueprint for the future. Words & Photography David Lichtneker

ife’s a bit different north of the Arctic Circle. It can space tourists to the region) while a major project was recently obviously get really cold for a start, while in winter greenlit which later this year will see construction start on a new there’s the unavoidable inconvenience of daylight arts center and a Radisson Blue (of course) hotel. “I think the taking a few months off. On the plus side, living on the Blue City is an arena, a platform for lots of other exciting things,” other side of latitude 66°33’ is also a bit like having a front row says Jaegtnes, who now lives in Sortland. “We first need to seat in Mother Nature’s own open air theater, as anyone who focus on the commercial development and organize ourselves has seen the spectacular Aurora Borealis will attest. better to accommodate more tourists. The north of Norway is But, natural phenomena aside, is life up there really all that unique and it’s my job to generate new ideas and attract different? Well, yes it is. The air is certainly cleaner, the popula- financing so that the people who live here really get that Blue tions are much smaller and more spread out, cities – if they can City mindset. I want them to really take the Blue City into their be called that – tend to be functional and compact, and as for hearts and get connected.” the people, they have every reason to be more chilled out. So Jaegtnes meets me in a local café, where we both enjoy a why have the residents of Sortland in Norway got a serious case refreshing blueberry smoothie. We’re joined by city planner of the blues? Kristine Røiri, who is quick to point out the obvious – the café Well, it all began at the start of the new millennium, when a owners should rename the drink and call it a Blue City smoothie. plan was hatched in response to damning travel guide claims This is where the main challenge lies and Jacobsen is fully that the town offered little more than a chance to fill your car up aware that getting the locals to buy into his vision is crucial. “We with petrol. Not exactly an image befitting what is the commercial need people to realize that this is a business opportunity for and administrative center of the Vesterålen region in the far them, but it’s not something we can do as an administration north of the country. So a radical project was kick started which alone. We need help from all sides.” involved turning Sortland town center blue by painting as many Convincing some of the locals about the value of the Blue buildings as possible. Working closely with experts from City concept is no easy task. The vast majority of buildings in AkzoNobel’s Nordsjö brand, a special color palette was devised the town center are shops and businesses, rather than homes, and, sure enough, the last few years have seen the transfor- and persuading all the owners to join the blue revolution is mation gradually gather momentum. taking longer than some people – particularly Røiri – would like. Now widely known as the Blue City, Sortland has been Anyone who does decide to go ahead gets a 50 percent relatively successful in changing its dour image, with a large discount from AkzoNobel on the paint they choose. They also percentage of the central area having been repainted. It now receive a computer-generated mock-up of what their property has a more modern character and identity, one which is still will look like, to help them decide on the color scheme. But rooted in the area’s maritime and fishing heritage. But while many are holding out until their buildings actually need progress has clearly been made, there are bigger plans in store. redecorating. “A lot of people just see the expense at the You could even call them a blueprint for the future. “We have moment and don’t realize the potential,” bemoans Røiri, who taken the first steps, now we have to accelerate and move adds that historic structures are exempt as they are protected forward,” explains leader of the council Svein Roar Jacobsen. by preservation orders. “The new hotel will make a big difference, “My vision is to promote the Blue City worldwide. We want to put because a lot of people will hopefully start to understand that Sortland firmly on the tourist map and attract visitors from much they are part of an emerging destination which offers opportufurther afield than Norway and Europe.” He goes on to reference nities for everyone. The arts center will also be crucial because Lofoten, a wildly popular tourist destination and within easy it will help to develop the town’s identity. It will enhance the reach of Sortland. “I think we have to brand ourselves in a similar sense of community and that’s important for all of us.” way because there’s a lot of potential here and I don’t think The 170-bedroom hotel and multi-functional arts center we’ve even scratched the surface.” (which will house two auditoriums, conference facilities, a library Much of what is planned will involve stimulating residents and a cinema) are expected to open in 2013, when the Blue City and local business people in order to open their eyes to the could also have its official launch. By then, a decision may have possibilities that lie ahead – most of which can be achieved been reached on a bold idea to officially change the name of through the simple, yet powerful, use of color. And the wheels Sortland town center to The Blue City, a name which would are already in motion. A commercial arm has been established appear on signs and maps. One of the driving forces behind the run by Bengt Jaegtnes (who has serious ambitions to bring ongoing transformation is local businessman Geir Abel Ellingsen,

The waterfront in Sortland is the 19 first view of the town for those arriving on the daily Hurtigruten cruise ship.

whose family has lived in Sortland for several generations. Walking around the town, it’s easy to be charmed by its Director of the company which will build the hotel and owner of appearance. There is an immediate appeal, which locals will tell many buildings in the center of town, he also runs a travel you takes on a whole new dimension during the winter, when agency which is aiming to set up direct charter flights from the northern lights come out to play. Even Sortland Bridge – a major European airports. prominent landmark – was recently bathed in blue lighting as “The Blue City clearly has international potential,” he says. part of an experimental project which could be developed into “We’re going in the right direction and I’m proud of what has something more permanent. Then there are the 30-plus poems been achieved so far, but there’s so much more we can do. I painted onto buildings scattered around the center (see side think it’s important for us to think global, but to do that we must story) which add a cultural and somewhat quirky twist. have international standards and be competitive. Local identity Another thing in Sortland’s favor is the fact it’s one of only a is very important of course, but we have to try and present handful of towns in northern Norway which is actually growing. ourselves to the world.” “Communities around us are losing people and they are coming He is already talking with tour operators in an effort to here,” continues Jacobsen. “A lot of people are moving out of establish international charters from the Netherlands, UK and the major cities because they want space, they want to be Germany, with weekly flights (to nearby Evenes) hopefully closer to nature and we have facilities and services which starting next spring. “There’s a big incentive to develop northern are proving attractive. The new hotel and arts center will only Norway as a tourist destination and Sortland can be a major add to what we can offer. They will be crucial to the way we part of that,” adds Ellingsen. “But it’s still a challenge because develop Sortland over the next few years as we work towards not everyone here sees the potential or the value of the Blue City. 2020. We still have some challenges to overcome, but we have Once they do, once they start to understand it and take something unique here which we want to share with the world advantage, things could explode.” and we’re ready now to take the Blue City to the next level.”

Text and the city

Visitors to Sortland will notice it’s not just the colorful buildings that catch the eye. Dotted around the center are various poems, which have been carefully hand-painted onto walls, turning the town into a kind of living book. The idea for the texts first surfaced when the Blue City concept originally began to take shape. Since then, the main driving force has been celebrated author Lars Saabye Christensen, himself a former Sortland resident. He holds workshops with young writers to devise the poems, with the best being selected and earmarked for specific buildings. “When we started adding poems to the walls it quickly became clear that Sortland was becoming like a book you could walk around,” says designer Svein Spjelkavik, who is in charge of painting the texts. “We started to look at the city in a new perspective. Over the years we’ve added texts, moved them, changed them. It shows the city has its own heartbeat. It’s constantly evolving. I find it very uplifting.” More than 30 poems are now scattered around the town center. A few have been written by Christensen and other leading Norwegian artistes, but most are the result of the writer workshops. However, none of the texts are credited. “We didn’t want people to only go looking for poems written by the high profile contributors,” explains Spjelkavik. “Christensen was also adamant that they should remain anonymous. He wanted the texts to be a collective gift to the city and its residents.” For Mona Dahl, cultural advisor at Sortland municipality, the texts underline the town’s strong focus on the arts in general. “We’ve collaborated with famous artistes on various projects and the poems add to the whole experience that we are trying to create. We want the Blue City to be a feeling, so the cultural aspect of what we are trying to achieve is very important.”

“

ll over the world people are leaving the land to go to the cities. And they know what they want. They want more excitement, more lights. They want to be richer. They also want to be brighter. They don’t want to feel they’re missing out. And most of them are missing out, of course.” When the future Nobel laureate VS Naipaul wrote those words in 1975, the global population was about four billion, with around 1.5 billion people – a little less than 38 percent – living in towns and cities. You may or may not agree with Naipaul’s final analysis, but you have to give him credit for prescience. Now, 36 years later, half of the world’s seven billion people live in cities, a billion of them in slums, shanty towns, squatter settlements and other more or less informal or illegal urban communities. Clearly, people have been leaving the land in search of more excitement and more lights. That steady stream has turned cities such as Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Mexico City, Lagos, Cairo, Nairobi, Mumbai, Delhi, Dhaka, Karachi, Istanbul, Guangzhou and Jakarta – just to mention a few of the most prominent examples – into megacities teeming with overcrowded, chaotic, informal settlements. Some of them continue to grow at astounding rates – growth in Guangzhou, for example, is estimated to be around 4 percent, which adds a million people a year to the nearly 25 million now living in the metropolitan area. Delhi (population almost 24 million) is growing at 4.6 percent a year, and Karachi (population nearly 17 million) at 4.9 percent a year. But amazingly, even more people are leaving the countryside for “second tier” regional centers – African cities like Kampala and Ouagadougou, Latin American regional centers like Tijuana in Mexico and Bélem in Brazil, and dozens of Chinese provincial “towns” with populations in the hundreds of thousands. In India, around 35 cities have more than a million residents.

