DOUBLE POPULATION, TRIPLE AREA...
ALL IN THE NEXT 30 YEARS
THIRD WORLD URBAN CHALLENGES EXPLODING THE FUTURE
4.291/11.190U, 4.237G THE FUTURE PROFESSIONAL SPRING 2008
Tuesday, Thursday 11:00- 12:30. Room 9-255. Optional labs TBA. Units: 3-0-6
Undergraduates priority; limited enrollment. Reinhard Goethert rgoethert@mit.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The doubling of the Third World urban population– with a tripling of the urban footprint by 2030– has forecast a vision of a frightening urban future. In the next 30 years the amount of urban land demanded will be the same as has been generated throughout the past 6,000 years of human history. Moreover, this growth is projected to be predominately low-rise, and inhabited by a largely poor population. The specter of informal massive squatter fringe settlements of the past has the potential to devastate the cities of the future. Speed and scale are the new challenges.
Lacking are viable proactive approaches for housing the low income population, and predictions for the future are grim if no innovative approaches are developed and implemented. Environmental concerns exacerbate the problem.
We must develop powerful creative strategies if we are to avoid an unthinkable future.
This course seeks committed undergraduates to meet the challenges of the Third World urban explosion. We will come up with innovative strategies, positioned to have considerable international impact, to generate alternative choices for the future.
CREATIVE? ENERGETIC? CONFIDENT?
Join us if you are committed to meeting the challenge!
