Embrace inefficiency
- 3 min reading time
Rob Adams of the innovation agency Six Fingers will be looking at new theories and ideas emerging in the world that are contributing towards change in society, life and our ways of working
Text: Rob Adams
Image: Saskia Kropff
Mobility is extremely important in our lives. It provides connection between people, which is an essential and basic need we have as humans. It allows us to meet, explore and therefore broaden our horizons. And it means we are able to shape complex systems like cities, which rely on good mobility. Cities are ultimately one of humankind’s most important inventions. We grow up, live, work, learn and love in them. Incredibly short and sweet I admit, but then again, I only have 500 words for this column.
As cities have grown, so too have the significance and dependence on mobility. In recent decades, mobility has been increasingly driven by the idea of ‘smart cities’. Technology as an end rather than a means, the result being efficiency in the system. Let’s be clear, I am certainly not against progress where technology is a key driver. But there is an important caveat to be made. The urge to apply technology and assume it is neutral needs to be resisted. More technology means more efficiency. Consciously and unconsciously. And that means applications are not neutral. While trains, electricity and cars played a major role in transforming how we live in cities, data technology is already playing a major role that will only increase. This makes thinking through the implications all the more important.
Mobility is a strong connecting factor linking the topics of housing, infrastructure and public space. Shouldn’t we use this time to go back to the drawing board and explore what factors truly contribute to the quality of life?’
There are major issues in the 21st century concerning urbanisation and inter-city connectivity. Mobility is a strong connecting factor linking the topics of housing, infrastructure and public space. So shouldn’t we use this time to go back to the drawing board and explore what factors truly contribute to the quality of life? To prevent us from repeating the same design mistakes of the last century, which focused exclusively on the efficiency of the mobility system? What if quality of life and happiness of future generations were the focus of urban mobility design instead? What if mobility created more connection between people and their environment again?
Perhaps we should embrace inefficiency and allow for delays. If I have the chance to grow old, I certainly hope I won’t be looking back at my life as being the most efficiently managed one ever. That would mean that I just kept running and never stayed still long enough to stand in awe of the world around me.
In the 20th century, cities were designed with cars in mind. The consequence is that in some areas of cities, 70 percent of the public domain consists of space related to car use. Given a 16-metre-wide street, a maximum of two metres is available to us humans at either side. Apparently, we believe that this is normal – if we even think about it at all. But is it not actually ridiculous? A few years ago, for instance, a project was started at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with the goal of ensuring that self-driving cars will not have to stop in the future. In other words, doing away with traffic lights and making traffic jams would be a thing of the past. The outcome? Fantastic models and simulations. Only one factor was forgotten: the human one. The models showed optimised coordination between self-driving cars, but there was not a human to be seen. Are we making the same mistake again?