Are slums the cities of the future? Words Jim Wake

Increasing urbanization has seen the total number of people living in slums surpass the billion mark. This figure could double by 2030. But there are those who suggest that some of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shanty towns and favelas are unfairly being given a bad name.

24 Previous spread: A woman picking through garbage on the streets of Kolkata in India. Photography: Tony Burns. Below: Josephine Mpongo, of the Kimbanguiste Symphony Orchestra, practicing the cello in the group’s rehearsal space in Kinshasa, DR Congo. Photography: Andrew McConnell.

This mass migration has led to dire warnings of a coming apocalypse, conjuring up images of the Mad Max movies, where crime is rampant and the established order breaks down. And it is indeed true that many, if not most, of the people who inhabit these informal communities lead very marginal lives, scratching out a living as street hawkers or carrying out menial tasks for subsistence wages. Whole families crowd into rooms of 15 or 20 square meters, without water, electricity, or toilets. It’s also true that the economic policies that were supposed to rescue the nearly bankrupt economies of many developing nations in Asia, Africa and Latin America – the so-called “structural adjustment programs” (SAPs) – only served to further impoverish large segments of the population. Middle class bureaucrats, for example, who lost their jobs and ended up joining the ranks of the slum dwellers.

But the situation may not be as dire as it first appears. There’s an argument given voice, among others, by a seminal report entitled The Challenge of the Slums, which was published by UN-Habitat in 2003. It says that slums are not the precursors of cataclysmic social breakdown, but rather incubators of growth and development. “Slums are the first stopping point for immigrants,” write the report’s authors. “They provide the low cost and only affordable housing that will enable the immigrants to save for their eventual absorption into urban society. Slums are also places in which the vibrant mixing of different cultures frequently results in new forms of artistic expression. Out of unhealthy, crowded and often dangerous environments can emerge cultural movements and levels of solidarity unknown in the suburbs of the rich. Against all odds, slum dwellers have developed economically rational and

innovative shelter solutions for themselves.” One person who concerns about crime, sanitation and legal status, as long as has very definite and surprisingly sanguine ideas about the government shows a willingness to work with them and slums of the world is Robert Neuwirth, author of Shadow Cities: recognize that these communities do have an intrinsic value – A Billion Squatters, a New Urban World. In the early part of the as sources of labor, for example. “It just seems outrageous in last decade, Neuwirth walked away from a steady, but ultimately the 21st century that we can pretend that vast swathes of the unfulfilling, life as a journalist specializing in urban design and urban population that are employed on low wages by people spent the best part of two years traveling to some of the most and are definitely part of the urban fabric can somehow be notorious squatter communities on Earth, living for extended denied infrastructure. And it is bizarre that most of the people periods of time in the slums of Rio de Janeiro, Istanbul, Mumbai who serve the tourists staying in hotels in Rio at Copacabana and Nairobi. Beach and clean their rooms are my friends living in Rosinha Neuwirth had come to the conclusion that the “real story” [the largest favela in Rio]. But nonetheless, they’re the ‘other’, wasn’t about real estate development in New York, but about and so the government doesn’t want to deal with them. the billion people who were creating their own communities out “And similarly in India, middle class and wealthy people of next to nothing. “This was a huge story,” he says. “These are employ an array of drivers and houseboys and cooks and normal people, but they very seldom get covered as normal maids and child care workers, all of whom are squatters, and people. They get covered as this sort of aberration which they pay them next to nothing, but then they tell me things like separates them from the rest of us and I wanted to go in and ‘squatter communities are just a bastion of crime.’ And these are investigate not how separate they are from the rest of us, but the same people who are taking care of their kids! So if they’re how similar they are to all of us.” criminals, why are you allowing them to take care of your kids?” Relying, as he puts it “on the kindness of strangers”, he saw In any case, whatever governments do is not going to stop plenty of misery, but a great deal of dynamism and creativity as the mass movement of people from the countryside into urban well. “When you read the literature, you think of them as slums, areas. “To me, it’s a fact of life,” states Neuwirth. “We are an so I did have an expectation of crudeness and decay and urban world and we’re going to be an increasingly urban world. despair, which is why, when I found communities that were So the neighborhoods of the future in this increasingly urban substantially developed, it was quite amazing to me.” There world are going to be squatter communities. They’re the ones were the open sewers and the piles of rotting garbage, but also that are developing the fastest and they’re the places that multi-story buildings made of reinforced concrete and brick – the people with hopes and entrepreneurial zeal are moving places where people did have water and electricity and toilets, to. Whether it’s street markets or squatter communities, my and where community organizations acted in lieu of formal argument would be that this is the urban challenge of the 21st government. “Slums” didn’t quite do justice to what he found. “I century – that these communities, whether organized around was pretty amazed as well by the level of commerce and energy street markets, or waterfront property, or waste areas where and hyper-entrepreneurial zeal that exists in these communities.” traditionally builders haven’t built – these communities are the As Neuwirth sees it, these informal settlements are the urban center of gravity. And increasingly, whether cities do “cities of the future”. He notes that Europe and the US have had better or worse is going to depend on the kinds of policies that their own history of squatters and informal communities, and people take towards these communities, how well these that traditionally, they dealt with them with very little consi- communities can develop themselves and how effectively deration for the welfare of the residents. “In the past there has urban governments can partner with these communities to been a sort of punitive attitude towards squatters – that these incorporate them into the city.” communities were to be thrown out and it didn’t matter where That means looking at ways to develop basic infra-structure, these folks went or if they had a place to go to after you booted such as safe water and sanitation, police and emergency them out. But what if we had worked with those people to services and so on. But Neuwirth says it also means providing bring their communities in and fostered inclusive development, the residents with “security of tenure” – an assurance that they rather than throwing them out in favor of wealthier real estate won’t get evicted – and access to politics, in the sense that they interests? The countries of the developing world have a chance have some way to interact with the political systems in the to do it differently, without penalizing these communities, but places where they live. In a new book called Stealth of Nations, rather trying to create a kind of inclusive development that scheduled for publication in October, Neuwirth focuses in works with them to bring all kinds of infrastructure that particular on those informal markets that are so much a part of traditionally they’ve been deprived of.” the squatter communities. Contrary to what most people think, adds Neuwirth, “More than half of the workers of the world are now working squatters are usually quite pragmatic and willing to engage in in the informal economy, which of course means that maybe we dialog with governments to find solutions that address legitimate ought to be looking at that as the ‘real economy’. They are vital

Men playing cards on the streets of Dhaka in Bangladesh, where 85 percent of the city’s 13 million people live in slum conditions. Photography: Larry Louie.

to the growth of these cities and the growth of these commu- what they want to do, and see more possibilities for education nities. These street markets are incredibly active and are the and maybe their kids being able to achieve more. It strikes me centers of community development and wealth building in the that we make these goals too high.” By way of example, he informal setting, and incredibly important for the urban future.” recalls a man he met who grew up in a famous slums in Lagos. Asked what he thinks about VS Naipaul’s cynical take on For 16 years he worked as a scavenger at a garbage dump. He urban migration – that “most of them are missing out” – saved enough money to buy himself a scale, and he became a Neuwirth expresses a deeply felt ambivalence. “Of course he’s “contract scaler”. Then he saved some more money and he right – everyone in the city comes to the city with a great deal of became a scrap dealer. hope and most of their hopes are not realized. But I think in “For him,” continues Neuwirth, “this is a huge move. We some ways that’s been true of migrations throughout history. might look at him and say he’s a poor soul in the most deprived And it also depends on what you think a realized hope is.” conditions, but for him, he thinks he’s doing great. The future is People come to the city with grand dreams, he concedes, bright. So it all depends on what standpoint we’re looking at it and mainly end up struggling to survive. “But they get closer to from – from the top down or the bottom up.”

