Imagine living in a city that is entirely powered by clean energy, surrounded by lush landscapes, buildings covered in lush plants and vegetation, complete with rooftop gardens. Imagine that our technologies were created in unison with the environment and distributed equally across the entire planet. According to the solarpunk movement, this is how the world ought to be.

Since its inception as an online aesthetic, the sci-fi subgenre known as “solarpunk” has developed into a philosophy that some people want to implement in the real world. It illustrates the harmonious coexistence of nature and technology. The solarpunk aesthetic envisions visually vibrant and upbeat ecological utopias, frequently picturing a society in which the global warming crisis has been addressed or is being dealt with cooperatively.

It ambitiously envisions a life where vegetation is ubiquitous, technology works in support of nature instead of against it and needs to rely on renewable energy sources like wind energy and solar and capitalism is eradicated to be supplanted by collectivist societies.

With such an emphasis on sustainability, living person impact on the environment, combating global warming and pollution, solarpunk works explore how the prospect might look if humanity was successful in overcoming major contemporary challenges. It is associated with cyberpunk derivatives, especially as a subgenre, and may incorporate elements from the utopian and fantasy genres. Through aesthetics that feign sustainability without focusing on the true causes of environmental problems, solarpunk runs the risk of being greenwashed.

Technology that uses clean energy is literally a part of the circular economy, which reduces waste through the continuous use of resources, and the solarpunk ideology embraces technology that vanishes into the environment. Renewable energy is now a very concrete representation of a solarpunk future thanks to this synergy. Three key components are the use of thriving nature, environmentally friendly architecture and technology, and organic shapes and embellishments.

The use of green architecture is another recurring theme in solarpunk culture, as evidenced by the frequent appearance of towering vertical forests. However, the subculture also keeps a wary eye out for any leafy cosmetics that could adorn poorly constructed projects. Urban greenhouses and gardens, geothermal heating, and other truly green technologies and methods are essential.

Many solarpunks concur that once one gets past the movement’s visuals and into the details, the “punk” element becomes obvious. In that it envisions a world in which humanity and the planet come before individuals and profit, solarpunk is radical.

Alternatives to fossil fuels, methods for handling real scarcity and start sharing abundance fairly rather than promoting fictitious scarcity and fictitious abundance, and ways to be nicer to one another and our shared planet.

Another essential idea in the solarpunk movement is decentralisation. In contrast to cyberpunks, who envision a world run by sinister corporations, solarpunks picture a society where the needs of others and the environment come before those of the individual and financial gain. In essence, bid farewell to conglomerates, hierarchies, and excessive wealth and say hello to decentralised and open-source innovations, shared knowledge, community development, and cooperation.In the future world of Solarpunk, structures are constructed using sustainable environmental practises and New Urbanism or New Pedestrianism principles.

A built environment that has been imaginatively modified for solar gain using various technologies is what solarpunk envisions. The goal is to encourage independence and adherence to the laws of nature.

In Solarpunk, we’ve retreated just in time to halt the planet’s slow demise. We’ve learned how to apply science wisely to enhance our quality of life as a part of the planet. We are no longer in charge. We look after things. We tend gardens.