Sponge cities: a solarpunk future by 2030 | Future Explored by Freethink

[@TommoCarroll]

I loved looking into Sponge Cities and being able to dive into them a bit more whilst making this video! They might be expensive and not right for everywhere, but damn I want more of them! ✌️

[@LeahandLevi]

Tom you so handsome.

[@anassel8905]

✌✌

[@coolioso808]

Free think, free your mind even more. "Expensive" Is a man-made barrier. The question is do we have the technical ability and available resources to create sustainable cities? The answer is most probably yes. Like you said, nature has the answer for just about every problem because it is so adaptable. We have let ourselves become boxed into a system that looks at everything through a old-fashioned idea of money cost instead of using science and mathematics to determine if something can actually be done. Free your mind, look into a resource-based economy. Even better, Free think, research it and present it in one of your upcoming videos. Seeing is believing. Keep up the good work!

[@TommoCarroll]

@@LeahandLevi no you 😅

[@Krill_all_health_insuranceCEOs]

I demand to live in a sponge.

[@ComradeCorvus]

I see the word "Solarpunk" and its immediate neuron activation. Every single time.

[@TommoCarroll]

Same!

[@freethink]

Love to hear it! We're really excited by a solarpunk future and the work coming together to make it a reality.

[@SaveMoneySavethePlanet]

Green roofs also have a huge effect on the cooling costs of building which they’re put on. So that’s just another way that they reduce the climate impact of cities and buildings where they’re used!

[@freethink]

Good point! Heating and cooling buildings is a key driver of energy use, so that could make a big difference.

[@Krill_all_health_insuranceCEOs]

Just think if every building in an urban or congested area at least a partial green roof and a set of solar panels,think how much less of a total burden that would be on the current energy grid in the region??? And as you say, their own energy costs will drop. So it's win-win for everyone. When we start applying these solutions at scale, we will really start seeing some impressive and exciting changes.

[@CzornyLisek]

​@@Krill_all_health_insuranceCEOs It actually works other way around Electric grids have huge problems with excess energy from solar. That's why You get situations like owners literally overvoltaging their system so that it gives energy to grid, which well only harms everyone else. Bypassing all safeties and the like. Solar is good for own use and when it does have huge storage banks like pumped hydropower and local ones (tho lithium batteries are terrible idea) But it's not even remotely good for grid usage just as it is And well You can't build entire grid on solar cause it's too unpredictable unless You live in like northern-ish Chile which barely have any clouds and very high amount of solar hours. And from ecological point of view those things wear off actually quite fast and the huge infrastructure to make it useful for grid use just destroys any ecological points of it. Tho at the same time I'm still much more for solar than wind power. As they both have same problems with grid use and storage of energy but solar at least doesn't create noise.

[@My-nl6sg]

The storm Zhengzhou faced was so unprecedented I don't think anything was going to do much besides actually addressing climate change globally. This is not to say sponge cities are not an excellent idea worth implementing, but wayyy more needs to be done on a global level.

[@Penname25]

Be careful with solar punk and changing the environment. It’s all good if it’s done CORRECTLY. If mismanaged it can lead to permanent environmental change coupled with biodiversity loss. It’s not bad, it just needs to be done right. Especially in places like China which have a tendency to make mega projects without regard to effects.

[@freethink]

Great point. When doing large scale projects like this, it's important to consider potential unintended consequences; projects like China's Three Gorges Dam were supposed to be environmentally friendly but had serious ecological consequences. At the same time, one of the key challenges today is that the status quo is frequently itself unsustainable as a result of interference--and the damage caused by inaction is high. Balancing risk with needing to make change quickly is one of the key challenges in our era.

[@silver_forest-k5i]

I respect chinese scientific courage

[@imiy]

What can go wrong with growing grass instead of covering everything with concrete?

[@li_tsz_fung]

@@imiy More grass not necessarily means biodiversity. Choosing the correct plant and a good mix of them are important. Planting the wrong types of plants can harm the existing species (animal/ plant) there, can be too fragile and suddenly die off.

[@98Zai]

I believe this is just one aspect of a sustainable city, and not the most important one. I certainly hope this is just the most visual feature of those chinese mega projects.

