HOW WOULD YOU LIVE IN THE BITTER COLD?
Credit: Ben Grey|The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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It has been reported by NBC on Jan 29th in Atlanta, "Thousands of drivers were hopelessly stuck for a second day Wednesday, many without food and water, on paralyzed interstates around Atlanta after a winter storm appeared to take the city by surprise."(See article)
For the past month, snowstorms have been hitting the East Coast one after another. Such a frigid temperature with snow for long period was barely seen in the area in the recent years. It interrupted travel by air, train and car. Thousands of flights got canceled in all major airports in East Coast every time the snowstorm went across. Ground transportation has been disrupted. Car accidents raised because of the ice on the road. The icy condition even trapped cars overnight on the highway as reported in suburban Atlanta. On the other hand, in New York, even though the entire city was covered by snow, life remained mostly ordinary. Thanks to the subway, one of the main transportation in this dense city, the daily traffic stayed regular to support all the city travelers. Therefore, work, study and life has been going on well except one or two days with extreme heavy snow. It’s obvious that, indoor transportation, such as subway, has the ability to avoid extreme weather and keep the cities operate stably. In cities like New York, Chicago and Shanghai, you can almost reach everywhere within the urban area by subway. The denser the city is, the easier indoor transportation system can be established. Skyways system in Minnesota is one of the longest enclosed pedestrian system connecting 80 blocks in its downtown and dated back to 1962. However, with mainly commercial and business district in downtown, most people in Minnesota is going home at night to their suburban house. Most of the skyways are closed at night in a various schedule. On the other hand, in Hong Kong, there are covered elevated walkways and enclosed sky bridges to connect buildings in Central where a live/work community is around. People can stay in a relatively decent condition when walk around in whatever weather 24/7. One may think such a extreme weather is so rare that is not worth worrying about. But scientists said that such a harsh winter weather is hand-in-hand with the global warming and will still be possible and even commonplace. (See article) Such a climate change is urging a change of our living style. It drives me further into the Vertical City model. What if the future city is dense enough that cars are no longer needed? What if everything is indoor and within a walkable distance? What if even elevator becomes one of the main transportation? Living in a city like this, what do you think about it? |
据NBC报道，1月29号，在亚特兰大，“成千上万的车辆陷入洲际公路道路堵塞的第二天。前一天，一场毫无预兆的暴风雪袭击了该地区并造成了交通瘫痪。大多数被困的司机并没有足够的食物和饮用水应对这一突发状况。” （阅读原文）
过去一个月来，暴风雪给东海岸带来了持续的冲击。如此长时间的低温对该地区来说是很少见的。风雪低温给航空，铁路和陆面交通都带来了很大的阻碍。各大机场的上千航班被迫取消；陆面交通严重迟缓，结冰的路面大大增加了事故发生。 然而，在同是东海岸的纽约市，尽管纽约全城都被大学覆盖，人们的日常生活基本正常。地铁的正常运转保证了纽约这个人口稠密城市的日常交通。除了忍受持续2日的大雪，人们的工作，学习和生活得以正常进行。 显而易见，室内交通如地铁，具有避免/抵抗极端天气并帮助城市正常运转的功能。在超大型城市如纽约，芝加哥和上海，你可以通过地铁在城市里轻松穿行。 城市的稠密度越高，室内交通系统就越容易建立。位于明尼苏达的人行天桥系统建于1962年。作为最长的封闭步行系统之一，将市中心80个街区连接起来。由于大多数居民都住在城郊区，这片位于市中心商业地带的天桥系统很多部分在晚上都处于关闭状态。相反，在香港，很多生活+工作社区都由带升降梯的行人走道及封闭天桥连接。人们可以相对更便捷地在城市中行走，即使遇到下雨等天气也不太受影响。 也许有人会质问：像今年这样极端的天气是很少见的，不必多虑。然而科学专家认为，随着全球变暖情况的加剧，如此恶劣的天气出现的频率可能会越来越高。（阅读文章） 全球气候的改变催促着我们改变生活方式。这使我加深了对垂直城市的思考。是否可能有这一天，当城市的稠密程度已经大到不再需要机动车辆？是否有可能城市的各个部分都在室内且都由步行可到达？电梯及升降机是否可能成为未来的主要交通方式？对于这样的城市，你有何见解？ |
This article was archived on December 17, 2015.