Painting a different picture

Brazil’s favelas – the shanty towns and “Our mission is to add color to people’s squatter settlements where millions of lives,” says Jaap Kuiper, General urban poor and immigrants from the Manager for AkzoNobel Decorative countryside live – are known all around Paints South America. “But when I say the world. But not always for the best of color, I mean more than just paint. I reasons. When they make it into the mean color in terms of happiness, where headlines, it can be because of gang the starting point is to make the world a violence, police crackdowns, or because better place.” Each initiative, adds Kuiper, natural or man-made disasters strike. is a cooperative project involving AkzoNobel is doing its best to paint a AkzoNobel employees and community very different picture – quite literally – representatives at all levels. “It’s a through an ongoing campaign called co-creation, whereby we work together “Tudo de cor para você” (Everything in with the community on the project color for you). design, we supply the paint and train The highly successful program youngsters from the neighborhood so involves painting Brazilian slums and they learn a trade. For us, of course, deprived neighborhoods with the when the project is complete and the company’s Coral brand of decorative neighborhood has been painted, we get paints, with more than 600 local a lot of attention from local media, painting events having been initiated journalists and even the national media. over the last two years. While not all the It’s a real win-win situation – you help the neighborhoods qualify as “slums” – community, you inspire your own for example, 42 houses in the historic employees, the customers love it, and all city of Ouro Preto were painted as part the while you are strengthening your of the program – there is a heavy brand equity. That’s what we call emphasis on engaging the poorer ‘Marketing 3.0’” neighborhoods, where a minor upgrade To date, Tudo de Cor has touched in the form of the addition of color can more than two million people. make a big difference. AkzoNobel has donated more than

100,000 liters of paint and invested around €5 million, working in communities stretching from Fortaleza in the north to Florianópolis in the south. For the major projects, well-known public figures participate as ambassadors at celebratory events to mark the successful end of a project – like the former tennis star Gustavo “Guga” Kuerten, who served as ambassador in Florianópolis in July of 2011. The most ambitious project to date is now getting underway in the Santa Marta favela in Rio de Janeiro. “This is the first time that a paint company has taken on the challenge of painting an entire favela, with 1,500 houses and 6,000 people,” continues Kuiper. “That’s not something you can do overnight, but our plan is to be ready by 2014 – before the start of the soccer World Cup. It’s a really fantastic project for the community and I’m sure it will be a big boost for Coral as well. We are proving that if you want to make the world a better place, it doesn’t have to conflict with your commercial objectives.” Look beyond: letscolourproject.com

Phantas magoria Phantas Destroying demons, grappling with goblins or just forging new alliances – the attraction of being able to lead a second life in the augmented reality of a virtual world is casting a spell on a growing number of people across the globe. WORDS Brian Guest

lying high above the mountains of the Eastern Kingdom astride her winged windrider, the siren-like knight elf Moraga searches for signs of life in the fantastically forbidding landscape below. Suddenly, with all the stealth of a silent assassin, she’s gone. Driven by her epic quest, she has passed through a portal to seek new adventures in this vast subterranean world. Before long, we meet another imposing figure, a warrior called Zuma, who is accompanied by her loyal companion, the ferocious leopard Sharpclaw. So far so Dungeons and Dragons. But this isn’t any old fantasy role playing. This is 21st century gaming. Both Moraga and Zuma are the online alter-egos of a 54-year-old Dutch woman – and mother of two – who now lives in the UK. The game she is playing is World of Warcraft, or WoW as it is known to its hordes of loyal fans. The last conservative estimate put the number of players at around the 12 million mark, a figure which continues to rise faster than the bank balance of the local Thieves Guild. The domain of young and old, male and female, WoW has fast become a global phenomenon. But it is by no means alone. Analysts expect consumers to spend more than $74 billion on gaming in 2011, with that number escalating to an astronomical $112 billion in 2015, with popular social network games such as Farmville and Cityville leading the rush. Even a community-based game such as The Sims – which has sold an astounding 100 million copies – is looking to expand its player base by going online. This giant leap in online spending is being fueled by the growing number of consumers buying virtual goods and digital subscriptions, not to mention the emergence of social networking sites and gaming platforms such as Sony’s PlayStation Network (PSN), which has more than 70 million registered accounts. But what’s the attraction of leading a second (or third) life online? One anonymous enthusiast we spoke to told us that it would be folly to think virtual worlds are simply pale imitations of what goes on in real life. Another keen gamer – who also prefers to have their identity kept secret – elaborated further: “In my case, my online life has little impact on my realworld self. The game element and the fantastic graphics aside, I find it very liberating. It creates a level playing field because normal social conventions do not play a role. This makes it far easier for shy or solitary men or women, or individuals who have a hard time interacting with others or are housebound in real life, to be able to compete or socialize with other people.”

The World of Warcraft franchise has spawned a number of expansions, including Wrath of the Lich King and Cataclysm. It is currently the world’s most-subscribed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG).

The anonymity and immersive nature of WoW and similar online environments can therefore liberate individuals, enabling them to play out fantasies and act in ways they might never have envisaged doing in real-life. Like a heckler in a theater audience, or an abusive fan at a soccer game, they are freed of their shackles. More than anything though, the growing popularity of social networks and gaming is a barometer of how radically the urban and social landscape in the 21st century is being transformed. “It really is a very intense and new experience because you bond and work together with people who show another side of their character that they probably would not show in their everyday life,” continues our anonymous gamer. “And it’s both fun and exhilarating to see just how innovative programmers can be in creating such a fantastically detailed and constantly evolving world. I think it can help transform people’s lives.” Yet an unhealthy obsession with the perceived dark side of the internet and social networking continues to fire the media’s attention. This reached its nadir two years ago when reports surfaced of a Korean couple who had allowed their baby to starve to death, preferring instead to spend their time nurturing a virtual child in an online game known as Prius. In the US, meanwhile, the FBI has in the past investigated reported cases of illegal gambling in online casinos in Second Life, another highly popular online game complete with all the amenities available in the real world. Like WoW, the success of Second Life – with its massive base of 16 million players – has led to the emergence of its own economy and virtual currency, the Linden dollar, which is regularly traded for real dollars. And where money is to be made, criminality often follows, with common malpractices including the theft of usernames, virtual characters and goods around the world, which are then traded in real life where there is a growing demand. Even the mighty PSN had to be temporarily shut down earlier this year following what Sony termed to be an “external intrusion” –

a euphemism for a hacking attack. Yet despite its well documented and sensationalized murkier side – the hackers, the video game addiction centers, the emergence of freaky communities, even the perceived engendering of no-time-to-stop, click-happy attention spans in children – the received wisdom is that the internet and social networking games and platforms have opened up a new era of interactive collaboration and democratic freedom for millions of people. The open nature of social networking and games such as WoW and Second Life and their co-existence alongside Facebook and Twitter has propelled “active citizenry” into the limelight – witness the Arab Spring in the Middle East – and in their own way has spawned new approaches to doing business, providing healthcare, education and promoting knowledge sharing. People are starting to take greater responsibility for their lives and look to the benefits provided by networks of likeminded individuals. The upshot is that virtual universities, online healthcare centers and innovation centers tailored to individual needs are starting to crop up everywhere. The traditional business model is being reworked and reinvented. So any company worth its own salt that does not factor these new developments into their future business strategies does so at its own peril. Back in the virtual world of WoW, high above the imposing heights of Orgrimmar in the land of Kalimdor, the knight elf Moraga pulls up her collar against the cold. She gazes one last time into the dying light as sunset begins to fall and turns her trusty steed towards the safety of home and the prospect of new and exciting adventures. Today has been a quiet day she reflects, who knows what tomorrow will bring?

Look beyond: blizzard.com

Keeping cool in a crisis As climate change continues to make headlines around the world, so our buildings are becoming better equipped to cope with whatever the atmosphere can thrown at them.

