I love the sense of old and new living together in harmony (I mean, I hope those trams' intergenerational household is harmonious)

Love this! Inspired by Scavengers Reign?

There's great arguments here about how a service corps could bridge divides and give all youth a better pathway from highschool into the (often predatory) worlds of job markets and higher ed, and also great arguments about why mandatory service infringes on freedom pretty significantly.

Is there a way to structure a national year of service idea that gives people the freedom to opt out yet would still get chosen by many kids from diverse backgrounds? Like how do we get kids who have had a college fund ready to go since they were born to see the benefits of spending a year building bridges? It would be a neat cultural shift.

If you're into sci-fi and Afro-futurism I really enjoyed Sweep of Stars by Maurice Broaddus (written a couple years ago; cool to see what a long history it's building on)

What about some tree- or bush-like structures that have lots of small lights, one under each leaf? Having many lights that could all be positioned and angled differently would let you direct the light to only where it's needed and create a smooth shaddow-free glow. And be pretty too! Like the Cave of Two Lovers @Gorgritch_umie_killa@aussie.zone posted. Individual lights could have different color and brightness too.

Depending on the kind of bio-engineering or fantastical biology in your world these could be completely organic, completely manufactured, or some combination like lights attached to trees/vines grown for the purpose.