Christine Rohrbacher – 12/11/15The invention of autonomous vehicles will push urban infrastructure to a new level and promote better management of movement within cities. Through the use of a technological membrane covering all horizontal surfaces, traffic can be monitored, estimated and changed in real-time to enhance flow and user experience. By doing so, this will create a city that can easily adapt to the needs of the people, and sustainable needs of the city. This membrane called the Sentient Street will cover all horizontal hard surfaces, combining streets, bike lanes, sidewalks and large open space in-front, between and behind buildings. These streets will become more flexible in their day-to-day use. They will be separated depending on need, and will constantly change and adapt throughout the day. Large public squares will be implemented during specific times of day, adjacent to major streets. The hierarchy of movement will automatically shift to the pedestrian, followed by the bicyclist, autonomous vehicle and then user controlled vehicle. The idea of the Sentient Street derived from Shepard’s article: Toward The Sentient City, explains the use and importance of sentience within urban context. Sentient technology is able to hear and feel. It is important to the growth of cities because it allows every person to contribute. As well, this form of data collection omits common city stereotypes, allowing for a very useful quantitative result. The Sentient Street will allow cities to push ideals aside and move into an age that is architecturally driven, backed up by technology and focused on user experience.

 

Autonomous vehicles need a technological structure to maneuver through urban environments with ease. With the implementation of the Sentient Street, autonomous vehicles can connect to the same grid as public transportation, bicycles and pedestrians. This will create a web of knowledge that each mode of transportation can use and therefore react to. The information can be compiled and used to predict future needs of each street. This web of knowledge is collected from the Sentient Street. Sentience refers to the ability of an object or technology to feel or hear. “It feels you, but doesn’t necessarily know you”, (Shepard, 31). The Sentient City works so well because it relies on the destabilization of human operation, and therefore omitting any stereotypical thought that a human manually deriving this data may come into contact with (Shepard, 31). The Sentient Street is important to the growth of the a city because it allows all unseen data to be brought to the table, as well as unfiltered data from every possible form of movement. The street’s technology can put the data to the test and continually improve its city. Overall, the Sentient Street relies on its data to come up with better standard forms of movement, which derives more data, creating a continual efficiency relying on one another.

 

            The Sentient Street is an artificial ecology which will be mixed into all existing natural and artificial ecologies. In Stan Allen’s article: Urbanism’s in the Plural, he describes how cities should be designed as complex systems that at adaptive through interaction and ability to adapt to conditions of change (Allen, 43). Each piece of this complex system would be a single ecology. “Ecologies are dynamic systems that maintain equilibrium through the interaction and feedback of multiple variables”, (Allen, 46). Implementing the Sentient Street as an artificial ecology would create many more ecologies branching from it, and allow for many changes to current ecologies. I think that it is very important for the evolution of urban environments to implement constant change within their complex system. These changes will create new ideas, new data and allow for even more improvements to happen. 

 

            The Sentient Street automatically moves the pedestrian to the top of the hierarchal list. This move will help push cities to a more pedestrian friendly, safer and healthier place, promoting walking, meeting points and public squares throughout the downtown core. By doing so, a typology will be created, making “Infrastructure the heart of the next generation’s public sphere”, (Cuff, 21). This will cause an inconvenience for people relying on user controlled vehicles since they will now be at the bottom of the list, pushing them to consider alternative and more sustainable means of travel. Vehicle parking will fluctuate as needed. While parking fills up, depending on all influential variables, more parking will appear. Pedestrian safety is reliant on how people use the specific city. This move will be enhanced by the Sentient Street either way, by creating bright, safe habitable areas that target pedestrians as their main audience. Shepard talks about Koolhaas’ idea of the genetic program, and how people will eventually inhabit and use any space regardless of their formal arrangement (Shepard, 23). By implementing this Sentient Street, you are giving more pedestrians the opportunity to inhabit more space in their city to do what they choose.

 

            Safety is very important, and this technology provides a means for quantitative observation in real-time. Shifting the hierarchy to the pedestrian will slow down movement and make people and autonomous vehicles act more cautiously. Although vehicle speed will be slower, the system will produce a shorter travel time by predicting traffic and constant change of street distribution. Jan Gehl states that “being able to walk safely in a city space is a prerequisite for creating inviting well-functioning cities for people. Experienced as well as perceived safety is crucial for life in the city” (Gehl, 97). I think that the feeling of safety is one of the most important aspects when promoting a pedestrian friendly city. By creating this switch, while still allowing full function for vehicles when needed, this technology will make cities very safe and efficient at the same time. Autonomous vehicles will make it possible for cities to re-think their urban planning approach, push for a technological leap in infrastructure and create a safe environment for all forms of movement. Health is also a large factor in combining multiple forms of transport. “As the new generation of cars will additionally be noiseless and pollution-less it will mean the end of the apartheid that currently separates cars from pedestrians and bicyclists for comfort, health or safety reasons”, (Ingels). Bjarke Ingelsbelieves that in the near future many of the reasons that currently separate vehicles from pedestrians and bicyclists will no longer be an issue. Health, safety and comfort will be maximized while being able to combine autonomous vehicles with other forms of movement. Autonomous vehicles will essentially help cities reach the level of health, safety and sustainability necessary by forcing them to produce a new form of technology.

