Genius Inventions That Should Exist In Every City
July 27, 2023
•20 min read
Here are some genius inventions that should exist in every city!
Cities are great, but they can be as incredible as they are problematic. Ever zoned out on the subway and missed your stop? Or tried to get down from the top floor of a bus and nearly broke your neck on the stairs?
Luckily, some smart cookies have thought up ingenious solutions to these little problems, like light-up subway stops, bus slides, and even full-height skyscraper slides! Let’s take a look at some of the most amazing inventions that might be coming to a city near you in the not-so-distant future!Basketball Bin
If there’s one thing the Netherlands has plenty of, it’s bikes. The two-wheeled trend began back in the 1970s, making cities safer and more livable, leading to the country owning some 23 million bikes today.
But unlike a car, you can’t just put your trash in the passenger seat, footwell, glove box, or trunk. So, where are all these cyclists meant to dispose of their rubbish en route? Some huge hoops have been installed along cycle paths to encourage more people to, literally, throw away their trash. They’re designed to be used at speed thanks to their 3 ft wide hoop and conical shape, so you don’t have to stop or even slow down to hit the target! Trash hoops, or blikvangers as they’re called by the Dutch, are incredibly simple, but make all the difference to the environment in the cities they’re installed in.
The Exchange Building, Detroit
All buildings are built from the ground up but there’s at least one building in Detroit that’d beg to differ! The Exchange is a building that’s literally been built from the top down! The core is constructed first, then each floor is built on the ground, before being elevated and locked into the core.
Slides
Walking down the steep stairs on a double-decker bus is a death trap, especially when the bus is still moving. There must be a less terrifying way to get down that doesn’t involve some imminent injury and graphic designer and photographer Surreal HK might have us covered.
They’ve created a concept that straps a slide onto the back of the bus, giving passengers a super quick, and fun, emergency exit! Plus, it’s a one-way system, so no battling for space between the people getting on and off!Splashless Urinals
If you’ve used a public urinal recently, you might have noticed that a lot of people have terrible aims. However, drips and splashes in public urinals could soon be a thing of the past! With a wonderfully weird urinal, you’re meant to stick your thing inside, so that your stream is splash-back free.
Is it the most sanitary option? Most definitely not, you never know what’s been stuck in there beforehand! But the idea of a no-splashback urinal is pretty genius. Thankfully, some splash-free designs do exist that don’t look quite as intimidating. In 2022, mechanical engineer Dr. Zhao Pan tested multiple urinal shapes designed specifically to prevent splashback, basing his design on nautilus shells. Streams are intersected by the surface at a 30-degree angle with the long, downward ‘V’ shape, cutting off any splashes or spills. I bet the cleaners in particular can’t wait to see them lining the walls.
Megaphones To Amplify Sounds Of The Forest
Sometimes, you need to escape from the chaos of city life and return to nature. But even in the forests, you can find amazing inventions that enhance your experience of the outside world.
The odd-looking contraption in the image below, for example, is basically a giant, reverse megaphone. It amplifies the noises heard in the forest like the animals, insects, weather, and channels it into the ears of the person laying in it. It achieves this using those large wing-like enhancers, which direct all of the soundwaves to its center, so listeners can pick them up easily. They’re primarily constructed from wood, as wood absorbs sound waves naturally, and cranks up the volume in turn. These inventions are currently found in Estonia, but they’d be perfect in plenty of other parts of the world, perhaps in national parks or designated beauty spots! That way, you could listen to as many soothing sounds as possible before returning to the inevitable honking and hollering of the city.
Metro Lights
Whenever I’m riding on the subway, I put my headphones on and zone out, and more than once I’ve tragically missed my stop because of this! Luckily, there are subways in, London, Amsterdam, Athens, Sao Paulo, and other parts of the world that have solved the issue of losing track of where you are because of daydreaming and loud music.
They have used LEDs to light up each stop on the map, allowing passengers to quickly and easily check where they are on the route. This is a great addition that lets you know exactly where you’re going without having to immediately worry that you’ve missed your stop or you’re on the wrong train!
Sidewalk Sanctuaries For Dogs
It's undeniably sad to see a dog tied up outside a store. If only there was a safe, comfortable place to keep your pet when you need to run an errand! Luckily, DogSpot is here to rescue your furry friend.
Wildlife Crossing
Why did the chicken cross the road? Because it didn’t know that the ecoduct existed! Animal crossings, or ecoducts, have been created to allow animals safe passage over busy highways. There are over 600 of them in the Netherlands alone, and they are spreading all over the globe. And with good reason!
Highways can divide important habitats for all sorts of creatures, such as the mountain lion population in Los Angeles. Since 2002, at least 25 of these gorgeous big cats have been involved in fatal automobile accidents. Luckily, the US government is reportedly greenlighting a $350 million budget for animal-friendly infrastructure like bridges, roadside fences, and underpasses. In fact, the world's largest animal crossing is currently being built near LA, stretching 210 ft long at a price of $90 million.
This month, the world’s largest #wildlife overpass will begin construction in the Santa Monica mountains. ecowatch.com/worlds-largest…
House Hooks In Amsterdam
Have you ever had to get huge pieces of furniture up a set of stairs? While we were busy sawing our couches in half, over in the Netherlands, they’ve implemented a much more practical solution.
Fish Doorbell
Locks are pretty impressive pieces of engineering, allowing those on canal boats to adjust the water levels so that they can gradually climb or descend steep waterways. But have you ever wondered how fish navigate these locks? One lock in Utrecht became the home of the world’s first fish doorbell.