[@CitiesForTheFuture2030]

Cities use a number of strategies to manage water, including - water-sensitive urban design (WSUD) - sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) These integrate various strategies to slow storm water runoff from local to regional level, incorporating all the methods mentioned, and more - everyone can get involved...

[@freethink]

Thanks for bringing those to our attention! It's great to have many tools at our disposal, particularly since some will inevitably work better than others in different locations.

[@Krill_all_health_insuranceCEOs]

Wow China leading the way again. Even with the drawbacks, flooking amazing. Thanks China. Wish we had that kind of vision here (US).

[@andrewmiffitt7973]

bait

[@Krill_all_health_insuranceCEOs]

@@andrewmiffitt7973 not at all. I believe what I say. Let's give credit where credit is due. Our gov is so amoral , dysfunctional and willingly absent from even the most basic of responsibilities of public administration they won't even fix the pathethic old infrastructure we got! Meanwhile China is blazing into the future with every kind of development project known to man including potential sponge cities. It's kind of vision and ethical leadership whether on a state or federal level is literally unknown here. Let's admit the sad fact, the people who get elected here don't give a f*ck about anyone else besides themselves, their bribes, Big Business, and that's it. I'm sorry to say but 99.9997% of people getting elected to the public offices are total trash- they're in it for one reason alone- to fatten corporate businesses' bottom lines, and the rest of us can rot. If and when I receive this changes, I'll acknowledge it but sadly my eyes, its just getting worse.

[@Krill_all_health_insuranceCEOs]

@Nonsense User for real tho 🙄

[@willy4170]

Beautiful, I always was interested with this kind of designs.

[@TommoCarroll]

Yep! Same! Bringing nature into our urban environments and blending the two worlds a little more is super appealing to me, so when it also serves a massive purpose like sponge cities it’s a win win imo

[@willy4170]

@@TommoCarroll exactly, but i think the culprit is that all of this is useless if we keep the same designs of car centric cities, so they would became really useful only if also we move toward transit oriented car free cities, with walkable neighborhoods, so especially in China, even if this succede, wouldn’t be much of a deal if there are still gas guzzling cars that disperse exhaust everywhere, coal power plants that pumps thick black smoke, and wood and gas stoves and boilers insides buildings expelling their fumes. So i think walkable neighborhoods and clean energies would be the real challenge, not adding leafy greens to buildings, that could be really nice, but that is just the easy part.

[@photoo848]

5:02 when giving the trillions climate measures will cost, can we start putting this in comparison to that country's military spending? The $1 trillion project by China sounds like a lot but it's only a third of what China spends on military over the same period (and that's without taking into account the boost to economy and the savings from damage to cities)

[@gamh03]

Yeah, but you know only ordinary people like us would think like that. If USA doesn't think like that for their military spend i don't think any country that have big military spending will slow down. Especially China their just keep pace with USA and the Gang. Oh and the spending in this project not entirely on central goverment, local city contribute money too. So you can see why the permission in the beginning of this project not that many city can join compared to hundreds 1 million population cities in China and also some city more prioritized than others

[@Aka.Aka.]

How much does the US spend on military? 800,000,000,000$ In just 1 year. This project costs 1trillion spread over 10 years, sounds like you just want to show your bias against China.

[@pumpkingnocchi6578]

Exactly what i was thinking, however I think we need a global agreement to reduce the military, like after the cold war. We really can't blame china for spending trillions on military equipment when each and every other western country is upping their own military expenses. Let alone the fact that the western world seems to become increasingly hostile towards china. We can't expect one country to just say "alright, enough with the military" when the surrounding countries keep growing their arsenal and hostility. We need a push for global peace and disarmament. Otherwise all countries will keep wasting trillions on the military, which aside being obviously a death machine, it's also incredibly polluting.

[@photoo848]

@@Aka.Aka. I want this to be done for all countries (i.e. US's ratio would be even worse)

[@kimharveyforastero6890]

This cities would be perfect in the Philippines.

[@freethink]

Good call! There's so many cities around the world this could be a literal lifesaver for, and it would be awesome to see some embrace it so that people aren't hurt or forced to relocate.