WORDS Rebecca Parsley

aybe it was yesterday, maybe it was last week, but chances are you’ll have heard something on the news recently about climate change and its effects on the planet. And while the overall impact on the environment is still the main agenda item, another hot topic (if you’ll pardon the pun) is how our cities are reacting. What exactly is being done to deal with these eco challenges? According to C40 (formerly the Large Cities Climate Leadership Group), cities – which are home to half the world’s population – already consume a huge percentage of the world’s energy and account for more than 70 percent of global CO2 emissions. If they are part of the problem, argues C40, they must also be part of the solution. Infrastructure such as buildings, lighting and transport systems must be more energy efficient. Advanced waste management could help resources to be used more effectively, while clean energy must also be produced and sourced. “The effects of climate change will be keenly felt in all our cities,” explained a spokesman for the group, who added that many of the world’s major cities are at risk of flooding from rising sea levels. Heat-trapping by buildings and paved surfaces can also cause temperatures to rise and dangerously lower air quality due to the urban heat island effect. “In the cities of the developing world, one in three people live in a slum, making them particularly vulnerable to the health and environmental risks posed by climate change,” continued the spokesman. “The good news is that cities are uniquely equipped to deal with the challenges they face. As centers of cultural, political and economic leadership, cities can act on climate change and implement bold steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that others may follow.” So what kind of examples should we be looking at? Well, Curitiba in Brazil is a great place to start. As well as having the highest rate of recycling in the world – currently around 70 percent – they’ve managed to reduce car traffic by almost

a third thanks to superb public transport, even though the population has trebled in the past 20 years. It also controls potential flooding through building large numbers of beautiful parks – providing green space rather than concrete and asphalt – and uses sheep to keep the grass nibbled short as it’s cheaper and more energy efficient than lawn-mowers. Granted, this is unlikely to be a realistic solution for every city, but it’s not a bad role model. Alternatively, it’s well worth mentioning an ambitious project by American land developers Kitson & Partners. They’re building what’s being touted as “the world’s most sustainable city” in the sunshine state of Florida – and want to export the model (or bits of it) elsewhere around the world. Power for the 70 square kilometer Babcock Ranch would be provided almost entirely by the sun, with “smart” homes only using energy when needed. Driverless, electric cars would ferry people to work in low-emission buildings, while systems for healthcare, education, public safety and transport would “talk” to each other, making everything as efficient as possible. “A problem many local governments have is that one department has no idea what another is doing,” notes Sydney Kitson, CEO of Kitson & Partners. “The future is one in which systems touch systems and are able to work together.” The fledging project is still very much in development, but it’s clear that it has enormous potential. For the immediate future, however, it makes more sense to look at what’s already up and running. Take London, for example. This summer saw the opening of the Harlequin 1 building, which is occupied by a number of sports and broadcasting companies. In 2010 it was named Sustainable Project of the Year, achieving an A-rated energy performance certificate and “Excellent” judgment by BREEAM, the most widely-used environmental assessment method in the UK. Features include a combined cooling and heating on-site

power plant which burns renewable waste, a wind turbine which will produce 40 percent of the building’s energy, rainwater harvesting to irrigate green spaces and flush toilets and energy efficient, solar and motion-sensor lighting. It’s clear, then, that the actual hardware of a building is key when it comes to minimizing environmental impact. And that’s an area where company’s such as AkzoNobel can really get involved and help to shape the future. Our own Keep Cool program is a classic example. Launched by our Decorative Paints Research & Innovation Group in Slough in the UK, it was established to explore strategies to increase the solar reflectivity of exterior paints. Two successful products have already emerged – Dulux Weathershield SunReflect™ and Keep Cool™ paints – which have been introduced to the Indian and Singapore and Malaysian markets respectively. SunReflect has been certified by the Center for Energy Studies & Research – an Indian government agency. It reflects up to 90 percent more infrared radiation than comparable products. In fact, when two iden-tical panels were placed in the sun, measurements showed that the surface temperature of the one coated with SunReflect was up to 5ºC cooler than the one featuring a competitor’s product.

“In a climate such as ours in India, where our summer temperatures may be as high as 40 to 46ºC, this can make a very significant difference,” says Hemant Somani, Head of Marketing for AkzoNobel India. “Normally, infrared radiation is absorbed by the paint and transferred to the interior of the building. With SunReflect technology, the interior will be considerably cooler and that can actually lead to significant power savings on air conditioning.” So benefits all round then, both in terms of cost and environmental impact. But it doesn’t end there. AkzoNobel, through its Cool Chemistry® series of products, also manufactures and supplies a complete range of coil and extrusion coatings that complies with Energy Star guidelines and can contribute to LEED points – the internationally-recognized green building certification system. “Our coil coatings can be used in roofing panels, side wall panels, garage doors – all kinds of structures,” explains Lori Witherup, Building Products Technology Manager, North America Coil, for the company’s Industrial Coatings business. They are applied as part of a continuous automated application where a bare coil of metal is unwound, cleaned, chemically treated, primed and topcoated on both sides. “It allows us to apply natural-looking systems, for example a woodgrain look, the appearance of asphalt shingles or simply solid colors,” says Witherup, who is based in Ohio in the US. “Traditionally, the darker the color meant the more heat was absorbed and taken into a building. The way this technology works means we can increase the solar reflectance properties in our products so that even a black roof or sidewall is up to ten times more reflective than a traditional alternative.” She adds that statistics drawn up by the US Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency demonstrate that this can result in cost savings of up to 25 percent. “The technology is fairly simple, but we have to be selective in the pigments we use,” Witherup continues. “When we have warranties of up to 40 years, we need to be sure we have durability – the raw materials have to be of premium quality.” Does that impact cost and potential attractiveness to customers? “It does mean the Cool Chemistry products are more expensive, but everybody has been very receptive to the new formulations. One thing which has helped is that the US government is offering a tax credit to people with a metal roof on their homes which meets Energy Star guidelines. This means our customers who in turn supply roof panels to the public want to use our coatings to ensure their products are compliant.” Slowly but surely, people are realizing they need new tools and techniques if they’re to adapt. It’s no longer just about preventing change, it’s about developing coping strategies and resilience. Or as Judith Rodin, President of The Rockefeller Foundation, puts it: “Since it may be too late to stop the global warming that’s already occurred, we must also figure out how to survive it.”

Left: Architectural renderings of the solarpowered Babcock Ranch, which is designed to break new frontiers in sustainable development. Above: The Mallard Island Yacht Club in Long Beach Island, New Jersey, US, which features AkzoNobel’s TRINAR® COOL CHEMISTRY®.

Reach

for the sky Construction is big business. Very big. And as the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cities continue to expand, our buildings are getting taller. The age of the kilometer-high skyscraper is dawning. Words Daniel Grafton

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hen it comes to construction, almost inevitable that we will build until the only way is up. The we can build no more. And this seems to sheer rate, scale and variety be borne out by the statistics. According of building work taking place to a 2009 report by Global Construction in urban conurbations all over the world is Perspectives and Oxford Economics, staggering. And because room in our the global construction market will hit cities is at a premium, much of it is $12.7 trillion by 2020, an overall growth reaching dizzying heights. From the new of 70 percent over the next decade. Shard skyscraper in London (pictured) to Much of this growth will come from Asia. Project Triangle in Paris (a pyramid- The Global Construction 2020 report shaped structure designed to avoid cast- reckons that the infrastructure construcing a shadow on adjacent buildings) it’s tion market in emerging markets will like a never-ending race where the finish- grow by a whopping 128 percent over the ing line is always moving. next decade, compared with just 18 The most coveted prize is that of the percent during the same period in world’s tallest building, an accolade developed countries. China will become which regularly changes hands. One the world’s largest market as early as minute it’s Taiwan’s 509-meter Taipei 101 2018, with a 19.1 percent share worth tower, the next it’s current record-holder, almost $2.4 trillion by 2020. the 828-meter Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Who These growth figures are impressive. knows, by the time you’ve finished But what is driving this potential boom? reading this, the title might have changed “Construction industry growth, which is hands again. Guess what? As I write, it centered on Asian countries such as has just been revealed that Saudi Arabia China, India and Vietnam, is being driven plans to build the Kingdom Tower in primarily by economic policy,” says Srijith Jeddah, which will top 1,000 meters. Nair, AkzoNobel’s Worldwide Protective As the number of cranes on our city Coatings Market Manager – Infrastructure, horizons grows exponentially, it seems Water & Wastewater. “Governments in

these countries have introduced five-year plans to develop their infrastructures and are busy constructing roads, bridges and airports. For example, India is spending billions of dollars on developing its highways to help reduce traffic bottlenecks and open up economic development. The way these projects are being implemented in Asia is a big indicator of economic progress.” But despite the flattering growth statistics, you do, according to Nair, have to put things into perspective. “The construction industry suffered a severe downturn from 2007 to 2009, causing a slump in the annual construction output of the developed countries of over $650 billion – more than the entire output of the construction industries of both Germany and the UK combined. The brunt of this downturn, driven primarily by reduced credit, was taken by North America and Western Europe. While stimulus packages in the US and China have kept the momentum going, some projects, particularly in Europe and North America, have been put on the backburner.”

