Automating Fab Cities: 3D Printing and Urban Renewal

Abstract

Building upon past work on 3D printing, intellectual property and regulation, this chapter considers the opportunities and challenges of 3D printing in urban design, planning, and renewal.  The development of Fab Cities and Maker Cities intersects with the construction of smart cities. The local circular economy focus of Fab Cities and Maker Cities also has a resonance with the planning of climate-resilient cities. Fab Cities and Maker Cities are aslo a means of addressing the focus on sustainable cities and communities in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2015, and the push to implement the right to adequate housing in terms of human rights. Fab Cities and Maker Cities have also been helpful in providing a networked response to the coronavirus COVID-19 crisis. Section 1 looks at the Fab City Global Initiative-which has emerged out of the Barcelona Fab Lab. It considers the concept of a global network of Fab Cities. Section 2 focuses upon the grwoth of Maker Cities in the United States. It considers some of the opportunities and challenges in respect of this model. Section 3 examines the ambitious project of the United Arb Emirates to integrate additive manufacturing into its construction industry. Section 4 explores future applications of 3D printing in the context of military logistics; disaster relief; and space missions to the moon and Mars.