SeamCity

Studio Shajay Bhooshan

Tutors Ariadna Lopez, Leo Bieling

Team Sihui Li, Liuchen Fan, Peiwen Wu, Yangfan Li, Di Ma

London today operates largely based on its public transportation system; a system that is 150 years old but in a constant state of improvement. Over 800 million travellers use this system in London annually, with this number continuing to grow every year.  

 At the same time, London is a city with a long history of urban sprawl organised around the expansion of its transportation system. Until now, the city has benefitted from its polycentric development and well-organised transportation system. However, studies have shown that there exists an important contribution to economic growth in more compact urban forms. Our proposal focuses on high-density Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) which includes mixed-use development adjacent and oriented to mass-transit facilities. 

 There have been successful TOD cases in Asia and Europe that reach beyond stations and toward a network-based approach to realign large territorial regions around rail transport. London is a city that has multiple density hot spots linked by public transport. Developing a TOD network in London will not only optimise local communities but will also increase its economical attraction and generate more opportunities. Building on top of the low-density areas around transportation systems would reduce the pressure on land resources and urban commuting.  

 SeamCity aims to explore the potential of transit-oriented development in London. There are several potential stations that are either neglected or shackled by a comprehensive planning system. We focus on Vauxhall station as a prototypical part of the proposal’s TOD network. In our case, a transferable technology that helps the users to self-govern their local environments was necessary. Through building these technologies on a spatial game platform, we can perform multiple simulations and evaluate the different results. Throughout this process, besides the community users, municipalities and private developers may also negotiate the outcomes of the developing project. Finally, with 3D spatial technology and digital fabrication, we hope to offer a simpler way for the non-experts to engage in the spatial design and operation of the stations.