Nevertheless, the US will still see the strongest growth among developed nations – particularly during 2011 and 2013 – largely fueled by house building. However, other developed countries won’t fare as well. “Aside from credit issues, the cost of raw materials is rising faster than construction activity,” explains Nair. “The situation in the Middle East and North Africa is affecting the construction market, while mainland Europe and North America are also hindered by the European debt crisis and government budget policies.” It’s not all doom and gloom though. “Global sporting events – such as the London 2012 Olympics and the 2014 soccer World Cup in Brazil – will stimulate growth,” he adds. Indeed, AkzoNobel has supplied coatings for a number of 2012 Olympic structures, including protective coatings for the aquatic center, footbridge and energy and media centers; Dulux paints for the velopark and athletes’ village; and Glidden paint products for the basketball arena. Nair believes that the Asian-led construction boom is good news for

AkzoNobel, which is a major supplier to the industry. “We are well positioned to capitalize on this growth over the next decade for a number of reasons. Our joined-up, global approach as One AkzoNobel is a big benefit for customers. The company has many businesses that supply the construction industry, from protective coatings for structural steelwork, to powder coatings for windows, to coil coatings and decorative coatings for interiors. One AkzoNobel is a powerful concept from the customer’s point of view. This approach will significantly help to reduce customers’ sourcing and purchasing costs and provides the convenience of bringing all the coatings required for each specific building project under one umbrella. In addition, as legislation relating to fire and safety becomes more and more stringent, the demand for approved fire protection products will double by 2018.” Nair goes on to point out that our International Protective Coatings business supplies a range of high quality fire protection products which meet, and often exceed, the varying minimum

39 fire standards required by different countries. To help capitalize on this expected growth for fire protection coatings, AkzoNobel opened a new €7 million, state-of-the-art fire protection laboratory at its Felling site in the UK in June, which will become a center of excellence for intumescent coatings. “It’s an ultra-modern facility which will help us to drive innovation and deliver cuttingedge and sophisticated performance coatings technology in line with what our customers demand.” Sustainability is another key driver which could help AkzoNobel to benefit from the construction boom. “Ecofriendly products are fast becoming the norm and customers want to buy these green products with no compromise to their performance,” Nair goes on. “The green credentials of our paints will help us contribute positively to carbon neutral buildings and society at large.” These products include Interchar® 1120, a thin film, acrylic, waterborne intumescent coating designed to protect the interior of exposed steelwork, which meets a range of strict industry standards for fire

Photography: Tony Burns.

protection with zero VOC content. It has been used on many construction projects, including Shenzhen Airport T3 and Xi’an Xianyang Airport T3, both in China, which are currently ongoing. But aside from the sustainability aspects, what are the key features that coatings for the construction industry need to deliver? “Besides the specifics of each project, it is generally the durability, flexibility and long-term corrosion protection capabilities of a coating over its design life that are the primary challenge for the architect,” explains Nair. “Coatings need to perform to their intended design life in their specific environment – be it hot, arid, humid or wet. For example, the coatings system for the Marina Bay Sands complex in Singapore (see side story) used micaceous iron oxides (MIO) pigmentation to enhance the barrier protection to help protect the building from high salt levels, due to its proximity to the coast. This durability also extends to minimizing the impact of fires and explosions on structural steelwork to avoid building collapse. In addition, today’s tall buildings need a good level of flexibility in the exo-skeleton to help neutralize the

effects of high winds. This means coatings must be flexible. Invariably, appearance and special effects are a further consideration.” So what will be the key building trends in urban environments over the next few years, aside from growth in Asia and increased sustainability? “Fire and safety issues will progressively change for the better to avoid building collapse and loss of human life. Also, national or regional boundaries will begin to fade as developed regions look to work outside of their own geographic boundaries. Furthermore, design and creative efficiency will take center stage as the recent trend for exposed external steelwork and special effect paints shows. With billions of people living in cities, space is a huge challenge. Tall buildings will assume more significance, which inevitably puts pressure on resources. Architects and designers will be constantly challenged to bring about innovative ideas to optimize designs. Creativity, or rather innovation, is the only way to build efficiency with limited resources and to limit energy consumption.” All things considered, it seems that the only way is up.

Above: Construction work being carried out on the new government headquarters of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Photography: Lionel Derimais.

No job too big

AkzoNobel has a long and proud history of supplying protective coatings products to some of the world’s most eye-catching and prestigious construction projects – Beijing’s Olympic stadium, the London Eye and San Francisco’s new Bay Bridge to name just three. One of the latest is Singapore’s €4.7 billion Marina Bay Sands complex (picture below). Featuring three cascading 55-story hotel towers topped with an extraordinary SkyPark, it’s one of the world’s first integrated casino, hotel and leisure resorts. Designed by Safdie Architects, it has two floating pavilions, a 2,561-room hotel, a retail mall, two theaters, an ArtScience museum, a nightclub, world class celebrity chef restaurants, the world’s largest atrium casino, a convention and exhibition center (which can host 45,000 delegates), an ice skating rink and an outdoor event plaza. But the pièce de résistance is the 340-meter SkyPark, which sits on top of the three hotel towers. It’s the world’s

largest cantilevered platform – double the size of an Olympic pool – and can hold up to 3,900 people. It also includes a 150-meter infinity swimming pool, which overhangs the north tower by 67 meters. AkzoNobel provided more than than 200,000 liters of its International® protective coatings to the Marina Bay Sands complex, including Intergard® 251 and Intergard® 475 on the internal steelwork and an additional barrier of Intergard® 475HS MIO for the exposed steelwork. Both systems were completed with Interthane® 990, a durable, high gloss finish coat designed to complement high performance, anti-corrosive systems. Fire protection safety requirements and the ability to handle the high salt environment of the sea were met by Interchar® 212, a durable, epoxy-based intumescent coating which has enduring mechanical properties, enabling the steel to be painted before it arrived on site, so making the build easier.

The 52-story, 1,142 feet tall New York Times building – which has won several awards for its unique, exposed exoskeleton design and energy efficient innovations, including a glass curtain wall screened by ceramic tubes – is also coated with our intumescent fire protection Interchar 212. This technology provides protection against extreme heat fires and blast pressure generated by catastrophic events. An advantage of the epoxy intumescent is that it can be spray-applied off site, which helped address the project’s accelerated construction schedule, as well as meeting sustainable design methods. Other recent projects featuring our protective coatings include Blyth Street Sydney (Australia’s first major high rise building with a full, double-skin façade); the Abu Dhabi Investment Council HQ, which has an innovative design solution to reduce heat gain; and the Shenzhen International Airport expansion which, by 2012, will form one of the three largest airport hubs serving southern China.

Torg of the town Every large city has to cope with crime. Solving some of these problems with paint might sound like an unlikely scenario, but for one area of Stockholm, there does appear to be light at the end of the tunnel. Words & Photography Andrea A. Dixon

unny likes to hide in the shadows. Only “Plattan is known for drugs,” explains Sunny. “Me, known by his first name – which he I’ve been using for 15 years. First tried it on my acknowledges isn’t his real one – the birthday. By the time I was 20 I was in jail. I’m always 31-year-old Swede skulks around the stealing shit or hustling or dealing.” His efforts to find underground cavern which has become a regular whatever he can to help support his habit usually haunt. Dressed in a baggy red jacket and a land him in jail about every six months. He has also sideways baseball cap, he swaggers through the been stabbed. “I was in a gang too,” he admits. “I’m dark plaza with an intimidating confidence, seem- lucky, I got out in good standing. I’m happy about ingly boisterous and aggressive. At other times, he that because maybe I wouldn’t be breathing lurks in the shade, wary and suspicious. anymore. One of my friends got shot twice in the Everyone is welcome here. Narcs, former gang head yesterday. He’s dead.” It’s a familiar story in bangers, they all come to Plattan, he says. “Nobody many cities, but in Stockholm they’re trying to do gives a f*** if you’re a snitch,” he continues, his eyes something about it. “People avoid the square darting around. “Down here, this is the last station.” because it’s dark and not safe,” says Johan Ohlsson Plattan (roughly translated from the Swedish as “the of City i Samverkan, a local non-profit urban improveflat place”) is the slang term often used to describe ment and development organization which has Sergels Torg, the busiest and most central plaza in been trying to improve the area around Sergels Torg downtown Stockholm. Surrounded by five modern and other parts of the city for years. “They know it’s buildings, the square consists of a fountain and a place where drug dealers hang out.” crystal sculpture in the middle of a traffic ellipse with According to architectural historian Martin an open, underground passageway filled with shops Rörby, the square was originally planned as “a city below. At one end, the passage empties onto a center for the modern man.” Built in the 1960s at the sunken plaza where the distinctive black and white end of the Modernist movement by architect David triangular pattern can be viewed from the street Helldén, it is the only multi-level sunken plaza of its above. During the day, the square is a bustling place, kind in the world. Intended to be an open area for but people rarely linger underground and largely people to gather, like the ancient speakers’ corners, avoid the area at night. it was designed with amenities such as shops,

Left: The company’s Nordsjö paint products were used to help transform Sergels Torg. Right: The refurbishment is designed to give the popular square back to the public.