 

            The Sentient Street will allow for many different road distribution standards. When people are commuting to and from work and school, a grid-like standard can be put into affect.  This enables the whole proximity of the road for a seamless commute and the most efficient flow throughout the city. During the day, flow can be more free, with emphasis on pedestrians and bikers. On the weekend, large public squares can be created for pedestrian use. These standard modes will come from tweaking the system and using the data collected. The system allows tweaks to be followed out seamlessly from the real-time data constantly being formulated and available. While people change their mode of transportation the system can acknowledge this and change accordingly. There could be various standards for weekdays, weekends, summer and winter etc. As well, spaces such as public squares, outdoor patios and public streets can easily be shut down to accommodate for events throughout the city. Infrastructure will be able to promote business and city wide events in an impressive way. The idea of the Sentient Street helping promote local business is a very important aspect. By using the ecology of this street, it will affect many other ecologies and allow them to evolve and transform into a stronger ecology.

 

            The Sentient Street plays a key role in the future built environment. How we re-develop areas, place new buildings, or tear down old buildings could be an affect of this new ecology of the Sentient Street. The information gathered from the Sentient Street will enhance movement through a city, create a safer more open environment, and create a historic reference for road infrastructure. If managed in the right way, this sentient street can enable large open public squares, better flow throughout the city and a more sustainable outlook on infrastructure. This will then result in a different way to look at building forms and other infrastructure around these streets, and promote a new wave of sustainable practices. Roads can be looked at with a more critical lens, defining their significance. Public squares can be placed in accordance with major roadways. “With people and events few and far between in many modern urban areas, there are fewer people and activities to populate city space. The Potential of city life as a self-reinforcing process underscores the importance of careful urban planning that concentrates and breathes life into new urban areas”, (Gehl, 65). To create a pedestrian friendly city, we need to reinforce this idea with a strong mode of transport. This can also be enhanced by the data collected, informing us of where people go and how they get there. Overall, allowing the streets to hear, feel and see the goings’-on, will result in a more organized ever evolving city.

 

            Sentient infrastructure could turn into a dystopic idea if not thought out in a systematic and ethic way. Many people worry about sentient cities becoming “too smart”, (Shepard, 34). As Shepard explains, sentience refers to the ability to hear and feel, but it does not refer to the ability to know. The information compiled from sentient technology can be gathered for people to then decode and use to improve the city. With the right goals in mind a sentient street can be followed out with a very positive outcome. Having said that, I think it is very important for this technology to stay in the hands of public power. From the article, “Re-Programming Mobility: The Digital Transformation of Transportation in the United States”, four case studies are deconstructed to illustrate ideas on what could happen when autonomous vehicles become mainstream (Townsend). It is clear from these scenarios that once control was in the hands of a private party, take over was in affect. Also, it is very important to understand how the autonomous vehicle could segregate a city even more, which is often a thought that is left behind when theorizing ideal autonomous scenarios. The most successful scenarios in this case study were scenarios that were all encompassing and liberating. With endless possibilities, this idea could easily produce a dystopic city. This technology could be used to create large capital from renting out spaces, toll roads and parking. This could also result in a purely vehicle city causing major pollution and grid-lock. Specific ecologies will have to be put in place for this system to become possible. Each ecology or pattern will play off one another, and create a structure which is flexible in its use but stringent in its motives.

 

            The Sentient Street can also be used to phase out harmful non-autonomous vehicles. The street can monitor different types of vehicle use, how often they are used, and roughly estimate their impact on the city. This could lead to surcharges and then eventually fazing out harmful vehicles all together. User controlled vehicles are a large part of transportation history in North America. It is impossible to picture a quick transition to a completely autonomous vehicle fleet. Through the Sentient Street, many pieces of data can be obtained to help phase out these vehicles. This is very helpful to the city as it will allow for sustainable tracking and measurement. Our cities need to be more sustainable, and through the use of the Sentient Street each city can reach its goals by taking advantage of this ever-changing ecology.