[@jean-claudelol563]

All that green space on building roofs and balconies need to build much stronger buildings that can handle the extra tons of water, soil, plants, trees which will get bigger and heavier over time. That's an enormous price tag on construction costs.

[@willy4170]

That is really nice, but i think the culprit is that all of this is useless if we keep the same designs of car centric cities, so they would became really useful only if also we move toward transit oriented car free cities, with walkable neighborhoods, so especially in China, even if this succede, wouldn’t be much of a deal if there are still gas guzzling cars that disperse exhaust everywhere, coal power plants that pumps thick black smoke, and wood and gas stoves and boilers insides buildings expelling their fumes. So i think walkable neighborhoods and clean energies would be the real challenge, not adding leafy greens to buildings, that could be really nice, but that is just the easy part.

[@coolioso808]

You are right that there more immediate issues we need to tackle first before we can plan communities to be more like sponge cities with available technology. We won't even really get to that discussion worldwide if we don't address the elephant in the room: The monetary-market system. The worst villain of all. The most unsustainable and wasteful system imaginable. We can't have anything resembling sustainability and a market capitalist society. We need to then build up communities with a new system, a better system to ensure people are getting their needs met, but doing it better than the current system so we can make it obsolete. One Small Town with Michael Tellinger is one initiative that isn't just talking, it is doing and it is inviting. If we can get a town to be mostly self-sufficient using modern technology, community cooperation and collaboration to create sustainable abundance for food, water, healthcare, housing and other basic necessities then we can be unshackled by the slave of the monetary-market system and turn to a more natural law resource based economy. Under a NLRBE (Natural Law Resource Based Economy) the question isn't "how much money will it cost?", the question is "Let's calculate the most technically efficient way to do something, using the most efficient and effective resources, with plenty of collaboration because that improves outcomes and let's do it." What a better world that would be.

[@KootFloris]

Yes and no to the opening question. Nature took millions of years to create an agile balance. Copying a few principles, with little regard to all the wheels within wheels often will create new side effects. Check how some reforesting projects failed, because many trees is not a forest. Project developers often forget, nature is a whole eco-system on many levels.

[@Krill_all_health_insuranceCEOs]

I agree that nature is much more complex and interconnected and subtle than most of us are aware and that are efforts to duplicate it often fall short, but I'm sure you would agree we are much better off trying than not trying. We can always troubleshoot and improve over time. When you say the reforesting failed that's a broad term, what exactly do you mean? The devil's always in the details. I'm sure it didn't fail so much as perhaps the initial plan didn't take into account all the inputs needed, perhaps there were some element they overlooked. But are you claiming that none of the trees grew? Because I have a feeling that's not what happened. Id be interested in hearing more tho. But I agree, humans still have a lot to learn towards understanding how nature solves all of its problems and all the intricate ways it promotes and sustains ecological balance. But I still say all these projects are a step in the right direction. I believe we are much better off taking those steps now and learning more as we go, then not doing so or waiting much longer. I believe imperfect efforts are better than none at all. If the decision makers are wise enough to listen to the scientist and experts in this area, then I believe we stand a good chance of these projects being successful over the long term.

[@KootFloris]

@@Krill_all_health_insuranceCEOs I agree these projects are a good step. Many more please. My point is though that human management arrogance in these projects might need to tone down. It's way better to let old forests expand, than try grow new ones from scratch. Here science is learning that old trees actually raise their 'young'. Wow, that's wonderful and a hint. :)

[@FtHoodSRP]

Great thinkers! Keep thinking and sharing, yes!

[@thefrostbee4182]

oh also, remember to be alittle careful with the word solarpunk. its not just solar, its also punk. it includes a defiance against opressive structures which is a massive aspect of what solarpunk is. Just thinking something like, the united states but with more plants around isnt how solarpunk functions. its also a resistance against opressive forces destroying the world, and lives of people. A big aspect could be anti-capitalism, but i wont go as far as to claim solarpunk HAS to be fundamentally opposed to every way of capitalism. but its still a massive part of what the word means

[@kuryamtl]

Thank you for writing this. I wanted to say this video , while presenting interesting solutions, is not solar punk.

