Renowned architect gives illuminating talk to Perse students on sustainable city solution

Visionary architect Professor Jason Pomeroy gave an enlightening talk to Perse students on his idea for innovative floating farms within big cities.

Regarded as one of the world’s leading experts in sustainable design, Professor Pomeroy outlined his plans for waterborne developments combining food and energy production.

The Singapore-based architect, who is also a familiar face on Asian television with documentaries on urban design, explained that by 2050, it is estimated 70% of the world’s population will live in cities leading to issues of overcrowding, waste pollution and traffic congestion.

In addition, the world’s 35 mega cities (those with populations of more than 10 million people) are all in flood risk locations.

Professor Pomeroy, who gained his Master’s degree at Cambridge University, told students: “What we need to think about is how we can make cities more adaptable to rising sea levels and how we can make them more dynamic.”

He said inspiration could be taken from existing constructions, such as the floating village of Chong Kneas in Cambodia and Bangkok Floating Market, as well as Marina Bay Sands, which has been built on reclaimed land in Singapore, and Ijburg, an Amsterdam neighbourhood constructed on artificial islands raised from a lake.

His idea is for a modular design that could be applied in any part of the world, with the aim of helping achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals of zero hunger and access to affordable and clean energy.

The concept would feature a ‘closed loop’ floating farm, combining vertical crop growing and solar energy production on a waterborne platform that can react dynamically to rising sea levels.