Bio Cities are about to flourish

The cities of our planet are all at a crossroads. By 2050, 75% of humanity will call an urban space home. Our current paradigms of planning, design and construction – resulting in sprawling concrete vertical or horizontal jungles with little or no space for life other than our own – are not only unsustainable, they are economically unsustainable and socially unequal. Mostly it is inhuman, mechanical and noisy, and it is against nature.

The hard statistics paint a disappointing picture. We have spent about 5,000 years building our global urban footprint. We doubled it in the 20th century and are poised to double it again by 2050. This is shocking and disheartening. Miles of resource-intensive infrastructure – sand, steel, glass – emerge from nature’s dug holes and ashes, spewing waste and consuming the world’s energy. Our resource-intensive 20th century urban planning patterns are antiquated, fragile and in decline, reflecting the state of our surrounding air, water and biodiversity. We are the problem, but we are also the solution. This has to change, and it has to change now.

Infrastructure is our user interface to the planet

We live in an age of unprecedented innovation, we have the data and the tools, yet urban planning remains entrenched in linear, centralized and outdated thinking. Enter urban artificial intelligence, transforming the way we envision infrastructure through systems thinking. It’s not just concrete and steel. It is the very interface through which we experience our urban world through new materials, new processes and new ways of sustainable design based on nature. We’ve just scratched the surface, using genetic and predictive AI to understand design, manufacturing and maintenance infrastructure. Yes, the real frontier ahead lies in the integration of urban AI with the biological systems that support life itself. Nature is the ultimate infrastructure architect, offering designs visible in every circle and pattern. Let’s finally pay attention.

Biodesign: Integrating the urban fabric into nature

Bioengineering goes beyond simple beautification. It re-imagines cities as interconnected hyperhosts of thriving ecosystems, powered by responsible artificial intelligence. Humans are cohabitants, not conquerors, of this urban organism. Structures, networks and infrastructures become a living, breathing, transformative system of physical infrastructure. Pollution, emissions, waste production cease to exist. Entrances are designed to be used again and again, reflecting the perfect cycles of nature – nothing goes to waste, everything breaks down and has a use. This is not science fiction. it is the essence of biodesigned cities, managed by urban artificial intelligence to create healthy, vibrant human experiences.

We already see smart buildings harvesting solar energy, filtering rainwater and adapting to environmental and climate fluctuations. We have embedded sensors in green facades, monitoring the health of urban forests, while mycelial networks are used to organically decompose waste. Now is the time to create synergistic symbiotic systems. This interconnected web of smart cities around the world will be buzzing with real-time data and working towards an urban homeostasis just like nature. This is not only aesthetically pleasing. they are economically and socially vital. Studies show that biophilic design boosts productivity, attracts talent and lowers maintenance costs. It also increases community interaction of all ages and demographics – a much-needed solution to our increasingly isolating and polarizing society. Biodesigned cities are magnets for investment and tourism, fostering innovation and economic diversification.

Most importantly, they are beacons of justice. Our cities today trap marginalized communities in pockets of pollution and neglect. Biodesign disrupts this paradigm by prioritizing equitable access to green spaces, clean air and sustainable infrastructure. Imagine children playing on tree-lined streets, people walking and communities making things and growing their own food and managing waste sustainably – biodesign is not a luxury. it is a fundamental human right.

Bio-mobility: Reclaiming the Streets for Life

Biomotility is the basic background of bioengineering. A so-called “green” development, accessible only by cars importing everything from afar is a contradiction and greenwashing. We need a holistic mobility paradigm that disrupts the very reliance on personal vehicles in urban cores. Roads transform from asphalt arteries to sprawling plazas filled with nature, paths that wind through green corridors and families strolling on car-free paths bathed in sunlight and birdsong.

Biomobility reclaims the space between bio-buildings for people, not vehicles. Imagine green-carpeted squares bustling with life, flea markets and community gardens. AI-enabled sensors prioritize a radically different public and private transportation system in real-time, seamlessly integrating various vehicle options right-sized for the trip and the purpose. Whether driven by humans or AI, these vehicles operate at a walking pace designed to never cross a sidewalk, these vehicles are guests in this bustling nature-centric urban ecosystem. The cacophony of engines fades, replaced by the rhythmic hum of pedal-powered devices, birds and pollinators, the laughter of children and the hum of a vibrant community.

Biomobility is more than technology. it is a cultural change. It prioritizes people over vehicles, reclaims public space for life, and creates cities where every child feels safe playing in the street, every breath is clean, and every step leads to a living haven of human connection. This is the true heart of biodesign – not just building a city, but building a nature-centered life. It is ironic that people fly thousands of miles to walk and experience these moments in select venues in certain cities. We know what people love, we just need to make it legal, buildable and scale with nature at the center.

The next 25 years are decisive for how we see our city’s emerging planet unfold. Let’s embrace biodesign and biomobility – the revolution that is reclaiming our streets, rekindling the human spirit and rewriting the history of urban mobility, one park, one square, one child’s laugh at a time. The future is not paved with asphalt. it is an interconnected web of life, pulsing with the rhythm of shared spaces and sustainable mobility. Let’s step into this bioprogrammed platform and paint a future where every journey is a celebration of life, not a life-threatening race against the engine. Choose life, choose nature, let’s make organic cities our next lifestyle.