Underwater cameras display how many fish are waiting in queue to pass through the lock, with people online able to ‘press’ the doorbell to let them through by accessing a live stream. When this happens, a signal is sent to the lock operator, who can then open the lock if there are enough fish waiting in line.Public Hammocks
Stressful day at work? Can’t cope with school essays? In Copenhagen, there are public places in the city you can go if you need to unwind and sway.
Called “Off Ground”, this series of public hammocks are available in the summer on the boardwalks of the city center. They’re a creative alternative to benches, and though they may look bizarre in an urban space, they do create an easy-going environment; something that’s desperately needed in fast-paced cities. The hammocks are repurposed from old fire hoses and steel piping, cleverly upcycled for public enjoyment. Similar hammock designs have also been installed in Philadelphia and Brooklyn, perhaps it will catch on as a popular city trend in the summertime.
3D-Printed Waterproof Casts
Everything’s better in 3D. Films, graphics, printers. To add to that 3D printer hype, now they can benefit the medical world with special 3D printed casts.
Most modern medical casts are made from plaster or fiberglass, which are stiff and rigid to keep the healing bone beneath in place. But 3D printed casts, which are made from a high-temperature thermoplastic, look much cooler and easier to move in. This is due to their thin, breathable structure and being incredibly less complex to remove. No more horrifying cast saw!Moscow Subways Ticket Machine Accepts Squats
Would you exercise to avoid a transport fare? In Moscow, Russia, a machine offering just that was installed in Vystavochnaya Station as a promotion for the Olympic winter games back in 2014. Given a time limit of two minutes, passengers could complete thirty squats to ride the metro for free.
Not only was this scheme used to encourage exercise and health, but also to deter fare dodgers from abusing the public transport system. The squats were regulated and judged by the machine, which printed a ticket worth 92 cents when finished successfully. This might not seem like a lot, but imagine if this was a daily routine.Smog Free Bicycle
Cycling is a great way to get around town, but what if we could make it even better? Not just for ourselves, but for the environment? Daan Roosegaarde, a Dutch designer living in China, has designed a bicycle that inhales city air filled with smog and pollutants from cars and factories and releases fresh air back into the atmosphere.
Like a manta ray, which filters water for food, the bike draws in particulate matter and cleans it using its own attached device. As you ride around the city, you won’t just be taking in the sites, you’ll be cleaning the streets, too! The goal is for cities like Beijing to have 2.5 million smog-free bikes in the near future, which will reduce pollution by between 5 and 15% in just two years. And what would happen to all that filthy matter collected by the filters? They can be turned into all manner of things, like jewelry! Smog rings contain compressed air pollution inside a transparent cube. They’ve even been used as wedding rings. Who knew a bicycle could do more than just get you from A to B, smog free?
Solar Roadways
Have you ever wished you could drive down Mario Kart’s Rainbow Road in real life? There are some solar paneled roads that are the closest thing to fulfilling your Nintendo dreams.
Called Solar Roadways, they possess intelligent LED lights which illuminate the night, but they’re not just glorified Christmas decorations! They’re used for clearer visibility and signage, but this isn’t all they can do. The panels themselves are able to generate clean, renewable energy through solar power, which can be sent to the grid.
Two-Seater Swing
What if I told you there was a swing that was designed for children and parents? Adults can feel the absolute joy of being a child again while swinging with their own little ones. If more parks had these swings, you best believe the adults would be fighting over who got there first.
It would also encourage more parent and child interaction since both seats are facing forward. It was designed this way to enhance children’s sensory skills and promote the experience of having them recognize and watch their parent’s facial expressions! It’s also far superior to having to stand there and push all the time; it makes the playground just as much fun for parents.
Wastewater Filter Nets
Pollution in our waterways is one of the saddest things to witness firsthand. Not only does it eventually come back to hurt us, but it also harms the wildlife that has to deal with discarded, single-use plastic and general trash thrown into it without a second thought.
Fortunately, a city in the land down under has found a way to reduce the rubbish in its waterways with a single nifty invention. The Australian city of Kwinana has been fighting water pollution with drain socks, which are fitted over drainage pipes.
DAF Electric Refuse Collection Truck
Handling your own trash is nasty, let alone other people’s trash, which is why you should respect your local trashmen! Hauling everyone’s trash around all day can’t be easy or fun. But luckily, there’s a new electric truck in the city of Rotterdam designed to reduce their smelly load and keep the environment clean!
The DAF electric garbage truck uses a mechanical claw to grab hold of trash cans on the ground, lift them up, and dump their contents into them. It’s more efficient than a regular garbage truck and can recharge to 80% battery capacity in only 30 minutes.
Bright Street Lights
Have you ever been stuck at a junction, unable to see the teeny tiny traffic lights in the distance? Over in Ukraine, several main streets don’t have this problem thanks to some LED lights.
Transit Elevated Bus
Tired of delayed public transport? Tired of sitting in traffic? Tired of sitting in traffic on delayed public transport? China might just have the solution to all three of those problems, with its state-of-the-art, highly anticipated Transit Elevated Bus!
First unveiled back in 2016, models demonstrated how it would allow cars to drive underneath its elevated compartment while its wheels would run on tracks laid in the unused space between the lanes. This would mean passengers could skip over highway queues without adding to them. Tested in a trial in 2016, its 25 ft width was more than enough space for two lanes of traffic to pass beneath. And with a length of 72 ft and space for 300 passengers, this mechanical beast was set to be the biggest thing on the road! It was even projected to reduce congestion by up to 30% and could replace up to 40 standard buses!
