Urban Future Amid Climate Change

The world is currently experiencing the biggest surge in urban development in history. More people have been living in cities than in the countryside for easily ten years now. By 2050, up to three-quarters of the world’s population will be living in urban environments. That opens up major opportunities: access to safe living space, greater prosperity, a broad range of cultural opportunities, and growing mobility. It creates problems too: after all, actually making all of these amenities available equally to all of the people moving to cities from the countryside often means headaches for urban planners, architects, and civil engineers. Even more so, as these goals need to be achieved in the most environmentally friendly, sustainable and resource-saving way possible in order to help combat the climate crisis.

That's reason enough for us to take a look at truly sustainable construction materials: Silanes from Evonik for instance are already helping to combine the careful use of natural resources, a good infrastructure and a comfortable life.

The production of concrete is one of the world's largest sources of carbon dioxide emissions. This makes it all the more important that bridges or buildings made of concrete can be used safely for as long as possible.

Here silane-based building protection products marketed by Evonik under the brand name Protectosil® can help on the journey to sustainable urbanization. The deep impregnations prevent water and substances dissolved in it from penetrating and attacking the building material. Thanks to the invisible, permanent protection against harmful environmental influences, the service life of concrete bridges or public buildings can be extended by several decades.