The future of environmentally friendly transportation in major urban areas could be a tricycle.

At the 15^th annual EmTech MIT conference this week, Ryan Chin, a research specialist at the MIT Media Lab, demonstrated how an electric-powered tricycle could help reduce over-crowding and pollution in major population centers such as China, Europe and the U.S.

Like Us on Facebook

Unlike a child's  tricycle, this one is big enough for adults, and is elongated - almost like a recombinant bicycle. It also has a a 250-watt assist motor, a foldable canopy, and a carbon fiber exterior. The trike's maximum speed tops out at 12 miles per hour, and is adaptable for transporting either a person or limited cargo. It is also designed with sensors so that it has a certain amount of autonomous operability.

Chin says that the current growth rate of automobiles and traffic in major urban is untenable, and says that the future it will not be physically possible for cities to support all of those cars.

According to Chin, 90% of growth in urban areas will be in cities, and 80% of the global carbon emissions come from cities. Additionally, 75% of the world's energy is used in cities, where the biggest areas of consumption is in building and transportation.

"The world is now being much more urbanized than ever before," Chin said in his presentation at the EmTech conference.

Chin says that in the U.S. alone, cars consume almost 50% of the land, and in the city of Los Angeles, some two-thirds of the land is devoted to cars.

He also says China is going to be greatly affected by a mass migration of people from rural areas into urban areas. In fact, he says that over the next 15 years some 300 million  rural Chinese will pour into the county's rapidly expanding metropolises.

"Increased car ownership is a problem," said Chin. "Imagine if the Chinese moved toward that [U.S.] level. I think it is physically impossible."

TagsThe Future of Urban Transport is a Tricycle, Ryan Chin, MIT, EmTech, urban population, overcrowding, Carbon emissions, Pollution, automobile growth