City of the Future

I asked people of various ages what came to mind when I said the phrase, “Omaha: City of the Future,” to get a sense of what our home could possibly be like in the years to come.

First I spoke with Jeff Day of Actual Architecture Co., a firm that has worked on a number of notable modern design projects; particularly the Blue Barn Theatre and Boxcar apartments at 10th and Pacific streets. A practicing architect in Omaha for a number of years, Day said the new developments around town do indicate progress but it remains unclear if the motivation is innovation, “The approach that I hear always seems to be wondering why we’re not doing the same things that other cities are doing rather than saying we can do something different and unique,” he said. 

The director of transportation programs at HDR Architecture, Kenneth Smith, mimicked the sentiment. At a Heartland 2050 event in 2017 discussing urban growth and connectivity in the Missouri Valley, Smith called Omaha “risk-averse” and described the city as less likely to embrace creative challenge or be the first to implement new ideas. 

Victor Cassone, a local journalist and podcaster, believes there is an opportunity for a culture shift. “I believe the future is shaped by the people who take risks and attempt to solve problems through trial and error,” Cassone wrote. “If we can find ways to provide more incentives (monetary or other types) for the people trying to solve social/business problems, and also figure out ways we can culturally destigmatize risk-taking and failure (something Silicon Valley does well), then I feel Omaha will be in a good position to adapt and thrive in the future.”

In short, how place and space are laid out deeply affect how people treat one another and their environment.

Omaha: City of the Future is as much a statement as it is a question. The people in a place attribute value and meaning to that place based on how it makes them feel. In the same instance, the very shape of a place affects people’s attitudes, actions, and beliefs associated with it. Artist David Brooks wrote in “NOTES TOWARD A MANIFESTO FOR THE FUTURE INFRASTRUCTURALISTS!,” 

“Infrastructure is the shape of a society’s desires and ideologies as it interfaces with natural systems or with a multiplicity of other infrastructures. Infrastructure is the mechanism of society that aligns the contours of the individual to the contours of the landscape within the contours of that society. It is an organismic network that realizes society’s collective desires and ideologies through society’s physiologies in real time and space.”

In short, how place and space are laid out deeply affect how people treat one another and their environment. Think about a building without windows and natural light or a major street without recycling receptacles. The former can diminish a person’s connection to the outdoors, and the latter can encourage improper waste disposal of recyclable goods. So how does one create spaces that support positive action and interactions?

Kene Okigbo, a young landscape architect at RDG, is working to answer that question. He said major reasons he moved to Omaha were for the landscape architecture market and the opportunity to create impactful spaces. “I wanted to work on projects that didn’t deal with one person, and their personal backyard or home. It just felt like you could have a greater impact if you worked on projects that were in the public realm.”  Okigbo said. He gave universities and public parks as examples. “That’s a big reason why I got into landscape architecture, because it’s design but on a grand scale where it impacts a lot of people, it affects community.” 

When I asked him the title question, he remarked: “As you drive through downtown, there’s a lot of new housing, which is great for a growing city and for a growing urban core. I just don’t know who is going to populate that.” 

Many housing developments are created in response to “market forces” and studies suggesting there will be more density in urban areas, but the data and forecasts vary by method. 

A paper entitled “Upward and Outward Growth: Managing Urban Expansion for More Equitable Cities in the Global South,” (phew) suggests urban land area in all parts of the world is on track to increase 80 percent between now and 2030. As the footprint of a city is expected to get much larger, the study notes that incessant growth in land area will lead to further inequities in access to services like water, power, and sewage, but also to greater economic and environmental risk for cities as a whole.

What Okigbo is noticing in the downtown area though, is called “urban infill,” or rededicated land within an existing community. This type of construction, building upward instead of outward, is encouraged to reduce further land consumption that could threaten essential natural landscapes. Recent examples of infill include new apartment buildings in the Blackstone District or the redevelopment of Aksarben. Both areas were well within the urban boundaries but were repurposed with new infrastructure. As for the affordability, sustainability, and design sense, that remains to be debated.

