by Shane Henson — October 2, 2013—The American Institute of Architects (AIA) recently released its Cities as a Lab: Designing the Innovation Economy report that demonstrates how design can foster innovative approaches to American cities’ changing needs, and explores policy trends and experimentation taking place in cities around the globe.
The world is increasingly urbanizing, with more than half of the world’s population living in urban areas, and this is projected to grow to 70 percent by 2050, notes the AIA. And cities and their wider metropolitan regions are increasingly asserting themselves as a fundamental unit of the global economy, with U.S. metro regions currently comprising more than one-third of the world’s 100 largest economies.
By melding innovative design with the increasing power of technological solutions, the report concludes that cities have the ability to adapt, innovate, and lead the way toward the future. Across the country, from robotic libraries to “makerspaces” that spark inventions, the report documents how offices and houses are being re-designed to meet new realities.
Key examples of innovation that can be found from the West Coast to the East Coast in the United States include:
- Boston Innovation District: Pioneering designers reshaped derelict wharves into a multidisciplinary hub for innovation and manufacturing, attracting 200 companies and 4,000 jobs to date.
- Research Triangle Park, North Carolina: Research parks experiment with layouts that create opportunities through proximity and knowledge exchange.
- Downtown Project, Las Vegas: This urban experiment increases meaningful chance encounters and thus productivity.
- 5M Project, San Francisco: A budding intentional community of more than 1,000 art and technology firms inverts the development process to reinvent underused offices.
- TechShop: In tech hubs from the Bay Area to Pittsburgh, tinkerers launch a resurgence in American product design and small-scale manufacturing.
- The Plant, Chicago: A vertical farm feeds off city waste, growing produce and small food businesses in an abandoned meatpacking plant.
The report also highlights innovative design concepts:
- Flexible Offices: At corporations, start-up nonprofits, and the federal government alike, 60 to 80 percent of office employees applaud new collaborative plans that enable effective work in a connected, paperless era.
- City Streets: A fresh focus on street design gives architects a new canvas for creative placemaking, reclaiming sidewalks and streets as social spaces.
- Temporary Architecture: Architects use pop-up buildings to experiment with new forms and ideas, from cutting-edge modular solar houses to an instant market.
- EcoDistricts: Districts can adopt innovative policies quickly, but are large enough to have significant impact without delaying implementation.
