Roads are a ubiquitous, even defining aspect of our urban and suburban spaces. In the United States alone, parking lots and roads cover 16,000 square kilometers. So why must roads be gray, plain and a general waste of space? Dutch designer Daan Roosegarde, inventor of the Intimacy Dress, wants to take the technology from his Sustainable Dance Floor and apply it to the highway of the future.


The vibrations of cars over the road surface will create energy for streetlights and will power electric cars and scooters at charging stations. These "smart" roads could be further equipped with sensors to report ice, rain, temperature or traffic conditions. Roosegarde's proposal for an energy-generating highway isn't the first: There's been plans for solar roadways in the US, electromagnetic roadways in China, and a piezo-electric road similar to Roosegarde's in Israel.

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