Fire-Smart Cities
How emerging technologies will shape the next generation of fire resilience
Image: Early sketch of BIOroot™ System Subsurface - a hybridised data sensing, processing, actuating, and storage network that monitors biotic moisture levels, atmospheric humidity, below and above surface chemical and heat signatures, and other environmental information imperative to informing wildfire resilience and recovery actions. First described in Panarchistic Architecture (2018), like other components of the (B)IOT™ - biological Internet of Things, it enables real-time data to migrate across an ecologically smart environment network designed to enhance both wildfire resilience and recovery in the wildland-urban-interface.
Codifying Adaptive Design for a Wildfire-Prone Future
As part of a series making my scientific research more accessible, this AI-generated translation of Codification for Eternal States of Flow, Flux, and Fire (2018) replaces specialist terminology with language accessible to non-specialists interested in wildfire resilience and adaptive urban design.
With wildfires becoming more frequent and severe due to climate change and urban expansion into fire-prone landscapes, conventional urban planning approaches are proving inadequate. Traditional strategies rely on static infrastructure and centralised response systems, often failing when extreme fire conditions arise. In my thesis and subsequent works, I proposed an alternative — one that rethinks codification to create urban environments that dynamically adapt to wildfire risks.
Rather than rigid fireproofing measures, this model envisions a responsive architectural and urban framework that integrates real-time environmental data, bio-inspired sensing, and decentralised adaptation. Drawing from nature’s intelligence — where fungi, plants, and animal networks react to environmental stimuli — this approach employs satellite imaging, artificial intelligence, and advanced biosensors to create a Living Internet of Things (LIOT), capable of anticipating and mitigating fire threats autonomously.
This vision extends beyond buildings, embedding wildfire resilience into the DNA of entire cities. Citizen-led data collection, from personal weather stations to social media wildfire tracking, could complement satellite monitoring and AI-driven hazard prediction, fostering a collaborative, community-driven response. Similarly, bio-integrated materials — such as shape-shifting alloys and humidity-sensitive architectural skins — offer a blueprint for structures that evolve with their surroundings rather than resisting them.
By shifting from rigid codification to a dynamic, adaptive model, this framework redefines how urban environments can survive and thrive in fire-prone regions. As technology and ecology merge, fire-smart cities could move beyond mere survival, becoming intelligent, self-regulating ecosystems that live with wildfire rather than against it.
Extract
“Learning from Nature: Bio-Inspired Adaptations
Nature has developed sophisticated mechanisms for adapting to fire, offering valuable insights for architectural and urban design. Unlike centralised human-designed systems, natural intelligence—such as fungal networks that communicate environmental changes—operates in a decentralised manner. Applying this principle to urban planning, we can develop architectures that respond dynamically to environmental conditions rather than relying solely on static design features.
Some pioneering projects in bio-inspired environmental sensing include:
PLants Employed As SEnsor Devices (PLEASED): A European research initiative exploring how plants react to stimuli like heat and flames.
Flexible graphene-oxide sensors: Wearable technology for plants that monitors biomass hydration, providing critical data on fire risk.
By embedding natural sensing capabilities within urban environments, buildings could autonomously respond to fire threats in real time.”
Read the article ‘Fire Smart Cities’ in full here.