SmartR Us aren’t we?
Jul 28, 2015
April 19, 2015: In London last week, the most dangerous particles -PM 2.5 - hit a high of 57 - that's nearly six times recommended limits.
Here in Delhi, we can only dream of such clean air!
Delhi
Environmental Quality, A Luxury Good?
Nothing inspires environmentalism quite like a smog-filled sky or a contaminated river
Income
Environmentaldegradation
New York, circa 1900
Easter Sunday on Fifth Avenue in 1900, https://goo.gl/bFBjUk
In the late 19th century, the streets of fast-industrializing cities were congested with horses, each pulling a cart or a coach, one after the other, in some places three abreast.
There were something like 200,000 horses in New York City alone, depositing manure at a rate of roughly 35 pounds per day, per horse.
Total and Per-Capita Vehicle-Miles Traveled, U.S.
The rest is history…The total number of miles travelled, increases essentially one-for-one with highway miles built
16,000 vehicles per day1,900 peak hour
0.9 friends, 3.1 acquaintances
8000 vehicles per day550 peak hour
1.3 friends, 4.1 acquaintances
2,000 ehicles per day200 peak hour
3 friends, 6.3 acquaintances
Donald Appleyard, "Livable Streets" 1981
Social Interactions Correlated to Street Traffic
Cars Kill Social Relationships
50 years after the great smog, a new killer arises
Vehicules are responsible for 25% of fossil-based CO2 emmisions
The Triumph of the (dense) city
Luís M. A. Bettencourt, “The Origins of Scaling in Cities”
Christine M. Hoehner, “Commuting Distance, Cardiorespiratory Fitness, and Metabolic Risk”
Is it possible?
Year 1900: 200M people lived in cities, 12% of world populationYear 2015: 3,500M people live in cities, 50% of world populationYear 2050: 6,500M people will live in cities, 80% of world population
China will build the equivalent of New York every other year for 20 years
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1900 2010 2050 2100
Urban population
Urban Total %
The Sharing Economy
• Cars are driven just 4% of the year• 35% of consumers are expected not to own their own car by 2034• 60% of US adults say they would ride in an autonomous car• With a fleet of just 9,000 autonomous cars, Uber could replace every taxi cab
in New York City, and that passengers would wait an average of 36 seconds for a ride
What if all trips in a city were carried out by a fleet of self-driving cars shared by users?
The Same Mobility can be delivered with 10% of the cars!
OECD/International Transport Forum, “Urban Mobility System Upgrade”, 2015
Elon Musk’s grand plan to power the world with electric batteries…
http://www.teslamotors.com/powerwall
http://walluck.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Bangkok-City-At-Night.jpg
An inconvenient truth?
In the Future, Companies Will Survive Only if They Help Solve Big Social Problems