Meeting the Urbanization Challenge – Smart City Solutions from Austria and California
For the first time, the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, an award-winning program that challenges collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solarpowered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive, will be held in California. Alongside 20 teams from all over the word, four teams from California (Santa Clara University, Southern California Institute of Architecture and California Institute of Technology, Stanford University and the University from Southern California) and one Team from Austria representing the Vienna University of Technology will participate in this competition.
The world is undergoing the largest wave of urban growth in history. While less than one-third of the world’s population lived in cities in 1950, already half of the world’s population lived in cities in 2008. By 2030, about two thirds of the world’s population, or 5 billion people, is expected to live in urban areas.
Cities have always been at the center of economic growth and technological advances. Our challenge during the next decade is to prepare for the possibilities this rapid urbanization offers. To provide an attractive economy and high quality of life, cities have to meet a variety of challenges in infrastructure, energy generation, distribution and consumption, mobility, reduction of GHG-emissions, demographic change, and other social aspects.
In Austria, several urban demonstration projects have been initiated, and have quickly become international best-practice examples of a “smart city” of the future. Most prominently, the City of Vienna has been ranked in international surveys for several years now as #1 because of the outstanding quality of living it provides to inhabitants and visitors alike.
This one-day conference in Los Angeles will discuss the chances and challenges of urbanization. City planning experts of the City of Los Angeles and the City of Vienna, together with policy makers, architects, building professionals and researchers from academia from Austria and California will share their experiences and ideas on how to create an urban habitat that caters to the diverse needs of its dwellers while being resource-efficient and protective of the environment.
Participation is free, but registration is required. Please visit http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e7t9tc8bce29e530 for further information and to register.