galleries, theaters, restaurants and public transport. But almost immediately after construction had been completed, the area started to become a problem. “Drug dealers began moving here after a few weeks,” notes Rörby, Secretary-General of the Council for Protection of Ecological and Aesthetic Matters for the City of Stockholm. So while the easy access of the square by train, subway and bus was convenient for the “modern man,” it also proved appealing to the criminal element. Stockholm Police Inspector Hans Örtendahl says the underground square has been a police officer’s nightmare. The difference in lighting is so dramatic that if an officer is chasing a suspected criminal, they can be blinded by the daylight or plunged into darkness when crossing between the subterranean shopping area and the open square. There are also many exits and entrances to the plaza, making it easy for fleeing criminals to slip away into the labyrinthine city streets. And the police can’t ask suspected drug users or dealers to leave the area – despite the fact that it’s underground – because it is a public space. “If you give them a foothold in a place, they’ll take over. They like it where it’s dark, shabby and dirty, not where it’s nice and new and light. They flee when you make a nice place.” Part of a special crime prevention unit based in the Klara district, where Sergels Torg is located, Örtendahl’s team investigates theft, narcotics and violent crimes. He estimates there are 100 to 200 addicts like Sunny in the area. “I know them by name and they know me by name. It’s kinder-garten for grownups and I’m the teacher.” Örtendahl acknow-ledges that many are people with nowhere to go, who can’t break the vicious cycle. “Addicts come here for social reasons. This is the only place that people know their name. Where they live, they are nothing. In this place, they are something – someone.” Even Sunny admits he may be better off in jail. “Right now I’ve got two doses of methadone (a prescription meant to help heroin users survive the withdrawal) left,” he says worriedly. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I hope I can get in jail again so I can burn it off.” He says he has tried to quit many times, but the heroin is too strong, and without the meth, he knows he’ll go back to the drugs. Staring blankly ahead, he adds: “I want people to know. I don’t want their children to be running here and using.”

Frustrated by what Sergels Torg had become, Ohlsson, Örtendahl and Rörby recently joined forces with several others to form a council to improve the conditions of the square. “It was meant to be an open square for everyone, but then it turned into this dark place,” Ohlsson reflects. “It should be a positive place for expression, joy and celebration. We want to give this place back to the public.” They called in Henrik Gidlund, a lighting engineer for the City of Stockholm, who was asked to review conditions at the square, particularly underground. During the day, the light below ground – which mainly floods in via glass skylights set into the bottom of the fountain above – can be beautiful on sunny days. But at night, the light is negligible. Gidlund realized that strong lights alone wouldn’t do much good without a brighter ceiling, because they would just be absorbed by the gritty, dark space. So Ohlsson decided to call AkzoNobel in Sweden to see if they would be interested in painting the Sergels Torg ceiling. He was quickly put in touch with AkzoNobel color specialist Per Nimer, who met with Rörby to discuss how to improve the look and safety of the square, while maintaining the integrity of the initial design. Using the company’s Nordsjö paint, the refurbishment took a month to complete, with work only taking place at night due to the busy nature of the square. “We’re really glad this project is being carried out because it will make a big impact,” states Gidlund. “One of the good things about this project is that AkzoNobel is helping us promote a positive image of Sergels Torg. It will add to a good feeling for people that we are doing something to enhance the square. We are making it feel as it should and it will make people more proud of it.” Continues Rörby: “The amazing thing about this 50-yearold design is that it works out perfectly today. I would say it was far ahead of its time, actually. The painting of this ceiling has been instrumental in creating a place that you want to stroll around in and not flee from. This is actually the heart of the capital of Sweden. And some talk about Stockholm as the capital of Scandinavia. We believe that this square has its future ahead of it, not behind it.”

Why pollution is a dirty word One of the biggest challenges facing every city and its inhabitants is that of pollution. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a growing problem which needs urgent attention. But where is it coming from and whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s being done to get rid of it?

Words Daniel Grafton

Previous spread: Traffic chokes the roads in Jakarta, Indonesia, regardless of the day or the time. Photography: Lionel Derimais. Right: London produces 20 million tons of waste a year, with only around a quarter being recycled. Photography: Tony Burns.

urning coal pumps plumes of dark smoke into urbanization has resulted in the need to develop contaminated the sky. A thick blanket smothers the city, causing land in cities such as Beijing. And what about noise pollution? residents to cough and splutter. Meanwhile, wash- The din of construction, road works and traffic drives many city ing on the clothes line turns black before it has a dwellers mad, especially in the world’s noisiest conurbations – chance to dry. It could be a scene from a Dickens novel, but this New York, Tokyo and Buenos Aires. Here, noise levels regularly isn’t a reference to Victorian London’s deadly smog. According hit 70 or 80 decibels, well over the World Health Organization to Time magazine, the conditions described above are being noise limit of 55 decibels. experienced right now in the world’s most polluted city – So what can be done to reduce this potentially lethal Linfen in China. cocktail of pollution? When it comes to tackling dirty air, a good With the latest figures from the World Bank showing global place to start is cleaning up vehicle emissions – more than 90 CO2 emissions at 30,649,360 kilotons, whether we like it or not, percent of air pollution in the developing world is caused by old urban pollution remains a 21st century priority. And, as relent- and poorly maintained vehicles. This is exactly what happened less urban sprawl continues, the problems of greenhouse gas in Bangkok. Once renowned for its dense, choked and humid emissions will stay in the spotlight for many years to come. air, the city now has better air quality than some of its Asian The World Health Organization estimates that 1.5 billion neighbors, including Beijing, Jakarta and Shanghai. Local Thai people living in urban areas breathe in dangerous levels of air government officials persuaded oil companies to produce pollution, resulting in increased respiratory illness, disability and cleaner fuel, introduced higher taxes to phase out two-stroke even death. A reduction in particulate matter (PM10 ) pollution motorcycles, converted all taxis to run on liquefied petroleum from 70 to 20 micrograms per cubic meter can cut air quality gas and imposed strict emission controls based on European related deaths by around 15 percent – no mean feat when you norms. Washing of the streets was introduced to reduce dust, consider it currently costs one billion lives a year. Air pollution is while Buddhist crematoriums were persuaded to change from also expensive. The United Nations Environment Program, for wood-burning pyres to electronic incinerators. example, estimates it accounts for around 2 percent of GDP The result? Well, even though the number of vehicles in developed countries and 5 percent in developing countries. registered in Bangkok has increased by 40 percent over the But urban pollution is not just about bad air quality. Water past decade, pollution has been cut by 47 percent to 43 pollution is another major concern. The World Water Assessment micrograms per cubic meter. Other cities have also introduced Program estimates that two million tons of human waste is similar initiatives. Barcelona, with its high density of vehicles per disposed of in water each day. In New Delhi, water pollution is square kilometer (6,100 compared with London’s 1,300), now so severe that it’s the major reason for building more recently launched an electric motorcycle scheme offering free hospitals in the city. Then there’s soil contamination from charging until 2012, while London has its congestion charge industrial chemicals, a particular problem in China, where rapid zone and San Francisco and Sydney their car sharing schemes.

But it’s not just the responsibility of governments to address pollution. Global corporate citizens also have a role to play. According to Roger Harcrow, Director of Integrated Supply Chain and Research, Development and Innovation at AkzoNobel’s Specialty Chemicals business, tackling these pollution issues has many advantages. “At AkzoNobel, we do not only see greenhouse gas emissions and waste as pollution, we also see these as opportunities to improve our energy and process efficiencies. By reducing CO2 emissions and waste from our factory processes, we can gain production efficiencies. “For example, we have reduced energy consumption at our manufacturing sites by installing high efficiency electric motors, heat exchangers to re-use process energy and variable frequency drives to allow energy supply to vary with energy needs. With waste, we first reduce where possible by removing

water from solid waste or recycling shipping containers, and then we look to ‘upgrade’ it to a by-product which can be reused as a raw material in other processes. This includes high efficiency filtration systems, the use of recycle systems that minimize fresh water usage and the combustion of gases, such as hydrogen (which is generated from some of our processes) to produce energy in the form of steam or electricity. We either sell this heat or energy to third parties or utilize it at our sites, thus reducing our reliance on external energy sources. “We also continuously improve product effectiveness so we can ship a higher concentration of product in lower volumes. In some cases, we try to locate our sites near or adjacent to our customers to reduce transport emissions. We are also installing technologies that allow our products to be applied more effectively at our customers’ sites. This improves their processes,

A man riding his bicycle across a severely polluted river in the suburb of Agbogbloshie in Ghana’s capital, Accra. In recent years, the area has become a dumping ground for computers and electronic waste from Europe and the US. Much of it ends up in Agbogbloshie dump, where it’s broken apart, usually by children, to salvage the copper, hard drives and other components that can be sold on. Photography: Andrew McConnell.

as well as minimizing our transportation costs. Where possible, we are delivering our products in bulk or larger quantities, helping to reduce packaging.” And it is not just at manufacturing sites where all these pollution reducing activities are taking place. Adds Harcrow: “We use high efficiency lighting and are increasing the use of motion detection systems to provide lighting only when needed in our offices, where we also have numerous recycling points for paper. In addition, we have implemented quite an aggressive company vehicle policy which restricts CO2 emissions and demands high fuel efficiency.” The hope is that as sustainable activities continue to grow, global greenhouse gas emissions will gradually be cut and city dwellers will be able to breathe easier. And, with any luck, our washing lines will be kept clean from soot.

a new hope

What does the future hold in store for the way we live? If it was up to one imaginative Belgian, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be living on lilypads and traveling in seaweed-powered airships. The Force is strong in this one.

