This work addresses the concept of megacities visually and examines the problems they face through the lens of sustainability. Megacities are cities containing more than ten million inhabitants. Because of their large population, megacities are usually affected by environmental issues such as poor air quality, land fill pollution, urban sprawl, and squatter settlements. 

 

My two images represent solutions to the problems of squatter settlements and overcrowding faced by Megacities. These images are rooted in fantasy, as the buildings are futuristic and so are the landscapes. In one landscape, the buildings are floating in an atmosphere of bright red. The floating buildings are in an environment of microgravity, which touches on the idea of using science to creatively solve the problems faced by climate change. The second image is a depiction of a city in the sky, where buildings are placed on the clouds to create a spacious settlement. These two images offer an imagined, future solution to a problem we are facing now.

 

The choice of colour, composition and shapes draws from Alexander Rodchenko’s posters by using the visual language to allude to socialist ideas of acting as a collective to solve the problems of megacities and to present the idea of a hopeful vision for the future. This also alludes to the idea of a ‘Good Anthropocene’, where humans use the technology they have to minimize their impact on the environment while simultaneously continuing to prosper and coexist with the landscape.