Arcology
An arcology is a habitat or settlement maintaining an extremely high human population density. The term was invented by architect Paolo Soleri, as a portmanteau of architecture and ecology. So far these constructs exist only conceptually with experiments taking place at Arcosanti in central Arizona, USA. Popular in science fiction, arcologies are generally advocated as solutions to the problems of overpopulation and environmental degradation, as they reduce the ecological footprint of cities. Most cities spread across the Earth's surface horizontally — covering more and more land and reducing arable farmland. Arcologies, on the other hand, are more three-dimensional.
Development of the arcology idea
According to Soleri, the basic idea of an arcology stems from the idea that urbanization is claiming an excessive amount of space on Earth and that an elegant, but little practiced option, is simply to use what land we have more wisely. In "Arcology: The City in the Image of Man," Soleri describes ways of compacting our city structures in three dimensions to combat two-dimensional urban sprawl. While this led to many science fiction interpretations of domed cities, Soleri's ideas aren't just the "human beehive" model popular in science fiction. They also encompass vast differences in societal thinking regarding some of the same things that Frank Lloyd Wright touched upon in transport, agriculture and commerce. Soleri deepened Wright's ideas of what might specifically need to be done by exploring resource consumption and duplication, land reclamation, elimination of most private transport in favor of public transport and greater use of social resources like public libraries. This concept also emphasizes, in a broader scale, more efficient use of resources and compacting of urban space to preserve the environment.
Some experts speculate that arcologies will become common in the information age. Construction methods for arcologies are being tested at Arcosanti. Otherwise, arcologies are restricted to paper proposals and fictional depictions, such as Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's Oath of Fealty (novel) or as elements in computer and video games, such as SimCity 2000, Escape Velocity Nova, and Deus Ex: Invisible War.
The first arcology to be described in fiction was probably "The Last Redoubt" from The Night Land by William Hope Hodgson, first published in 1912. It is a complete example of an arcology, including full artificial ecology, agriculture, and public transport by mobile roadways.
Real-life visions
Many cities in the world have had proposed or desired arcologies that never went far. Tokyo has had many, which are listed here.
Apparently, a new "eco-city" or self-sustaining urban centre the size of a large western capital is to be built at Dongtan near Shanghai [1]. The first phase is on target to open by 2010 and to be "completed" by 2040.
Co-Op City in New York City could be considered a proto-arcology, with many services provided on-site. A telecommuter might never need to leave Co-Op City, which is one of the features of an arcology.
Arcology in popular culture
- The computer game SimCity 2000 allows the construction of four different types of arcologies, with different models becoming available as the years pass. The most primitive model holds relatively few people and produces considerable pollution, while later models are clean and efficient.
- A level of the computer game Deus Ex: Invisible War posits a futuristic arcology on the edge of an ancient medina in Cairo.
- Arcologies are common elements in futuristic anime and manga titles. An example would be the post-apocalyptic/cyberpunk series Appleseed by Masamune Shirow, in which arcologies dominate the skyline of the city Olympus.
- In the 1982 cyberpunk film Blade Runner by Ridley Scott, the main offices of the fictional Tyrell Corporation are located in an arcology; The Genom Tower arcologies (among other things) in the anime Bubblegum Crisis were partially inspired by the Tyrell arcology.
- In the Judge Dredd comic stories, originally published in 2000 AD comic, the megalopolis of Mega-City One consists of many hundreds, if not thousands, of City Blocks, in which a citizen can be born, grow, live and die without ever leaving, perhaps a perfect example of an Arcology.
- In the RPG Shadowrun, a number of arcologies exist by 2050, most of which are mega-corporate controlled. A major theme to these is the desire of the big corporation to control every aspect of their employees' lives. A major meta-plot element was the sealing off of one in Seattle when the advanced computer control system awakened into a self-aware AI which sought to protect itself.
- In the RPG Aeon Trinity, a number of arcologies exist, with the largest being that of the New New York Arcology run by the Psi-Order Orgotek.
See also
- Arcosanti
- Broadacre City
- Ecumenopolis
- Old Man River City/Super Urban Structure
- Bionic tower, Shanghai
External links
- Arcosanti.org – Official Webpage for a prototype arcology in Arizona
- Arcology.com – Useful links
- The Yahoo Group
- The Night Land by William Hope Hodgson (Full text online)
- Victory City
- A discussion of arcology concepts