Babeling

I've been waiting for something truly shiny to bring me back to the keyboard. Try this for size:

Main specification of SKY CITY ONE (PDF)

Building area: 1,610,000 m2 (Plot ratio: 50)

Land area: 32,400m2 (180×180)

Building storey: 200

Total height: 666m

Earthquake resistance level: Level 9 ①

Construction material: Approx. 400 kg/m2 ②

Energy consumption: 90kWh/m2a ③

Indoor air ventilation: 100% fresh air, 99% purification, ventilation frequency 5-10 times/h in occupancy

Fabrication term: 4months for fabrication, 2 months for installation

Occupancy capacity: Rated 70,000 people, Maximum 100,000 people

That's right, a building 666(!) Metres high to house 70,000. That's roughly the population of my home town. Put another way, you could house the entire UK population in just 1,000 of these things. That certainly points towards a rewilding prospect, which would have carbon absorbtion benefits. That said, I hope there is good noise insulation.

But, note the hierarchy built into it's plan, expensive rich apartments at the top, plebs below. Ideology in concrete, despite it's claim that "World’s top ten highest skyscrapers are built only for the rich. SKY CITY is shared by the rich and the common."

They are, apparently, seriously proposing to have this thing up in two months. Although, I note from this report" The Chinese authorities have yet to give the go-ahead. Still, a fascinating concept.

The ongoing agricultural revolution

At last I am moved by a story to write: German Urban Farms the company's website is here.

The Frisch vom Dach, or Fresh from the Roof project, plans to create a 7,000-square-meter roof garden, complete with a fish farm, to provide Berliners with sustainable, locally-grown food....

The fish will be sold as food and, crucially, their excretions, especially the ammonia excreted through the gills, will be converted into nitrates. That will serve as fertilizer for the plants growing in green houses above the fish tanks. In turn, the plants will purify the water for the fish. The system for sustainable food production is known as "aquaponics."

The first instance of vertical farming, or industrial farming. Bringing the countryside into the city. As the Spiegel article points out, this model is low energy, unlike the more science fictional dreams of vertical farms. It also fits in with the permaculture crowd. That said, it does offer the prospect of advancing the cause of re-wilding (and of driving urbanisation faster).

I'd be interested in how much their prototype container farm manages to produce, since the idea of mass producing and distributing a container/greenhouse strikes me as being an efficient way to spread food production massively.