[@CzornyLisek]

Something-punk is just a style/asthetics. For example in Cyberpunk - corpos rule the world Or in another words just a suffix added to a word to denote it's about a certain setting/asthetics Thus "punk" used in those words have absolutely no connection to music genre and subculture of punk nor general meaning of punk as someone ungovernable in some ways

[@thefrostbee4182]

@@CzornyLisek even in ur first 2 sentences u describe it as more than just an aesthetic. “Cyberpunk - corpos rule the world”. That’s a lot more than just an aesthetic.

[@CzornyLisek]

@@thefrostbee4182 Cause it's asthetics. It doesn't rly say whenever they are good or not necessarily. But it does mean hyper consumerism and things that come with it: junk everywhere, huge towers, advertisement, breach of privacy, black markets ect Which ends up in certain visual and storytelling asthetics But it doesn't rly inherently give any social commentary on it's own Thus why I say whatever-punk is just asthetics But then a specific media like CP77, Ghost in the Shell ect. can give commentaries and present worldviews

[@marcosburgos8415]

​​@@thefrostbee4182solarpunk is an aesthetic & literary genre lmao. This sponge city fits into it

[@PostWarKids]

roofs that retain water is very expensive and dangerous for building code. water weighs a lot, thats why you see very little swimming pools on top of buildings.

[@The_Cyber_System]

Awesome video and I agree we need all cities to be sponge cities

[@alesdossantos4224]

Thank you for giving me hope in the future ❤️ please keep on!!

[@betterlifeexe]

I've been promoting a lot of this stuff over the past several years. It seems like you could: Cellularize the various ecosystems, processing plants, and utilities into smaller yet connected sub-communities for added stability. Prefer passive processes over active ones to reduce matanance and human resources. Integrate geothermal energy, geothermal stabilization (around the whole community) , partially clear and partially solar thermal covered roadways throughout to have a moderated outdoor climate, as well as baseline power. Solar thermal on buildings connected into the same system, and an ability to convert that heat into a power source when needed. CSP as the primary off site source of power. Strong primary axis for traffic. By this I mean that the communities should be long and thin, and should have probably 2 main streets that to lengthwise through the community. These streets should have fewer intersections and larger blocks coming off of them, but those blocks should be rectangular and narrow , reflecting the shape and orientation of the community. This results in an easier time getting on and off the major roads, while also keeping the number of busy intersections one must traverse in a given trip quite low.

[@guesly-a.coulanges1959]

We must be careful with the use of the word solarpunk. Solarpunk is living in harmony with nature, living with it, not changing it for us. Its also based on small decentralized community, just being ecological is not enough. Human emancipation is a core value of it, and the way human emancipation is reach in solarpunk is through local decentralized comunities.

[@joshhillmedia]

"you have to commit 100%" ah so the uk will never do it then, sweet.

[@BLXOD]

Man… This option is a total beauty

[@hitsongsa]

Shame on governments taking so long to do this

[@kostasmira2933]

Yes because there is one thing that they dont want to give and it's called MONEY.

[@vukkulvar9769]

The issue with sponge cities is that until the ecosystem settles, you will have a hella lot of mosquitoes.

[@azamshah6976]

i believe it’s not that we dont want to live here, but countless green developments/housings have been around but it’s just too expensive for the general ppl to afford. there must be a change in the costings of these sort of development

[@johnransom1146]

Like the old Fram oil filter commercial “pay me now, or pay me later”, only in the earth’s case is pay me much more later.

[@foresterleaf9575]

Awesome!!!!! 💚💚💙💙💙

[@raphlvlogs271]

can sponge cities be built in a smaller scale for example the size of a small urban neighbourhood

[@Gidgetwaterbear000]

biomimicry. It IS THE way. Promise!🙏😘😘😘😘

[@zupermaus9276]

Sponge cities was an idea that was only er floated in 2013 - it's amazing how quick the uptake has been.

[@joshuabaehr44]

The idea is great but my big question is how it is possible to retrofit already very dense cities/neighborhoods. With such built up city environments, it seems like inevitably the idea would require displacing existing residents/businesses, creating equity problems

[@marlin2996]

Indonesia will never adopt this thing, all the money allocated for the project will just get soaked up by the gov officials before the project even began

[@tormunnvii3317]

Solarpunk gang!

