BASF marks 150 years, sees urban living as new mega-trend

Joseph Chang

26-May-2015

BASF marks 150 years, sees urban living as new megathemeFocus article by Joseph Chang

NEW YORK (ICIS)–Celebrating its 150th anniversary, Germany-based BASF is not only reflecting on its culture of innovation that has allowed it to survive and thrive all these years, but is looking forward to meet the next big challenges.

One such challenge is the theme of urban living.

With more people moving into major cities, expanding their populations even further in the coming years, urban planning and development to foster better lifestyles will play a greater role – it’s a process that BASF wants to firmly embed itself into.

In a week-long event in New York City from 26 May, which is part of BASF’s global Creator Space Tour, the company is focusing on the urban living concept, featuring the quickly developing neighbourhood of Red Hook, Brooklyn, as a case study on public/private partnerships to find solutions to real problems.

Urban issues include efficient mobility, safe water supply, waste management and quality affordable housing.

BASF is taking a holistic view on helping solve major challenges such as urban development, collaborating with policy makers, communities, designers, architects and scientists – essentially embedding itself in the process of change.

“The purpose of the Creator Space events is to connect and exchange ideas and opinions on global challenges with a wide variety of experts and thought leaders,” said Wayne Smith, chairman and CEO of BASF’s North American arm, BASF Corp. “It is about collaboration and engagement, as we search for new ideas and possible solutions for these topics.”

Of course, companies must work to understand and meet their customers’ needs, but it’s easy to become myopic when looking just at particular products and end markets without understanding the larger process and its multi-faceted drivers.

“How can we design and plan cities to improve the quality of life? This will require multiple perspectives. We want to develop collaborative solutions,” said Peter Eckes, president of global bioscience research and North American research representative at BASF. “Chemical science has changed dramatically. It’s not just thinking about chemical processes but connecting chemistry with biology, with physics – exploring material space in a different way.”

“It is critically important that we keep rejuvenating. We also realise that we can’t solve everything ourselves,” said Smith. “We look for partnerships, dealing with material suppliers, architects, owners and designers. It’s important to find these partnerships so we can be a stakeholder at the table.”

One example of where BASF can help provide a solution to the urban challenge is in concrete. “Concrete’s importance to urban living isn’t limited to the skyscrapers rising overhead. It’s just as crucial to the sidewalks under foot,” said Eckes. “Our pervious concrete technology lets air and water flow right through it, reducing the urban heat island effect and preventing streets and basements from being flooded in extreme weather.”

Other areas include flexible white roof coatings made from acrylic dispersions to reduce interior building heat, next generation polyurethane (PU) insulation panels less than half as thick as conventional panels while retaining the same insulation properties (thus facilitating space and design), and compostable and biodegradable plastics for packaging to reduce waste.

“Even more important than buildings in a city are the public spaces – they are the heart of the city and make it more livable. Some of the most transformative changes in cities are happening in these public spaces,” said Amanda Burden, former New York City planning commissioner (2002-2013).

As part of the event, BASF is hosting a Design Competition for professionals and students in diverse disciplines to create a vision to “improve the Red Hook neighbourhood from a social, transportation and design standpoint”, noted Smith.

“The strategies we develop related to habitat, citizenship and resilience may be applicable to other neighbourhoods in North American cities facing similar situations,” said Smith.

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