Resources required to sustain urban life are increasingly supplied from a vast hinterland of productive landscapes well beyond the city’s boundaries. The ecological footprint (food- water- energy- footprints) of a high rise high density city should now be considered at a global scale. Cross boundary resource dependence, however, is subject to political considerations.
This thesis stream explores the city as a site of production and asks what could we produce from the fabric of the city and to what extent could a city ever be self-sustaining. Although urban agriculture (in its multiple forms) is the most well-known form of production, we can also think of the city’s capacity to collect water, generate power, derive material resources (through waste), sequester carbon and even produce social capital (happiness) and physical wellbeing. Further, in identifying these potential urban products, we should consider both how and by whom. Can landscape architectural (re-)thinking at site – district – city scales help transform and shape cities so that the idea and form of production become integrated into the physical, ecological and social urban fabric.
Thesis Title: PRODUCTIVE CITIES
Name: CHU Tsz Ying Christina; CUI Yan Rayna; DAI Yuke Flandre; DONG Jingyi Zoey; SATTAYANURAK Kanisa
Related Staff: Matthew Pryor
University: The University of Hongkong