[@chad2293]

Ah yes I can’t wait to live in a human sized termite nest.

[@crayolaperrywinkleblue]

Flood insurance agents are punching the air right now

[@Ligress]

I can imagine mosquitos, and insects buzzing around

[@azharulislam4975]

I am trying to learn a language from EU country. So, I listen to lots of podcasts, and news, read news and talk with people of that language. I hear all the time negative things about China in the media. But today I read something about sponge city from a research paper of my master's thesis supervisor that research article published by Nature in 2023. I searched on youtube and found this video. I got surprised that I never read or listen to it before in any news here and why all media broadcast only negativity about China

[@princerajarajpoot4073]

Very nice idea

[@thymeparzival]

I think we can do better with the branding around "sponge cities" . While it is a descriptive name, it is also a misnomer. There is a large demographic within government and business corporations that may dismiss it on the superficial notion that a "sponge city" is not a "strong city" purely based on the mental image it creates.

[@abhishekdev258]

Amazing.. 😃

[@ojojostar671]

indeed, the best way to adapt to more and more frequent flooding is to become seaman.

[@aubreyvandyne5284]

That sounds nice for trees and bushes. What about swampy areas which may cause more mosquitos, insects, rats, molds, etc.

[@mohammedabobakr6549]

Love the new format I used to hate the #Ad like structure before This is just more information That I can trust

[@billcourtney3894]

A one thousand dollar megaproject would actually be a kiloproject. A trillion dollar megaproject is actually a teraproject.

[@ValorDiaspora_Gaming]

I hope one day that own an architect company and build a sponge city too in Ivory coast, west Africa.

[@matteomorando778]

Really cool! But i imagine that somewhere mosquitoes could become a problem, why isn't drain concrete easier?

[@banehog]

Yes, but when are we going to have *Shpongle* cities? That's the real question.

[@bingflosby]

I'd think Maine has infrastructure like this considering the water

[@thomasbell4804]

Woohhooo for the sponge

[@Blinkisageek]

The way he slaughtered those Chinese names😭😭

[@R.E.A.L.I.T.Y]

Sponge catchments prevent flooding. Sponge cities help.

[@viniciussanctus]

Great video, I wish politicians could just do that instead of w/e they do

[@Alexandra_Wolf]

I think it’s too late. No one is doing enough to fix our situation. I’ve seen my hometown and the weather my whole life, it’s now so fucking unbearable even if we turn it around now it’s not good. And we are far away from that.

[@tasnimafauzia1795]

Nature already has every answer for our problem, it’s just we sometimes forget that we are the problem to nature😮

[@shuaige3360]

The rainfall of zhengzhou was around 30cm in 2h… whatever sponge can not absorb that.

[@diegoevrard-broquet8050]

I think solarpunks should visit R/collapse more

[@explorerofmind]

California could have used some better rain capture.

[@jadedrealist]

Looking cute in those glasses Tom.

[@wintrez]

What's the catch? A crap ton of mosquitoes probably

[@BrokenRobot3K]

OK I didn't know solar punk was a thing

[@anomalocaris7238]

it is but this isnt it lmao

[@wovasteengova]

Idk what cities yall taking these pics from but those are some awesome lookin cities.

[@prilep5]

All that water will act like a thermal battery and in winter no snow in summer high humidity

[@alesdossantos4224]

I hate snow in towns: looks disgusting, makes public transportation late so not a problem for me. But in summer, if that means more mosquitos, I’m out 😂😅

[@prilep5]

@@alesdossantos4224 people like snow only for the week of Christmas 🎄

[@alesdossantos4224]

@@prilep5 or for ski holiday 😬

[@johnl5316]

look at a map of Florida and see all the mangrove swamps left amid the housing

[@Nturner822]

Concrete and water make bad juju…we has much to learn before win

[@cg8096]

India has also initiated on this same project in south region.

[@Krill_all_health_insuranceCEOs]

This plus next-gen much safer and cleaner nuclear power? Yes please. We can do this, we can make the whole world sustainable and support large cities. Don't doubt, naysayers- research! Thorium my friends- the 🌊 of the future. Freethink- wanna get in on this??