WORDS David Lichtneker Illustrations Vincent Callebaut Architectures S.A.R.L.

The Lilypad concept features a centrally located artificial lagoon which is totally immersed below the water line to act as ballast for the city. Power is provided through a series of renewable sources, including solar, thermal and wind energy. All carbon dioxide and waste would be recycled.

ry to imagine what cities of the future will look like and it’s hard not to think of Blade Runner’s towering, rain-soaked metropolis, ablaze with neon and alive with the hum of flying vehicles. It’s a fantastical vision which has influenced countless other movies and still endures in popular culture nearly 30 years later. Ridley Scott’s 1982 sci-fi classic is not alone, however. Film and TV have long been bombarding us with dazzling images of futuristic living. From the Skypad Apartments in The Jetsons to Space 1999’s Moonbase Alpha and Cloud City in The Empire Strikes Back, writers and designers haven’t held back when it comes to letting their fertile imaginations run riot. But it would be difficult to envisage a rampant, gun-toting Harrison Ford pursuing artificial beings around the stunning creations dreamed up by award-winning Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut. Amid the seemingly unstoppable expansion of today’s megacities, the young Belgian has adopted a refreshingly different mindset. Taking his inspiration from the natural world, he devises sustainable concepts rooted in the need to create a harmonious co-existence between humans and nature. Some would no doubt call his visionary approach a bit far-fetched, but others would be quick to detect a stroke of genius. One of his most celebrated creations is that of a floating city, which he based on the design of a lilypad. Powered by renewable energy sources, these amphibious cities could one day provide a permanent home for climate change refugees. “Some countries spend billions working on making their beaches and dams bigger and stronger, but the lilypad project is actually a long-term solution to the problem of the water rising,” explains Callebaut. Centered around a lake which collects and then purifies rain water, the lilypad drifts around the world, following ocean currents and streams. Able to accommodate up to 50,000 people, it has no roads or cars, is covered by plants housed in suspended gardens and is accessed by three marinas. Three “mountains” are respectively dedicated to work, shops and entertainment. Power is provided through a series of renewable sources, including solar, thermal, wind energy, hydraulic and a tidal power station. In fact, the city would actually produce more energy than it consumes, with all carbon dioxide and waste being recycled. “I think trying to accommodate the millions of people left homeless by environmental changes will prove to be one of the great challenges of the 21st century,” continues Callebaut, who calls his lilypad design a true amphibian, half-aquatic, half-terrestrial city. He also stresses that it meets the four main challenges launched by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 2008 – climate, biodiversity, water and health. With global seas levels expected to rise significantly over the next century, the lilypad concept – while perhaps prohibitively expensive – certainly has its merits. But Callebaut (who hopes it becomes a reality by 2100) hasn’t stopped there. He’s also aiming to kick start an aerial revolution and make travel more sustainable. How? By introducing selfsufficient, organic airships powered by seaweed. Known as Hydrogenase, the conceptual transport system is focused on vertical aircraft that are

Callebaut has conceived various generations of the Hydrogenase, each with more advancements, designed to deliver a 100 percent self-sufficient organic airship by 2030.

inflated using bio-hydrogen. They have room for housing, offices, laboratories and entertainment, providing “clean and ethical mobility to meet the needs of a population in distress touched by natural and sanitary catastrophes.” Capable of flying at an average height of 2,000 meters, the airships feature 20 wind propellers articulated around orbital rings which enable them to go from the horizontal position at take-off to the vertical position, assuring the vessel a navigation speed of 175km per hour. Instead of using runways, they dock with floating organic farms, which provide the bio-hydrogen needed to make them fly. “These two independent entities are

both nomad and organic,” Callebaut points out. “The first one flies in the sky and the second on the seas and oceans.” He says they would be dedicated to humanitarian missions, rescue operations, the installation of platforms for scientific studies and air freight. Complementary activities could be entertainment, eco-tourism, hotels, human transport and territorial water surveillance. Still in his 30s, Callebaut also delivers a cautionary message to anyone who questions his motives. He warns that within a decade, the world could reach the so-called “Hubbert Peak”, the precise moment from which global fuel production will begin to decrease because of shortages. Given this

Left: Conceived as a response to the density of Hong Kong, the Perfumed Jungle project would “re-naturalize” the city by extending the central waterfront with organic towers. Below left: Built on seismic piers, the Coral Reef concept uses prefabricated, modular units which can be fitted into a wave-like matrix as space is needed.

looming threat, solutions such as Hydrogenase take on land to grow their own food, while a canyon flows between two increased significance. “Hydrogenase is a project of environ- rows of housing and is filled with a tropical ecosystem for the mental resiliency which will enable us to invent clean, cradle to local fauna and flora. Aquaculture farms and grey water cradle mobility, respecting our planet while also assuring the recycling plants filter and process the water before sending it technological evolution of human adventure.” into the sea. The entire complex is carbon neutral and is Back in the real world, the planet’s newest city is currently powered via a number of different renewable energy sources. being constructed in South Korea. Songdo International The project was launched as a response to the 2010 Haiti Business District is being built off Incheon on the Yellow Sea. earthquake, with Callebaut visualizing sustainable social Designed to establish a new standard of smart urban housing built on an artificial pier. development which is environmentally sustainable, the first Undeniably graceful, Callebaut’s progressive architectural phase of the $35 billion development opened in 2009. Due to approach has deservedly got him noticed and, not surprisingly, be completed by 2015 – when it will be home to 65,000 people won him many admirers. Fellow architect Joel Claisse says the and host 300,000 workers – Songdo is being touted as a prime young Belgian has “a bouncing and critical imagination with a example of cutting-edge city building. It boasts the wide boule- perfect control of new technologies.” Winner of several awards, vards of Paris, a huge central park reminiscent of New York, a his impressive portfolio currently features more than 30 other modern canal system inspired by Venice and will house a Jack design concepts, including Dragonfly – a metabolic farm for Nicklaus championship golf course. Advanced technology is urban agriculture in New York – and the Perfumed Jungle, an also woven into its infrastructure thanks to wireless networking ecological masterplan for the central waterfront in Hong Kong. and radio frequency identification tags. Once up and running, it How many of them will ever see the light of day is open to will be the world’s first fully networked city. debate, but chances are we’ll see Callebaut’s vision become It’s all a far cry from Callebaut’s eco-inspired vision, despite reality long before we emulate Star Wars and find ourselves 40 percent of Songdo being officially designated green. Mostly living in cities in the clouds. because the Belgian architect’s incredibly creative mind works on an entirely different wavelength, epitomized by his Coral Reef concept. It’s centered on a village comprised of prefabricated, modular units which can be fitted into a wave-like matrix as space is needed. Each family would have a plot of Look beyond: vincent.callebaut.org

Photography: David Lichtneker.

Heading for a fall? Running a successful city is no easy task. Globalization is making the job even tougher. So how do you avoid failure? It’s all down to the survival of the wisest.

