The Kernel-Up Polycentric Model: A Modular, Community-based Urban Development Framework

Abstract

Humanity will need to build homes and infrastructure for 5 billion people before theend of this century. Unfortunately, cities already face numerous challenges before factoring in decades of sustained, rapid growth. Building new cities from scratch would allow them to be rethought from first principles, with people and communities as the focus. Doing so could also enable new technologies to be incorporated and for outdated legacy systems to be eliminated. This thesis presents a design-driven exploration of what such reimagined cities mightlook like and how they could be built. The argument is made for a nested polycentric layout, built from the bottom up out of small - approximately 100 resident - heterogeneous community units (“kernels”). The KUP (Kernel-Up Polycentric) Model is the result of arranging kernels around a common center to form larger communities, which in turn serve as subunits of yet larger community layers. Infinite differentiated forms can result while adhering to the same basic connectivity by simply adjusting kernel typologies, the number of community subunits per layer, the geometric arrangement of community subunits relative to their center, and the number of community layers. The potential of this generalized, modular framework is explored in the context ofhistoric urban models, recent ideas in the field of planning, and modern technological trends. Implications for transportation, work, retail, manufacturing, agriculture, utilities, the sharing economy, and governance are all discussed. Breadth is prioritized over depth in this thought experiment, in order to provide a holistic picture of the KUP Model. The potential to leverage this modular framework in the democratization of urban design is also touched on. Finally, the implications of this dramatically revised urban development approach are also discussed for cities, urban planning, and allied fields.