Helen And I Cycled From Kirkintilloch To Falkirk And Back. The Total Distance Was About 50km. 😊

In London with Helen for a long weekend! (at London)

Thoughts on Prague

We just came back from a break in Prague. We had a good time by walking around a lot, eating & drinking and being with each other. Given my interest in dome cities what would I take away from the visit to guide me about my dome city design. This is a list of things go liked about Prague and I would hope that these things would be available (if required) in a dome city. 1 - Great walk ability 2 - green space easily accessible from the city centre 3 - affordability 4 - friendly and honest people 5 - good public transport 6 - a lively centre in the evenings with plenty of entertainment, bars and places to eat I will discuss these things more in future blogs.

A boring photo of the beach before today's swim. However, it was a great swim. Lowish tide coming in. Stacey Hearl, Campbell McCall and I swam 1 mile. It took us 18 minutes to the turn around and then 33 minutes coming back. Aren't tides wonderful? Water temperature 13.6 degC #scotland #inverclyde #rwsabc #openwaterswimming #greenock #theesplanade (at The Royal West of Scotland Boat Club)

Dome City Blog 2 - What is my vision for a Dome City? Why might we build one?

The Guardian newspaper Reported on 6 October 2014, in an article by Nicholas Watt, that Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats are proposing 5 new garden cities between Oxford and Cambridge.  He suggested that this would provide around 50,000 new houses.  He was quoted as saying: “Garden cities are a vital cornerstone of our plan to boost house building to 300,000 homes a year – enough to meet demand and keep prices in reach – while still protecting our precious green space and preventing urban sprawl. Our plan is to build a series of high quality new towns and cities where people want to live, with green space, sustainable transport and spacious homes."

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/oct/06/nick-clegg-promises-10-garden-cities-built-train-line-oxford-cambridge

