Eco-Friendly Technologies, Rural Development And Transport

Most governments are currently dealing with the contradiction of tackling climate change and other ecological challenges while maintaining economic growth. In December this year governments from around the world will gather in Cancun, Mexico to discuss how these challenges and contradictions can be addressed at the UN conference on climate change Guardian 15 Oct 2010.

One such challenge is the fact that in many emerging economies a significant proportion of the population still living in rural poverty. The poverty and lack of opportunity in these regions is causing a wave of urbanization that is placing increasing pressure on urban infrastructures and contributing to social, ecological and economic instability. Guardian 17 Jan 2007 As a result of such instability and contractions, many governments in emerging economies are concerned with developing rural regions into economically and ecologically self sustaining communities to stem migration to urban areas, for the time being at least, and to offer alternative and more resilient paths of development than those that have been experienced in economically developed countries Guardian 15 Oct 2010.

It is perhaps fitting that the very place where the UN conference on climate change will be held is itself engaged in alternative development pathways for rural areas that will have postive impacts on the climate, environment and health. The Mexican government, for example, has recently been promoting a set of simple, cheap and more eco-friendly technologies that can be used in poor rural areas. These technologies include the solar water purifier, the waterless toilet that also converts human excrement into fertilizer and drinking water, the solar food dehydrator, and efficient wood burning stoves.

What is less commented on is the potentially massive impact these technologies could have on transport demand. Rural areas in large emerging economies are increasingly dependent on the transport of nearly everything- medicine, money, fertilizer, food and water. These technologies have the potential to reduce the flows of these products either by mitigating the need for a certain product (e.g. by promoting healthy living and therefore reducing the demand for medicine) or by facilitating the sourcing of local produce (as with water, food and fertilizer). Furthermore, by creating more ecologically and economically sustainable communities the rural to urban migration pattern, which itself creates a significant transport demand, will also be stemmed.

Banner Blindness

Banner blindness is a condition caused by poorly planned websites displaying an overwhelming amount of content: confusing images, animations, popups, and (especially) banners. In response the user tunes out, often ignoring important content in the process.

Mobility is important in bringing banner blindness to the attention of developers and designers. The fashion for stripped down, minimalist site design is a product of smart-phones with web access requiring low bandwidths and content on the move.

With the increasing popularity and development of Augmented Reality (AR) technologies and practices banner blindness is bound to become a potentially crucial factor in transport demand. Unlike virtual reality, where the user is immersed in an online environment, users of AR actively engage with the real-world. AR is currently restricted to smart-phone apps that layer content over a recorded image of the user surroundings or to in-vehicle technologies that project information on the windscreen. But future technologies are anticipated to be much more engaged, such as AR glasses that completely cover the eyes and display information on the lenses controlled by haptic wrist-bands or remote controls.

An unintended consequence of this revolution in AR is the potential for banner blindness to impact upon travel safety, efficiency, and infrastructure. A spate of recent pedestrian accidents highlights this growing issue. In Australia, where urban centres are often divided by intensive traffic, 'iPod Zombies' - pedestrians that are oblivious to their surroundings due to music players and loud or in-ear noise-cancelling headphones - are a growing issue. Gulf News 9 September 2010 In New South Wales a 25 per cent increase in the pedestrian death toll has been attributed to music players. Herald Sun 6 September 2010

'Podestrians' are at much greater risk than pedestrians due to sustained sensory deprivation in unsafe urban environments. Access Legal 23 August 2010 As information demands grow a range of technologies including games consoles, mobiles, and entertainment devices is changing the behavioural fabric of public space. Guardian 25 August 2010

Thus transport planners face a future world of information-rich but sensory-deprived individuals at risk from the increasingly hectic and unsafe urban environment. No wonder the new British government is seeking councils to remove bollards, advertising and other forms of 'street clutter'. Public Finance 27 August 2010 In a data-rich but under-regulated Big Society AR is sure to be a source of many unintended consequences that impact upon how people travel.

The Unintended Consequences of Mobility Scooters

Images of travel in the future often appear stream-lined, faultless, and automated. For instance, in many science fiction genres (vintage Dan Dare for instance) the future is a carefully orchestrated world of personal light vehicles guided through high-tech byways. London Heathrow's new guided taxis certainly give the impression that the airport works like an automated machine, despite the cars being described as 'creepy' by users. Fast Company 12 August 2009

But another form of light, personal urban transport out in the 'real world' continues to expose the inconsistencies, inconveniences, dangers, and obstacles that make up our usual experiences of travel. In 2007 a 90 year-old pensioner was caught on the M27 motorway in his mobility scooter, oblivious to the lorries and coaches roaring past him at 70mph. Daily Mail 12 June 2007 In 2009 an 89 year old man was stopped on the M20 in similar circumstances. Telegraph 23 April 2009 And this month a pensioner in a wheelchair was escorted by police off the A23 Südost-Tangente motorway in Europe. Austrian Independent 05 August 2010

The laws governing the use of mobility scooters are vague and expose the dangers inherent in transport infrastructure. Many mobility scooter users frequently ride on the road to avoid uneven pavements that can throw the occupants. Evening News 17 August 2010 Users who are forced onto roads are more likely to be noticed as a problem by other road-users. As with pedestrians and cyclists it is assumed that cars and other vehicles have right of passage. One article has described "drunk" and "drug-driving" pensioners on mobility scooters as a "menace to society"! Daily Mail 13 August 2010

As society ages and the numbers of pensioners increases (a French poll recently identified the typical British man as wearing a flat cap and riding a mobility scooter Telegraph 5 August 2010), it can be expected that personal light vehicles will come into direct competition with conventional road-users. Rethinking how these vehicles (along with bicycles and other light transport) might be integrated into other forms of public transport such as trams might be a good start to addressing the dangers and obstacles in our travel experiences. BBC News 27 July 2010

Decabinized Travel

A century ago a lot of travel was conducted in demarcated cabins, carriages, or compartments. It was cabinized for comfort, hygiene, and privacy. Uncomfortable situations would be restricted to only a handful of people (Alice only had to contend with a man in a paper hat), rather than the scrums we have grown used to on urban metros.

Nowadays 'open-plan' is the model of choice in offices, shops, hospitals, and of course in transport design. Travel on trains, planes, and even in coaches is mostly demarcated into three open-plan groups: first class, business (second) class, and economy (third class). Open-plan is great for security, surveillance, collecting tickets, serving refreshments, and of course for increasing space and thus profits (often at the cost of comfort and convenience).

Yet, an unintended consequence of this open-plan culture is a greater exposure to disease. A popular meme in the media is the idea of the 'end of antibiotics': a new class of penicillin-resistant super-bugs threatens to converge on society. This begs the question, do open-plan spaces have to be revised in light of this threat? Guardian 12 August 2010

How might this revolution in transport space play out in terms of design? It might be anticipated that the sorts of broad restrictions on free movement seen in recent epidemics could push a rethink on open-plan spaces. Blanket measures might include a total lock-down of travel or phased restrictions on movement. Maybe open-plan will prove to be a passing fad and cabinized travel will make a comeback?