Reflex : Reinventing towns and cities

The future of the planet will be decided in the towns, which cause as many problems as solutions. By leveraging digital data, researchers simulate urban space on the computer to imagine new ways of developing urban areas, to organize transportation and to optimize the energetic performance of towns and cities. For urban planners, the cities resemble organisms that are capable of evolving: it is better to manage urban growth than to try to control it in a rigid manner. A look back at urban utopia and new towns provides convincing proof: striving to create the perfect town from scratch is an illusion.

In an extensive interview, the architect and urban planner Kees Christiaanse argues for an urban organization designed around a multitude of homogeneous, creative and connected centers. The densification of towns appears to be unavoidable in the fight against fragmentation of the land and urbanization of the countryside. An exclusive photo report from Tokyo illustrates the Japanese example, while the concept proves difficult to implement in Switzerland.

Apart from the special report, Reflex visits a unique laboratory, where rocks are tested for long-term storage of nuclear waste, presents techniques that could revolutionize computing, meets hi-tech farmers, and explains why the current patent system stifles innovation – instead of encouraging it.