Architecture firm ‘Stefano Boeri Architetti’ based in the Italian city of Milan has recently unveiled some mind-blowing designs for a nature-inspired “smart city” in Cancun, Mexico.
The city will serve as a blueprint for innovative and sustainable urban planning.
The project has been created for Honduras-based property developer Grupo Karim, and is a direct alternative to plans for a shopping district to be built in the area.
The smart city would reforest a 557-hectare sand quarry with the hope of being completely food and energy self-sufficient.
If plans are giving the go ahead, the Smart Forest City in Cancun would have a capacity of around 130,000 residents. The city would also boast 7,500,000 plants of 400 different species hand-selected by landscape architect Lauri Gatti.
Over 200,000 trees are set to be planted, creating a ratio of 2.3 trees per inhabitant. The remaining plants would be food giving shrubs, bushes, green roofs and spectacular vertical gardens.
The press release stated:
“Thanks to the new public parks and private gardens, thanks to the green roofs and to the green facades, the areas actually occupied will be given back by nature through a perfect balance between the amount of green areas and building footprint,”
German company Transsolar are helping with the project. The multi-purpose development will be surrounded by a large solar panel array that has the potential to not only meet, but exceed the energy required to meet the residents’ needs.
A large agricultural belt is planned to wrap around the urban area. Underwater maritime pipes would irrigate the fields and water would be treated in a powerful desalination tower.
Traditional vehicles would be kept out of the city and a MIC (Mobility in Chain) system would provide electric vehicles to transport residents and tourists throughout the area.
The Smart Forest City in Cancun promises to be a research hub to innovate and create projects that can positively change the world.
Proposals includes a center for advanced research which would be large enough to host international organizations, university departments and multi national companies and an array of research and development facilities dedicated to sustainability issues and green infrastructure
Images via Stefano Boeri Architetti
