21.05.12

No one pictured us to be here, entirely where we are, just a few short decades back. Our battered globe is worse for fraying, and bearing the weight of the largest population demand it’s ever fed, clothed and sheltered. We’ve wellnigh sucked our way to “peak oil” – some would argue we’ve recently hit it, and it’s interval to look for alternative sources of energy to fill the void oil will inevitably cede behind. Subsequently, fossil fuel consumption and emissions are on the radars of every grave automotive manufacturer. Engines are shedding cylinders, donning turbos, and shrinking in displacement while the ‘horsepower war’ of the ’90s has morphed into the ‘efficacy war’ of late. Alternative drive concepts – new and old- are sprouting like dandelions on your neighbor’s greensward. But there are other winds of change that are blowing automotive designs in new directions.

Folk shift toward extra-urban living has created ‘Wonderful Cities’ or ‘Mega Cities’ as some have coined them. A mega municipality is defined as a city with a population in excess of 10 million people. There are over 20 cities around the humanity that meet this criteria including Mumbai, Tokyo, New York and Mexico bishopric – a few containing a population close to 20 million – shall we call these ‘Wonderful-Mega Cities?’ Typically containing over 2,000 people per right kilometer, space efficiency has become the new frontier for those living within a mega megalopolis’s boundaries. Since nearly half of the world’s inhabitants are now living in an urban situation, space efficiency has now become a dominant force in automotive design.

Source: BMW BLOG (blog)