As the fastness of modern life in megalopolises creates the definite standards for vital space, one of the most important criteria of urban quality is its functionality and the ability to anticipate and prepare for changes and potential threats. Never before have so many people been exposed to such a hyper scale of impending ecologic and resources dilemmas. The capacity for catastrophic geo-political systems failure are the subjects of growing international awareness.
It all comes down to resilience. Whereas natural ecosystems adapt to comfortably accommodate the ecological changes brought about by the planet’s essential operating mechanisms, our socioal-technical systems are, on the whole, created either on the assumption that such events will not occur or that when they do we can divert the impacts.
Urban ecosystems could be said to be inherently unstable in time and space because they rely upon human factors for their existence and are ecologically immature. Cities usually consume more energy and matter than they produce, and can be defined as heterotrophic ecosystems. Cities rely on services from other ecosystems for basic life support functions such as air and water purification, climate regulation, waste decomposition, and the provision of resources for economic production, human, plant and animal consumption. Urban settlements with small ecofootprints are more adapted to their surrounding biome and may even boast a mutually supportive or symbiotic relationship with the other ecosystems that provide services to them. A relationship between the city and nature wherein ecosystem services and bionic technologies engaged in symbiotic relationships.
The concept of bionic cities is an urban design and planning model that proposes cities be reconceptualised as interconnected ecosystems. By embracing an envirocentric agenda it opens the door to new paradigms for restorative urban programs through applying equal weight to socio-cultural, ecological and technical processes. The principle of bionics relates to structures and processes imitating nature’s mode of organisation, optimization and adaptation. This does not only mean to imitate singular solutions but rather the application of holistic systems. Bionics implies using the most efficient solution while employing a minimum of resources. Cities that efficiently cycle matter require less energy input.By doing this the bionic city concept respects the earth’s abundance enabling a recognition that humans are not divorced from natural systems. Sensitive to their surroundings, fused to form a complex adaptive system in sync with the Earth’s natural processes. The build environment within the software of the city -its culture, society and economy- convergence technologies and connect with natural systems.
In contrast to the sprawling mass of disconnected, static and inert structures, a bionic style means synthesis of natural forms and high tech developments. Operating as a seasonally adaptive collective of interconnected and interdependent shape-shifting, colour changing, dynamic architectures.
The build environment: dynamic, intelligent and reactive, micogrids, metabolic materials, bioreactors. Biomimicry and life like systems designed to give biological like dynamic functions to building exteriors. Underpinned by bioeconomics, it is defined by a purpose to plan cities in a far more holistic and collaborative way than traditional silo based practices allow.