Changing the City Landscape with Biospheres — A Smart City Move?

The LEED Gold-designed Amazon Biospheres set an example of environmentally friendly and innovative design for the work place which Smart Cities should incorporate into their planning process. Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, has long advocated expanding in the city instead of the suburbs.

The biospheres provide multiple benefits – a temperate workplace for employees that bring them closer to nature thus inspiring creativity and innovation, a sanctuary for select plants on the endangered species list, and minimizes energy use.

“The orbs, or biospheres as Amazon calls them, will house more than 300 species of plants, according to the report. Many of them are endangered species, so the orbs will be as much a conservancy as a work space. Amazon has a horticulturalist on staff charged with finding plants that work in a cool, dry environment that is comfortable for humans rather than a hot and humid greenhouse-like setting.”

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The biospheres are nearing completion and are scheduled to open in 2017. Watch here.