  It is my view that dome cities could help to accomplish this aspiration of 300,000 homes per year.    Of course this is no use if no one would want to live in a dome city.  I have spoken to a few people and most of them are initially reluctant to consider living in a dome city.    First and foremost a dome city must be a place that is pleasant to live.  Briefly allow me to set out what I think a dome city will offer.   In my first blog of this series I proposed that a dome city is a geodesic dome 1 km in diameter and 500m high.  This first pass proposal would have around 48 equally spaced levels and a population density of 3860 people per square kilometre to house a total of around 100,000 persons.  To put this into context, this is a population density of Birmingham, UK or Miami, FL.  However, given the compactness of the site there will not be a need for cars within the dome.  I would suggest that lanes of about 4m in width will provide space for people to walk and cycle everywhere within the level.  Levels would be linked with elevators, escalators, stairs and ramps.  Walking and cycling are good for one's health.  In addition, I think these activities can foster a better sense of community because we are seeing and interacting with a fellow citizens as we walk and cycle.  When we're in our car our interaction is minimal.   I hope that this form of structure is feasible from a structural engineering point of view.  This isn't something I can answer at this stage so it could be something that destroys the feasibility of this proposal.   My second biggest concern would be to provide light to the centre of the dome, especially in the lower levels where the centre could be upto 500m from the edge.  I am hopeful that we could replicate daylight conditions during daylight hours with modern low energy lighting.  This lighting would follow the outdoor lighting levels so there will be a form of night in the dome with street lights for the residential areas.  Lighting is another aspect of the proposed design that I still have to investigate so it could be a show stopper.   Housing would mainly be in the form of single family dwellings.  In most cases people would not share any walls with their neighbours.  These homes could be prefabricated and built in a factory environment within the dome.  They should have outstanding design and flexible layouts and features.  I would hope that the initial residents would order a bespoke home to suit their exact needs.  These houses would then be delivered to their final location with only hook up and final fit out required.  This factory construction could greatly improve quality.  The housing should have high energy efficiency.  I would hope that we could make these homes very affordable.  Beside factory construction, another factor that could lead to lower cost is less need for waterproofing of the roof since the dome itself provides this.    I would propose that there be a power station adjacent to the dome city to provide electricity for the city.  The waste heat that arises from electricity production could be easily used for the supply of hot water all year round and heating in winter.  I was recently in Reykjavik. Iceland for a short holiday.  Hot water is never in short supply there and it make for some wonderful swimming opportunities.  Swimming is something I greatly enjoy.  This power source will form the topic of a future blog.   I would hope that we can provide extensive public spaces with opportunities for recreation such as sports like football, hockey (field and ice), bowls, tennis, badminton, basketball, swimming, ping pong etc...  We wouldn't want to neglect cultural aspects and there should be plenty of areas where these activities are encouraged and allowed.  To foster one facet of a vibrant and caring community, religions would be encouraged to provide churches/mosques/temples for their people to celebrate their religious beliefs in.  Public halls would also be a feature of the dome to encourage clubs, bands, youth groups and other organizations that allow us to build a civil society and connect with our fellow citizens.   Around each level in the dome, I would want to see a buffer of unbuilt space to allow people to see the sky and feel the wind on their face.  Given that Britain is a temperate country I do not envisage very much glazing on the exterior of the structure.  These buffer zones may become the places where the community goes for a stroll every evening.  I was once in Rostov on Don, and the Rostovian  make this a regular habit when I was visiting.    I would propose that here be a green belt at least 500m wide around the base of the dome. This green belt would mainly be in the form of park land  but some of it should be set aside for allotments, a community farm, and outdoor sporting facilities like grass football and rugby pitches.   With a population of around 100,000 people, good public transport links would be viable.  In addition, I expect that some of the residents will still need cars for commuting and excursions. An extensive parking garage would need to be provided.  I would also hope that some sort of car sharing/rental scheme arises to allow access to cars for those who don’t need to own a car. However, within the dome city, cars will not be required so some of the building area that is currently turned over to allow cars, trucks and buses to move around in modern cities becomes available for people.  Transport in the dome, for heavy goods, deliveries and for those with limited mobility, would be provided using electric vehicles.   With 100,000 people living in the dome there is an extensive demand for public services like schools, hospitals, police, fire fighters.  The city will need to provide services like energy, waste disposal, water and sewerage. Retail space would be needed to supply the needs to of the dome.  Light manufacturing would be encouraged as well as service industries.  I would hope that the dome city becomes a magnet for some that will form new businesses because they are attracted to the high density, good communication links and high quality of the community.  I would hope that it does not simply become a dormitory for commuters working in a nearby city.   Some people tell us to buy land, because they're not making any more of it. For a dome city the land area at the base of this dome is 0.785 square kilometres (194 acres, 78.5 hectares).  With the 48 levels the building area available within the dome is 25.3 square kilometres (6250 acres, 2530 hectares).  This has increased the available land area by a factor of 32.   The total land take assuming we have a 500m green belt around the site is 3.14 square kilometers.    This particular blog prompted by the extract shown below from The Economist magazine dated 04/10/2014   Having workers in the right places is critically important to generating more and better jobs. In both the rich and the emerging world unmet demand for housing is a significant constraint on growth. In developing economies many large cities have outgrown their capacity to house their populations, resulting in sprawling slums that harbour crime and disease. India’s government, for example, tightly restricts land use, making new construction costly and modern housing extremely expensive.   In rich countries restrictions on the supply of housing can be just as pernicious. In economically dynamic places such as New York and London the shortage of housing is a serious constraint on growth in output and highly paid jobs. Inadequate investment in infrastructure exacerbates the problem. As roads and trains become more crowded, residents grow wary of agreeing to new developments, and so it goes on.   Taken from: The Economist, Special report: The world economy, In this special report - The third great wave, Article Title: Means and ends - How governments can deal with the labour imbalance, Oct 4th 2014 | From the print edition   I hope this blog has made you consider dome cities as one possible way to address this problem of having workers in the right place. Dome City Blog Number 2  12 October 2014 Joe Heffernan   

"The Martian" by Andy Weir

I'm just back from holiday. While away I read this really fun book titled "The Martian" written by Andy Weir. It is a great read, fast paced, full of action with suspense and light relief. For other Engineers like me it really brings home what we do which is to solve problems. I highly recommend this book!

Dome City Blog 5 - Churches, mosques, synagogues & temples

We are coming to the end of the Easter Weekend as I write this.  Therefore, it seems appropriate for me to comment on churches, mosques, synagogues and temples within the Dome City. 

