Did you see that MST3K short? GM's vision of the future is a city enwrapped in miles of superhighways. The reality looks more like strip malls, mediocre roads and a forest of business signs and billboards - and you have to drive anywhere to do anything. In the US, a man without a car is not a man. Drive cars, eat beef, smoke cigarettes, bigger is always better, yee haw.
America has a love affair with the car like it has a love affair with beef - no doubt at the behest of over-funded special interest lobbies who would design our lifestyles for us. Well we played and we paid, and it's time to move on.
The real question is about population management. There are a number of schools of thought about urban planning, livability, sustainability, etc. As with energy, each approach carries certain costs.
The Arcology
I've seen a few of these proposals for my little hometown of Shanghai, 20m and growing (on wet sand). There was the needle, a self-contained city jutting up from a radial base, in which would be housed all the neighborhood facilities, and built off shore on a manmade island. Some Japanese designs have a similar concept, though spread into four or more great pylons attached at the top.
These strike me as primo targets for terrorism. But the advantage is that with the urban centers concentrated, natural reclamation can begin in the sprawl areas.
The Mall
Well I don't know what you'd really call it but that's what it resembles, a long, winding structure in which people live and shop. It resembles a kind of world's fair pavilion. As a guy with small town values, I wouldn't much care to raise my family in a constant flow of pedestrian traffic. But it's green, and spread out, a little more convenient for bailing out during UFO attack.
The Bunker
Underground cities are spooky. Plus you know when you are underground. It'll change you. But - very good for temperature management.
New Urbanism - Walkable Cities
Think European style. Low buildings, radiating from a common green space, all facilities within walking distance. A few areas have been designed this way and the residents seem to love it. But it calls for a narrowing of one's personal space. Personally I like this one, especially if it's interspersed with Asian-style wending green paths, so that you're never far from tree shade and quietude, and it's all curvy and random and delightful.
Container Cities
Re-using ISBU shipping containers is just a good idea. Better would be to reduce dependence on shipping altogether and manufacture all the crap you need locally using robots, while humans paint and pontificate in our togas and lucite sandals. But ISBU's are being used in very creative ways, very sturdy, and even with modern ceramic insulation, impervious to heat and cold. Rust is the real enemy. And claustrophobia.
Well there are more and I'll probably have more to say about it. But considering the issue of population management, balance with nature, and improved quality of life, what would you like to see in the future? Teepees? Hamster tunnels suspended by blimps? Ocean-floating modpods? Tree-house forts?
Less strip mall crap, that's for sure. I'd rather see New Urbanism with different themes, like Star Trek, Meditteranean, Ancient Japan, Vegas, brownstone street, Mayberry, Disney, etc, and - Normal, for normals.
I would NOT like to see Trantor, nor Flint, Michigan.
Any other ways, ideas, preferences, thoughts, complaints?
America has a love affair with the car like it has a love affair with beef - no doubt at the behest of over-funded special interest lobbies who would design our lifestyles for us. Well we played and we paid, and it's time to move on.
The real question is about population management. There are a number of schools of thought about urban planning, livability, sustainability, etc. As with energy, each approach carries certain costs.
The Arcology
I've seen a few of these proposals for my little hometown of Shanghai, 20m and growing (on wet sand). There was the needle, a self-contained city jutting up from a radial base, in which would be housed all the neighborhood facilities, and built off shore on a manmade island. Some Japanese designs have a similar concept, though spread into four or more great pylons attached at the top.
These strike me as primo targets for terrorism. But the advantage is that with the urban centers concentrated, natural reclamation can begin in the sprawl areas.
The Mall
Well I don't know what you'd really call it but that's what it resembles, a long, winding structure in which people live and shop. It resembles a kind of world's fair pavilion. As a guy with small town values, I wouldn't much care to raise my family in a constant flow of pedestrian traffic. But it's green, and spread out, a little more convenient for bailing out during UFO attack.
The Bunker
Underground cities are spooky. Plus you know when you are underground. It'll change you. But - very good for temperature management.
New Urbanism - Walkable Cities
Think European style. Low buildings, radiating from a common green space, all facilities within walking distance. A few areas have been designed this way and the residents seem to love it. But it calls for a narrowing of one's personal space. Personally I like this one, especially if it's interspersed with Asian-style wending green paths, so that you're never far from tree shade and quietude, and it's all curvy and random and delightful.
Container Cities
Re-using ISBU shipping containers is just a good idea. Better would be to reduce dependence on shipping altogether and manufacture all the crap you need locally using robots, while humans paint and pontificate in our togas and lucite sandals. But ISBU's are being used in very creative ways, very sturdy, and even with modern ceramic insulation, impervious to heat and cold. Rust is the real enemy. And claustrophobia.
Well there are more and I'll probably have more to say about it. But considering the issue of population management, balance with nature, and improved quality of life, what would you like to see in the future? Teepees? Hamster tunnels suspended by blimps? Ocean-floating modpods? Tree-house forts?
Less strip mall crap, that's for sure. I'd rather see New Urbanism with different themes, like Star Trek, Meditteranean, Ancient Japan, Vegas, brownstone street, Mayberry, Disney, etc, and - Normal, for normals.
I would NOT like to see Trantor, nor Flint, Michigan.
Any other ways, ideas, preferences, thoughts, complaints?
