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car-free-city-of-the-future · 1 year

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Totally car free city project master plan

The two main things to know about this city design is the buildings are “zoned” by type where the zones are in radii, and the entire area under the city is subway tunnels.

The design can also be built above grade if stabilized due to none of the construction being with tunnel boring and all of it being built on a flat dig.

The subway tunnels will be in a grid to make speed and acceleration less of an issue, and in the centre of the town there will be a full sized train passing through.

All the subway trains and full sized trains will have a special modification and will be essentially passenger trains with a cargo section (also a bike section most likely) the cargo section and the design of the elevators is what separates this design from anything even close to what’s done today.

A large platform like deck will be loaded and unloaded separately from the train (train meaning subway too from now on) and the loaded or empty deck will be lifted onto the train with hydraulic arms and possibly rails.

These decks will be designed based on certain load characteristics for weights of loads within the city and it’s various businesses and some residential orders.

Every city block will be a stop and every stop will have a deck loading system.

/ A method to have an empty deck available will be devised but is not set yet, this could include an in and out “box” and the trains to run with some empty decks or a system to move the empty deck out of the way for “out box” loading or just to set it vertically for when needed and a more complex loading system at each stop./ each station/stop around a city block (4, one in each direction around the block) will have two deck platforms, first along the path being the arrival deck, and second being the departure deck, with cleared empty arrival decks being taken down and tilted sideways using the same arm that loads them and using a small rail system with a shuttle riding a wall mounted rail and rollers on the deck riding a floor mounted rail, this will move the deck to position to be loaded for the next run without requiring any complicated maneuvers involving the train and other stops.

Both businesses and residential can book time on the decks and booked space can be separated and multi-booked with caveats about load type for load protection (eggs on top type of thing) and though less likely, residential and business loads can be on the same deck. Aside from quickly unloaded loads, a deck should not share two destinations unless the system is operating at reduced capacity.

The master basement for the buildings will be where the complex elevator system is, /this system will include one of two options, diagonal elevators or regular elevators with a cart or conveyor belt type system to move loads sideways, with the diagonal elevators working best with stairways and the dual system working best to possibly save space taken/reduce complexity./ this system will include a row of passenger elevators to switch directions and two large cargo elevators to switch directions for full decks worth of cargo at a time, this will include self propelled mostly automated pump carts to move cargo from the deck to the bulk cargo elevators and back and from the regular cargo elevators to the deck. The cargo elevators and passenger elevators could optionally stop at both floors or only the highest and utilize the cross directional elevators to go to the lower floor. Residential cargo elevators will have furniture dollies in cubbies in the wall and ratchet straps either also in cubbies or strapped across two hooks within the elevator, nylon corner protectors will be clipped into the corners of the elevator in 1-2 sets and will help strap small fold up arms on the dollies against the furniture without damage.

The elevators may be dual use for space and energy savings or there may be separate cargo and passenger elevators for safety and speed, if separate elevators then the majority of the pathway for passengers will not move.

Block size will determine elevator complexity and train stop duration compared to stop frequency, with larger blocks needing longer stops and more complex elevators but also taking more distance to the next block.

The buildings themselves will all be mixed use with the exception of “special ground floor easy access apartment” being separate from regular apartments just to call them mixed use too instead of saying words like “most” and “mostly”.

These buildings will have two zoning types, vague and exact, with the more vague one just specifying the radii type and the exact one being so specific that what specific businesses operate there can be specified, to the point of a bakery or even a cheese shop being specified.

The exact zoning needs more planning and may change based on residents needs, while the vague zoning will not change unless the whole city needs to change.

There are actually two separate design types for the radii zoning, one with the residential zoning being near the outside and one with it being near the inside, but I will discuss the main type where the residential is towards the outside.

