Skyscraper architecture with vertical ridges were found to cause more wind in a city because they channel air from higher windy altitudes downward and future buildings were changed to combat this. It would have been better if humans had decided to maximize the benefits of this. By channeling the cool air from the higher altitudes big buildings could potentially cool down more areas and even be set up to circulate fresh air around a city.
The ridges would be more horizontal and pronounced at high altitudes and slope to vertical or just spiral around the building.
Other ideas would be to add water to the ridges to allow for more evaporation and a faster cooldown or use two close buildings to channel air between them.
Air could even be channeled to other city features that would clean the air as it passed, like reflecting pools or dense forest grown just for the purposes of the city. Resulting in cities that would need parks, lakes, fountains and reflecting pools for more than just cosmetic reasons.-- sartep, Jun 29 2005 I think it should be a new field of science http://www.nytimes....nviron-climate.html [10clock, Jun 29 2005] I like it.-- 10clock, Jun 29 2005 Cool...literally.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jun 29 2005 I don't know, Logical thinking- Is that a move we really expect urban planners to make?
What about channeling this wind to produce power too? Clean wind mills could sit along these currents of air. It would be an environmentalist's dream (along with the cooling and cleaning aspects of course).-- The Acrimonious Obfuscator, Jun 29 2005 They could do both. The wind turbines are placed on the tops of some of the higher buildings where the altitude is more windy. I'm sure the wind turbines could be placed in the wind paths atleast to keep up some city lights in the park.-- sartep, Jun 29 2005 Perhaps the an architectural form that helps to quell the heat islands that all cities form. Theres your global warming. Large cities, thousands of miles of roads that never cool down during the warmer months. Phoenix, Tucson; the concrete stays above 90 all night long where out in the desert temps go to the mid 80's. Cooling the air would have the same effect as generating more power. Cooler air means AC systems have to do less work. Now if you could do both that would be cool.-- 10clock, Jun 29 2005 random, halfbakery