[@antojames9387]

Chennai to become India's first sponge city.

[@andrewchoi5808]

Make Korea 100% strong beautiful ageless sustainable solarpunk immortal utopian resilient safer peaceful future

[@zupermaus9276]

The once-in-a-Millennium flood in Zhengzhou witnessed one of the most terrifying scenarios possible from an urban standpoint - a metro system utterly overwhelmed as a months worth of rain fell in a few minutes (over the next day 4 months worth fell -or a year over 3 days). 25 people drowned in carriages underground and flashfloods that swept through stations: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mGfVf32wpLh6oM0

[@raphlvlogs271]

Once again survival of the most adaptable

[@bryontalamantes9386]

America will never invest in this.

[@boarbot7829]

Why are you in the USA.

[@mysoneffa2417]

Why is there no Banner telling us this Sponsored by the Chinese State!!!

[@katiegreene3960]

another big catch....mosquitoes

[@imiy]

What's so expensive about it?

[@rjung_ch]

Is this a re-upload?

[@freethink]

Nope, but it's the second Future Explored we've done with Tom Carroll recently. The first one is here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n4u6aGWfZamJp6c

[@MiracleWinchester]

Thomas!!!!

[@cameronmcarthur9951]

So simple it is nearly in your face.

[@pepofiorucci]

What about Curitiba? The City was like that before The chinese guy created this term.

[@Snakebloke]

Zh in Chinese is like J in English.

[@MGC-1977]

Is it sponge-worthy?

[@evanakin]

Dude learned everything about Zhengzhou except how to pronounce it's name

[@angelmujahid2233]

The US will be the last to do this.

[@DemonSkySnow]

James franco?

[@TIENxSHINHAN]

Socialism breeds innovation.

[@Leptyzz]

Definitely doesn’t

[@hikodzu]

Spongk City

[@michael2275]

Ugh sounds like big gov't to the max. I'm out

[@haarahld4959]

Based

[@anassel8905]

❤❤

[@TheHumbleNinja]

The production for the video is great on paper. You have all the parts of a viral video, a script, an innovative idea, a commentator with an English accent, music, stock video footage, etc. but the video misses the mark. The video doesn't excel in any one of these aspects and came off as trite. The video could have set itself apart from others by getting more technical instead of focusing on the new fantasy, 'solar punk' theme. For a regular person like myself 'solar punk' sounds corny and far fetched which decreases the credibility of your argument. I am less interested in 'sponge cities' after watching this video which is disappointing because I wanted the video to convince me they are a solution.

[@abdo-ku]

Are you actor on -YOU-

[@TommoCarroll]

Lol, nope!

[@johnl5316]

there has been no increase in extreme weather events and deaths from weather events have been reduced dramatically over the last century

[@alexizou4673]

where did you get info from ?Chinese CCP propaganda ? Those billions are already spent and it’s already in some government officials offshore bank account ...good wishes though,,,, it’s never going to be done

[@bazookaboss332]

'Solarpunk' Casually pretending that solar power isn't an energy sink lol

[@wesleyleigh4063]

Yo but why do you have to feature in every second frame? like this ain't even your idea, and you saying 'we' like you were at some stage involved. just reads like you want clout, don't really care about the ideas. Also you're British, aren't you suppose to be exclusively self deprecating and have low self worth? just a few comments, the video slaps otherwise great job.

[@wovasteengova]

I'm here so fast that I couldn't possibly complete the video, but it's a good video, riddle me this 🤡, "how did I know it was a good video"?

[@chrislecky710]

Your doing that all wrong lmfao i knew this would happen,,,,,,,,,, waste of energy KMT,,,,, your still thinking from a linear perspective and its extremely apparent.... your solving problems whilst making new ones to tackle,,,,, that is the same mistake we are now trying to mitigate globally from the last great idea,,,,,, ,KMT

[@nakosimpson7459]

Bb

[@mysoneffa2417]

Interesting after hiring a UK or US design firm for a decade to design these cities it's now a Chinese idea!! Lol

[@wovasteengova]

First