           

            The Sentient Street will be made of a series of compiled technologies for optimal stability, legibility and collection. “Enabled by tiny, inexpensive microprocessors and low-power wireless sensor networks, processing could ambient”, (Shepard, 18). Taking this idea and imbedding it into a transparent concrete shell will give the road stability and lasting strength needed for constant use. This membrane will have a series of jobs: to visually manage the distribution of space on the street, to distribute data to vehicles and bicycles, and to record and collect data to be analyzed. The street will have a series of colours showing the distribution of space for pedestrians, bikers, autonomous vehicles, user controlled vehicles and parking. This distribution is temporary and will change throughout the day. The data distributed to autonomous vehicles through their GPS will allow the vehicles to communicate with the road and adjacent vehicles. Changes to road distribution, as well as street signs and speed limits will be transmitted through this technology instead of signage at the side of the roads. Because of this, many of these variables are also open for change. The current city street consists of separated pedestrian space, sporadic bicycle lanes, and city streets running in a grid formation. Vehicles have the rule of the street, even above public transit, forcing pedestrians and bicyclists (the slowest forms of transportation) to stop and wait repeatedly on every venture. By redistributing the streets there is the opportunity to create larger transport corridors, leading to more efficient movement. Paired with the technological membrane streets will be safer for all forms of transport and provide an equal playing field between them based on the needs seen through data collection. This system will work with and around the present built environment, engaging unoccupied space, creating more public space and raising the efficiency of movement.

The Sentient Street could also be used as a means of harvesting energy through the combination of a solar core and pedestrian movement. This technology could charge phones, autonomous vehicles and produce a large amount of storable energy. “This vast surface area has the potential to harvest energy from the sun as well as the piezoelectric power of human movement. This collected energy could be transmitted wirelessly (electromagnetic induction) to electric cars and personal mobile devices, making electric power truly mobile for the first time”, (Ingels). With such a large surface covered in solar technology, it is possible to imagine completely off-grid transportation in the future. Imagine 40 years from now, all streets comprised of this Sentient Street, and all vehicles are electric autonomous vehicles of varying capacities. With the electricity produced by the Sentient Street, it is possible that all vehicles could be charged solely from its own infrastructure. As well, it is possible to consider electricity controlling the amount of vehicles permitted to be on the street at a given time. This system can administer tolls to drivers at peaks times, similar to the current price increase in home electricity during peak hours. This is another way the city could continually push people to consider alternative modes of transportation.

 

            The Sentient Street will allow autonomous vehicles to enter urban environments in a seamless way. With such sustainable, revolutionary qualities, the Sentient Street will make autonomous vehicles very appealing and necessary for the future of the city.  It will promote many other positive outcomes for cities, city infrastructure and planning. By implementing the Sentient Street, data will be collected to improve safety, to promote health and to eliminate congestion. People will be walking and biking more often. Streets will be more vibrant and large open spaces will accommodate more activity. Infrastructure will change around this, promoting sustainability and necessity of design innovation. Vehicle transportation will be more efficient in many ways. Autonomous vehicles will have a web of information used to easily maneuver and reach their desired destination in the most productive way. Vehicle pollution will decrease exponentially, and energy use will be offset by the solar membrane. Autonomous vehicles are significant to the successful evolution of urban infrastructure and necessary to continually enhance city living. The implementation of this street will necessarily push cities to be more sustainable and pedestrian friendly, as well as evolve in an efficient way. It will combine the user needs with autonomous and city needs. It will create new ecologies allowing our city to adapt and evolve fluently and continually.

Bibliography

 

Allen, S. (2011). Urbanisms in the plural: The information thread. Fast-Forward Urbanism, 36-61.

Cuff, D., & Sherman, R. (2011). ‘Architecture as Public Work’ in Fast-forward urbanism: rethinking architecture’s engagement with the city. Princeton Architectural Press. pp. 18-25.

Gehl, J. (2010). Cities for people. Washington, DC: Island Press. Chapter 3.

Ingels, B. (2012). (Driver) Less is more—Driverless City. From http://audi-urban-future-initiative.com/blog/bjarke-ingels-group

Macdonald, F. (2015). The solar road in the Netherlands is working even better than expected. From http://www.sciencealert.com/solar-roads-in-the-netherlands-are-working-even-better-than-expected

Shepard, M. (2011). Sentient city: Ubiquitous computing, architecture, and the future of urban space. New York City: Architectural League of New York ;.

Townsend, A. (2014). Re-Programming Mobility: The Digital Transformation of Transportation in the United States’. Rubin Centre for transportation Policy & Management: N.p. Print.