Cars to be redundant in the pyramid city of the future

By Laura Salmi (29 September 2008)

Days before Timelinks unveils the mixed use concept for its proposed eco-city of the future at Cityscape Dubai in Dubai from 6-9 October 2008, new details emerge establishing the city's commitment to reduce carbon emissions.

Timelinks was established to enhance and realize the development of innovative designs and architecture solutions for renewing energy and self sustainable buildings. The Dubai-based firm is now proposing a plan to address the issues of population growth in Gulf cities and the attendant pressures placed on infrastructure and the environment with a carbon neutral solution. Ziggurat the pyramid city, described by its creators as “a sustainable city of the future”, is aimed at supporting an entire community of up to one million people accommodated in complexes which take up less than 10% of the original land surface. The building will have parks, water channels, and lakes with climate zones which become cooler at higher elevations.

Timelinks have now released information regarding their transport plans. Dubai’s cars alone generate a total of two million tonnes of CO2 into the city’s already polluted atmosphere with the average daily commuting time in Dubai set at 104 minutes. The integrated transport system of the Ziggurat venture is set to cut commuting time to just 15 minutes in the day. Transport throughout the complex would be connected by an integrated 360 degree network (horizontally and vertically) so cars would be redundant. Biometrics would provide security with facial recognition technology.

Ridas Matonis, Managing Director of Timelinks, underlined: “Industrialised cities are now pumping out billions of tonnes of CO2 into the environment. The Ziggurat project employs a car-less environment with a transport system that is powered by energy generated by solar, wind and steam. We estimate that carbon emissions within the city could be significantly reduced by 90%.”

Timelinks has already patented the design and technology incorporated into the project and has applied to the European Union for a grant for technical projects.

(Original article: http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/)


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