The zones starting from the outside are a walkway and green spaces along with art installations, then residential apartments (that are very tall with a design of space between apartments for maintenance and leak control where a sort of funnel will be below each apartment to direct water leaks somewhere safe, with all electrical coming from above the apartment and below the next apartments funnel, making maintenance easier and noise harder to travel), then businesses that residents would directly shop at, then slightly more industrial businesses but not an actual industrial zone (which can include butchers or non factory businesses, but not anything with pollution or smells), then a series of parks and recreation areas, and finally a central building that could be city hall or an amphitheatre or museum or other historical building of significance if built on an existing city’s land, there are a lot of options and opportunities for the very centre, and even a few options for the parks around it.

Some options for the parks include walkways and running tracks and bike baths.

Along with all of that are many things that go with the buildings, like each one big enough to having a public use bathroom (doesn’t need to be a huge bathroom) and there being tunnels to each building for many different functions currently done by vehicles like mail and grocery delivery and garbage/recycling (along with a different method for sorting recycling to the point that garbage technically isn’t a thing anymore and there’s no real sorting of recycling either, it’s all done by whoever throws it out, of course things that can’t be recycled currently would go to different storage places like landfills, but possibly just in marked bags at a regular landfill until the idea is more readily adopted) and bicycle parking in at least residential buildings.

Another thing each building will have is fire suppression to the point of also extinguishing fires outside of the buildings and the ability to extinguish fires in adjacent buildings where the fire suppression may have somehow failed.

Services like paramedics and police (restructured police of course) will operate in a very different manner where transportation is only done one way and associated equipment will already be stored in all the buildings, meaning each building is effectively an ambulance and a cop car and paramedics and officers will live in each building (they’re all residential too so it works well) and they will be on call in different shifts, meaning they get paid for being there, failure to do so if called can result in the on call pay being removed until the next successful response.

Both of which will have special keys to facilitate emergency transportation on the trains, this will make all trains pull into the stop ahead of them except the ones behind the location the key is used, and a message or alarm will notify people to get off if they can and take the next train, this will require two directions and one transfer before the destination but will mean response time is substantially quicker.

Any disruption to regular scheduled service will be solved by everyone exiting and going across to the other direction for that block and taking the train back a stop and going across to the right direction and skipping the disrupted stop, this is only for disruptions that result in a blocked stop, other disruptions will be solved by just taking the next train.

Scheduled times will depend on the block size and city size but should be close to 5 minutes give or take.

The pathways will consist of a sidewalk and slow and fast bike lanes, mirrored on each side and will be placed in a way that allows somewhat easy removal for access and they will be reflective enough not to absorb energy from the sun but not to damage eyes, and they will have heating coils or fluid loops to allow warming to prevent snow buildup and ease in plowing.

Utilities will be in tunnels also and will be designed to allow safe maintenance by a person or machine, this may involve full disruption of utilities along that pathway to make repairs safer and easier, and that method may allow utilities to share a tunnel like water and electricity and gas (may end up being biogas or hydrogen instead) where the water is of course in its own pipe, two thing about sewage is the tunnels will be double lined and there may actually be two types where toilets get a separate system and may run from salt water if feasible just to save on filtration efforts and waste.

Electric transformers and possibly substations will be under the pathways and possibly in the space under blocks, and may be accessible two ways if done right, one is by the train and the other is using a special vehicle that can lift and lower and transport these transformers by driving over an opening made in the bike lanes and perching itself on the sidewalks.

Many services will change the way they work, I’ve already gone over a few but less notable is the mail where the job descriptions will change and mail sorting will be done in the city somewhere and delivered through the tunnels in batches based on buildings (or based on blocks and separated by building from there) and the job that usually drives the trucks and delivers mail to P.O. Boxes would instead deliver to residents unable to easily go down to the lobby and check their mail, and others on the same floor if they opt for it.

The mail system would use one or two tunnels, where one system is slower but takes less infrastructure but the other is faster and less complicated.

Large items would use the cargo function of the trains.