I believe that on balance religion is a power for good.  As a practicing Christian I see the merit in having a set of beliefs and guides for living that encourage me to love my neighbour, to be honest and to be trustworthy.  

If a Dome City is going to be a success it will need to be the sort of place people want to live.  Having good neighbours is one of the factors that I would list as important to making a place somewhere that I want to live.  Religion can play a role in this is 2 ways.  The first is as a guide for peaceful living and the second is the way that religion brings people together for religious observations, celebrations and works.  

Therefore, I would suggest that space be set aside for churches in the Dome City.  In my mind, the obvious place for a Dome City in the UK would be near London.  In Britian as a whole according to the Office of National Statistics, based on the 2011 census data, 59.3% stated that they are Christian, 25.1% of the population state that they have no religion, 7.2% did not respond to the question, 4.8% stated they are Muslim, 1.5% stated they were Hindu, 0.8% were Sikh, 0.5% were Jewish, 0.4% were Buddhist and 0.4% were other religions. If this were an accurate reflection of the people who chose to live in the Dome City it is clear to me that around 75% of the population would have a religious affiliation.  Of course not all of them would be regular participants in their religious community but a reasonable number would be.

The data for the above paragraph was taken from http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171776_290510.pdf 

In the spirit of interfaith pluralism I would suggest that the churches, mosques, synagogues and temples be placed close to each other, probably on the same level of the Dome City.  

In Triumph of the City by Edward Glaeser it talks about a suburb of Houston called Woodlands.  One of the things that intrigued me about this suburb is how the developer, George Phydias Mitchell,  recognised the importance of religion for promoting social capital.  The paragraph that captures this best for me has been extracted and is shown below:

One of the most interesting, and almost urban, aspects of The Woodlands’ management is its focus on social capital. The Woodlands works precisely because it is not a collection of isolated individuals; its social infrastructure has been designed to foster interpersonal connections. In 1975, Mitchell hired a Wharton-trained Lutheran minister to run The Woodlands Religious Community Incorporated, now called Interfaith, which was meant to “plan the religious community and all the human services in this new town.” The minister bought a motor scooter and followed moving vans , meeting new residents as they arrived. Interfaith made sure that The Woodlands provided appropriate space for social, particularly religious, activities. Because nothing sours an area like religiously motivated hatred, Interfaith makes sure that religious messages are kept positive. In the aftermath of the 9/ 11 attacks, Interfaith managed to get rabbis to pray for Palestinians and Islamic leaders to pray for Jews.

Glaeser, Edward (2011-03-18). Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier and Happier (pp. 181-182). Macmillan Publishers UK. Kindle Edition. 

Aside - Those interested in energy matters like I am will recognise the name "George Phydias Mitchell", this is the man credited with developing the techniques to extract natural gas from tight shales using hydraulic fracturing (fracking). - end aside

I would hope that a UK Dome City would encourage the same sort of thing taking into account the differences between American and British religious views and practices.

Joe Heffernan 6-April-2015

Open Water Swimming Sunrise - Emma and I were down for a swim today (5 Jan 17). The sun was just coming up. We were in for about 13 minutes, we swam around 400m. Water temperature 8 degC. The water was really clear, the settled weather the last few days must be responsible. (at Royal West Amateur Boat Club, Greenock)

Now that I am back from China I felt I needed an Open Water Swim. It was a lovely day. Stacey, Colin and I went in. Stacey and for a swim. Stacey and I did 1030m in 34m 22s . Water temperature was 11.3 degC. I was in too long and came out very chilled. #openwaterswimming #greenock #esplanade #rwsabc (at Royal West of Scotland Amateur Boat Club)

The fuel of the future, unfortunately

WHAT more could one want? It is cheap and simple to extract, ship and burn. It is abundant: proven reserves amount to 109 years of current consumption, reckons BP, a...

This article from The Economist magazine dated April 19th to 25th April suggests that Coal is going to play a large role in providing electrical power for he foreseeable future.  This will be especially true in poorer countries.  What we need is to make nuclear cheaper than coal.  

It looks like there was lido in Dunoon at one point. This is an old poster, part of a display in Gourock Station. #lido #Gourock #swimming #dunoon (at Gourock railway station)