Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Leaping into the future 1/29/07

The main point:

The construction sites, laboratories and space centers of today are all hammering out cast-iron plans for projects for the future. Some of them are already underway.

Egypt's $70 billion Toshka Project (or New Valley Project) -- due to be completed in 2020 -- is turning over 500,000 acres of desert into arable land. Its centerpiece, the Mubarak Pumping Station was switched on in 2005, redirecting water from Lake Nasser towards a new valley transforming the landscape.

In China, on Chongming Island near Shanghai, the "Dongtan development" -- designed and built by the British firm Arup -- will create the world's first "eco-city" which will be completely self-sufficient and have zero greenhouse emissions. When it is completed in 2040 it will be three-quarters the size of Manhattan. More eco-cities are planned.

My thoughts:

I think these are the type of plans that we need to be thinking about. However, with where sea levels are projected to be in the next 100 years, will these "eco-cities" be too late?

What do you think?

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