Currier companies would not be a thing here unless they wanted to ride the train and hand deliver to individuals.

Maintenance and everything like that (residential/business maintenance and repair technicians along with maintenance for the city itself) would be done by rail and on foot, carrying tools, equipment, and parts to the destination in bags and toolboxes, including rail maintenance being done by a special rail vehicle or even just adapted to a standard train.

That’s basically it for the physical aspects of the city other than things I may have missed and the parts outside the main city.

Beyond the main city is the industrial area, that’s just past the city in line with the train, those are the businesses and factories that support the main city both in products and resources and financially in exports, the train will load and unload through a perpendicular train here.

Surrounding the main city is a circular walkway to get to parts of the city and get lower speed exercise.

Just outside of that is a wall or fence or series of bollards to protect the city, and just in front of those is a series of food trucks and food stands and kiosks, some serving outward of the city and some serving facing each other with picnic benches between to eat at.

Just outside of that is a raised deck type walkway that people can stand on and order and be safe.

Just outside of that is the dirt or paved pathway for people to get from the previous section to the next section.

Just outside of that is the only pathway for cars that technically counts as part of the city, and that’s for them to both get past the city and to park, this ring around the city may have interruptions and only be a partial ring if an uninterrupted view is desired as part of the city.

Just outside of that is the actual parking and the highways (in and out of the city but limited to at most one for each main direction) where parking will have a system to mark a space for each car to avoid issues and fights, and the highway will have speed reduction measures and physical protection in the event of failure to reduce speed, the highway may also include a way to power electric vehicles to help transition them away from using all the lithium before hopefully being phased out.

Just outside of the parking ring is a stepped viewing area to view whatever the outside of the city has to offer for views.

Outside of that main city encompassing ring is where farmland will go, and that will be automated other than areas closer into the city where it’s less straight, that will be an optional area for growing organic foods and meats.

Somewhere in one of those two areas will be a slaughterhouse to keep it away from the city for many reasons.

Transportation from those areas will be done by a separate train that will meet up with the main train to transfer passengers and cargo, this train will also meet up with the trolly from the suburb area (small area) before meeting with the main train.

Some cities will have a meadow or forest or waterfront area to one side or a mixture of them.

Now you have an idea of what the city would look like, but there are also pseudo political aspects.

The hardest part is not letting anyone control the city or buildings in the name of profit.

No building will be owned but no one will be without a place to live.

Other than the business zone apartments everything will be equal in quality and size based on room quantity (other than possible studio apartments for artists) that way prices can also remain similar or the same.

All rents will be paid in taxes which benefits the city, and the option to pay a large deposit to reduce rent will be possible, this deposit will track with value of key items.

This means that the city is effectively the landlord for everyone including businesses which allows rules like prices and wages to be specified along with breaking department stores into separate departments to keep from them wasting space on overpriced items that other stores sell cheaper or better quality of, and any other stipulation that benefits the customers and employees and protects them.

Things like a UBI and rent control would be possible within the city and things to prevent or stop other injustices like racism and sexism and anything I can’t seem to think of right now would be able to be put in place.

Once one of these cities is built it can grow funding to build another and work the way to overcoming and converting existing cities that won’t sell the land off cheap.

Once everyone who wants the car free life has a car free place to live, expansion to accepting people from other countries can happen and that changes a lot of things on the world stage.

Additionally facilities for sports can be accommodated and possibly snuck in as a whole radii themselves between business and the centre or business and the more industrial businesses.

One of these sports can be driving related, to get that out of peoples systems, like tracks or drag strips or even rallies.

Another addition is workshops for people to use for creativity. The addition of these types of things increases the size of the city however.

An additional benefit of the elevators and subways going everywhere is that it massively increases accessibility.

#walkable cities #carfree #accessability #equality #community #freedoom #self sustainability #zerowaste #own yourself #innovation #urban planning #live your life #curb inflation #livable wages #UBI #politics

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