WORDS Jim Wake

ome cities work, others are dismal failures. Some grow, thrive and re-invent themselves over and over again – like Jerusalem, for example, where layer upon layer of history reveals itself as you stroll around the old town. Others, however, seem to be overtaken by events and slide into irreversible decline. I grew up in Niagara Falls, NY, in the United States – a place famous for its spectacular waterfalls. Many people don’t realize that, unlike other natural wonders in the US, such as the Grand Canyon, Old Faithful and Yosemite Valley, Niagara Falls is a real city. Its economy was based not just on the iconic waterfalls drawing tourists from across the globe (it used to be known as the honeymoon capital of the world), but also on the river as a source of cheap and plentiful power. By the beginning of the 20th century, water-powered mills had been replaced by low-priced electrical power. My dad opened a men’s clothing store on thriving Main Street in the late 1950s to dress the men who ran those factories. In the early 1960s, the city had a population in excess of 100,000. Today, Niagara Falls, NY, has just over 50,000 residents. Main Street is practically a ghost town and huge sections of the town are now derelict. I’ve long harbored a fantasy to see Main Street turned into a 1950s theme park, but since they tore down one of the

derelict blocks to build a new courthouse and jail, that’s no longer a viable option. Niagara Falls failed because air travel and interstate highways enabled tourists to get to other exotic locations just as easily. It failed because the cost of labor became a much more important consideration for industrialists than the cost of energy, and because city leaders either couldn’t, or wouldn’t, adjust to the new realities. So what is it that makes the difference between prosperity and decline? What drives that re-invention process that keeps cities like London and New York thriving, while cities like Detroit in the US or the industrial and mining centers in the UK – such as Sheffield, Stoke and Newcastle – stagnate? In many cases, says city strategy specialist Greg Clark, the problem is excessive specialization. “Industrial cities in North America and Europe were enormously successful in their day and time, but mistakes were made in not recognizing how vulnerable they were to de-industrialization. They lost their adaptability because they had all their eggs in one economic basket. The more successful cities invested in developing additional economic activity.” Clark, who advises on development with cities all over the world, as well as IGOs such as the OECD and World Bank, notes that some cities that have hit a serious rough patch have

The city of Niagara Falls in the US has become something of a ghost town, despite the ongoing popularity of the nearby tourist magnet. Photography: Jim Wake.

managed to reverse the slide, often when visionary leaders take charge. He singles out Barcelona as a case in point. “Following the Franco dictatorship, which ended in 1975, Barcelona was devastated. It had had its political institutions deliberately weakened, its economy had been allowed to become derelict, the Franco dictatorship had centralized economic power and political power in Madrid, and what did Barcelona do? It got together its most creative leaders and they effectively planned the urban renaissance of the city as a way of attracting attention and interest again, and then they rebuilt the economy based on the infrastructure that they were able to put there. So Barcelona is a terrific example of going from being a devastated place in 1975 to being one of the top five cities in Europe in 2011.” Of course, specific strategies can make an important difference, and Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas, who currently heads up London & Partners – London’s newly launched official promotional agency – says that one of the best is the establishment of what is called a BID (Business Improvement District), an approach first implemented in Toronto in 1970. A BID works by designating a particular part of a city for economic development and then imposing a special tax on businesses in that district to fund the development activities. “They really have been successful, re-generating huge parts of New York, for example,” explains Dame Judith. “Business comes together and decides what it thinks the district needs in terms of making the place secure, making sure economic development is dynamic and that public places are good. Then they decide on a plan and put it to a vote, and if the businesses give it a thumbs up, they add to the business rate or tax they are paying.” BIDs necessarily involve the public sector and the private sector, and Dame Judith and Greg Clark both strongly endorse the concept of public-private partnership. “I can’t find an example of a city that has been successful over several decades, or even several hundreds of years, where there hasn’t been a very well-organized and articulate private sector leadership that sat symmetrically, or in parallel with, the city leadership and played a number of important roles,” notes Clark. “They’re able to challenge city governments to do more and to do better, asking them to be more business-like and less bureaucratic,

requesting of them that they focus on what’s important in the have the sort of top people wanting to live in our city and work long term and not just the short term, because politicians are in our city and contribute to the economic life of our city. To be locked in a system of three, four or five year mandates, which a world class city you have to be culturally alive and dynamic. tends to encourage short-termism.” And you have to know that and see that, not as a bolt-on, but as Another characteristic of successful cities, adds Clark, is part of the DNA of the city.” Looked at from that perspective, that they have a spirit of innovation. “They are places where those cutbacks in cultural subsidies that are part of the current things are invented – new technologies, new processes, new focus on austerity may, in fact, be compromising prospects for ways of doing things, new products. Part of the diversification future prosperity. that is so important comes from internal innovation systems.” And, says Clark, it’s not just “high culture” that matters, but You might then ask if it’s a matter of luck – if you happen to have what he calls the “vibe and buzz”. Cities need to find ways to a brilliant inventor in your midst, your city stands to gain – but support youth culture and make spaces available for art and Clark says its not as serendipitous as all that. culture at various levels. “I happen to believe that it’s also “You can nurture innovation, firstly by having a focus on your important to have within successful cities certain kinds of lawdesire to be in the lead in inventiveness, and by bringing together less zones where ‘low culture’ can exist as well. Whether it’s the business and capital and by making your city a place that all-night restaurant zones, or it’s the jazz and blues scene, or attracts and retains geniuses – by which, of course, I mean whether it’s a red light district, or a part of the city where the clever people. Internal and external connectivity are very ‘shadow side’ of humanity can also give itself expression, I think important things for long-term success and openness and those places are important as well.” attractiveness to people. In the end, the thing that makes a city Ultimately, stresses Clark, there is one essential quality that succeed or not is if people want to go and live there. Usually distinguishes successful cities from unsuccessful ones – the that’s driven by economic opportunities, but sometimes it can competitive advantage that results from strong and wise be driven by other things, such as location, or beauty, or quality leadership. Wisdom, or a lack of it, is what has led to inexorable of life, or lifestyle. Or it can be driven by the desire to learn things, decline in places like Niagara Falls, and even though I haven’t which is why university towns tend to do very well.” lived there for years, I can attest to the fact that bright young Dame Judith, a transplanted New Zealander and a former minds have left in droves over the years, leaving the fate of the law professor, played a key role in the governance of the City of city in the hands of opportunists and worse. London (London’s financial district), served as Provost of King’s “Just like a company or a country,” says Clark, “in the end College, Cambridge, and was Chairman of the Royal Opera good leadership is what differentiates a successful city from the House. Perhaps it’s not all that surprising, then, that she feels others. That leadership can come both from the formal that art and culture are also crucial elements of a successful city. structures of city government, but it also comes from the private “People think that culture is an add-on, but it’s not. It’s actually and civic sectors. It’s just about recognizing that the city is an very much at the root of what makes a successful city. If you entity itself that needs to make adjustments, plan its course, take the cultural institutions in London – the great museums, the accommodate growth, sometimes accommodate decline, be opera, the ballet, the theater, the music, whether it’s modern or flexible in facing the future, have a clear sense of purpose of traditional – these are the things that actually create excitement. what it is, and have a strong relationship with its citizens and They are the things that tourists want to come and visit. They’re other stakeholders.” the things that enrich local people’s lives, but they’re It all sounds so simple and obvious, but there’s a trail of also economically very important, because without them, we devastated inner cities scattered across the industrial world that wouldn’t have the tourist industry that we have and we wouldn’t serve as compelling proof that it’s anything but easy.

Photography: Tony Burns.

A meeting of minds

Earlier this year, around 100 British and While the participants were looking Dutch politicians, urban planning specifically at the contrasts between specialists, artists, architects and British and Dutch cities in the hope they business people – urban thinkers, so to could learn from each other, some of speak – met in Rotterdam to consider the key participants also touched on the factors that make for “successful topics of more general relevance. cities”. The meeting was organized by “For citymakers, it’s less about direct the Apeldoorn Conference, a bilateral intervention and more about building conference launched in 1999 by Dutch favorable conditions in which actors Prime Minister Wim Kok and UK Prime can create,” noted Alexander Rinnoy Minister Tony Blair to reflect on issues of Kan, co-chair of the Apeldoorn political relevance and shared concerns, Conference and Chairman of the Social such as competitiveness, sustainability and Economic Council of the and identity and citizenship. Netherlands. Added Pim Waldeck, The conference is a unique, publicAmbassador of the Kingdom of the private partnership supported by the Netherlands to the United Kingdom: Dutch and British foreign ministries, the “People expect city government to British Council and ten companies, arrange everything for them, but more including AkzoNobel. Indeed, Maarten and more, the only way to make cities van den Bergh, former Chairman of more habitable and hospitable places AkzoNobel’s Supervisory Board, served where things can grow and flourish is as co-chair of the Apeldoorn Conference by the participation of the people from 2005 until 2008. themselves.”

Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas (see main story), who also co-chaired the conference, highlighted the importance of integration during the event held in March. “With globalization, you get global cities that have almost a mini-United Nations among those who count themselves as citizens. I think what is most challenging is that you have to find a way of governing and running those cities which includes all the communities within them and to make certain that you don’t get ghettos and isolate groups that don’t participate in the city’s life.” She also noted that many of the most important connections at conferences like the one in Rotterdam are made in the hallways between meetings, or over dinner and drinks. “My impression was that this was a very dynamic conference that created lasting partnerships between people, which is the whole point.”

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THE AKZONOBEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 9 September 2011