Before ending our conversation I asked Okigbo about civic spaces, or places where people can relate to each other and the town in which they live. “Civic spaces need to be the Room of Requirement, if you’re a Harry Potter fan,” he said. The Room of Requirement was a place that would reveal itself to someone in need and would provide refuge or remedy for that need. Although we may not live in a world of fantastical fiction, our public spaces could hold as many possibilities. 

“You just need to be able to create a space which will give people the opportunity to take ownership, giving people the agency to do what they feel is necessary and also just what they want to do,” said Okigbo. 

Omaha’s master plan outlines the importance of civic space in its Urban Design element: “The City should select the locations within the City that are of primary importance in shaping its physical image, and pursue objectives and policies to preserve and develop these places of civic importance in ways that help Omaha to be recognized as a first choice City.”

Talking to trained architects is great and all, but what does your everyday person have to say about their city of the future? In order to gather more opinions, I posed the question in a Facebook group to which I received a plethora of responses from young people who call this city home, here are a few:

“A better governmental and open campaign communication system.”

“A public transport system that is more efficient.”

“More environmental sustainability + 21st century public transportation that’s accessible to everyone.”

“A better recycling program, better infrastructure for alternative transportation (bus system, bike lanes), renewable energy programs.”

“A public transportation system that actually serves the whole city.” 

Notice a theme?

Transportation is slated as one of the greatest infrastructure needs in the communities of today and to come. Places are only as useful as the people who occupy them, but if people cannot get there, what is the point?

Jeff Kutash of Peter Kiewit Foundation said to KETV: “Unless we proactively address transportation, our quality of life goes down.” Research indicates challenges like traffic demand, poor air quality, and financial burden of car ownership increase when public transit is insufficient.

Not only that, studies show that those who make less money and have long commutes are often less politically active and civically engaged. That means that sprawling job centers and poor transportation options severely limit the voices of low-income communities. When a significant portion of a population is disenfranchised, this can heavily influence who is elected to office. 

Fortunately, Omaha is already seeing improvements to the Metro bus system. Specifically, Wi-Fi on-board with GPS-tracking soon behind, while the debut of ORBT (Omaha Rapid Bus Transit) in the spring of 2020 remains greatly anticipated. Yet an extensive transportation overhaul is sought by many, especially the growing millennial workforce who are seeking comfortable walk and bike infrastructure. “Where are the bike lanes?” asked a recent transplant. 

When discussions of the future are had, they often lack the wherewithal or nuance to talk to some of our youngest community members. I asked 12-year-old, Shailyn Simpson, what she thought the future of Omaha could be like. “I think of children because you know, they are the future,” she said. “I honestly think of children playing or growing trees or like singing. I just think about happiness and children.” 

A lover of animals and plants, Simpson says she envisions the future as a happy place where people, plants, and animals are working together, “mending the earth, making the world better,” she said. 

When asked what she would build if she could build anything, Simpson described a shelter where people can be with their pets, a large community garden “so people don’t have to rely on the government for food,” and an animal sanctuary. “Most children they don’t get to interact with animals like horses and stuff because you have to pay for that. I would like to make a pet zoo but where the animals are still free because I don’t really like to captivate animals,” she said. This young woman’s vision of future is one that ought to be thoroughly considered when making decisions, as she and her peers will be inheriting the city and planet we create today. 

The spiritual tradition of the Omaha Tribe believes in a continuous and creative life force called Wakonda. This force “aligned the motion and action of mind and body as well as the permanency of structure and form as seen in the physical environment.” This spirit, the tribe believed, connected the people to the animals, the plants, and the land. It was the thread that held tribal peoples together as they appreciated what the world would bring. As the present day inhabitants of Omaha, building up land and our lives, may we reflect deeply on what our future may hold. 

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