The Galapagos Islands, making the invisible visible
FC-01x Future Cities (1st Run) - Exercise 1 : "Making the Invisible - Visible"
Uploaded on 2015-04-22 by CristinaSS
1. This is an image of Puerto Ayora, the biggest town in the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador). In the picture we can see a very chaotic combination of buildings, infrastructure and some vegetation. The lack of a proper urban planning is quite evident. 2. Some invisible information comes from the blue water tanks: the public water supply is not continuous; it only works some hours per day. Therefore people have big tanks where they stock water so that they can use it at any hour. But the invisible information that interests me the most comes from the fact that all the buildings in the picture are made out of concrete and block-work. The whole archipelago is a natural protected park in which only 3% of the area is meant to be for man use; there are around 20000 inhabitants in Puerto Ayora. Where does all this material come from? Actually, cement comes from the mainland and represents around 30% of the imported cargo coming into the islands. The aggregates come from an enormous mine inside the protected area (that should therefore be illegal, although is managed by the authorities). 3. This information can be very useful. Invasive species are one of the biggest threats that the islands are exposed to; and their main way inside the archipelago are cargo ships. Cargo ships have also been involved in some accidents that have had terrible consequences http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-31142280 Reducing the use of concrete and block-work would reduce the use of cement and aggregates; therefore it would also reduce the quantity of cargo ships and the exploitation of the protected area. This information can lead to study alternative materials or the possibility of recycling construction materials. It can also lead to campaigns motivating the population to use less construction materials, e.g. by enhancing outdoor living (having semi-exterior living areas) which would reduce as well the use of air conditioner. [1]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14297113825334034.jpg