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efficient city

The most efficient high-density city
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Everyone would live in high rise buildings (approx 50 stories high). This would afford us a lot of efficiencies with heating, cooling, sewerage, rubbish collection etc. All recreational facilities are shared with lots of nearby park land, gyms, swimming pools etc. These would be economical because so many people would be nearby to use them. No cars would be allowed in the city (except ambulances, firetrucks, garbage trucks etc). There would be covered (and lit) bike paths everywhere so people could ride their bicycles anywhere day or night. There would be a free public transport system running 24/7. But most of the transportation problems would be solved by having high-rise buildings (with high density, you're never that far away from where you need to be). On the fringes of the city there would be car parks and places that hire out cars. I assume most people who live in the city would not need a car on a day to day basis, but would hire one when leaving the city for holidays etc. We could use the excess land that is no longer used for the suburban sprawl, for farming, renewable energy generation, water collection, airports etc. Shopping centres, restaurants, bars etc would occupy the lower levels of the high-rise buildings (obviously sound proofing would be taken into consideration in the design of the buildings).

any ideas to add?

davich, Jun 12 2008

"Arcology" at wikipedia.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcology
[phoenix, Jun 12 2008]

The City of To-morrow and Its Planning http://www.amazon.c...d=1213285036&sr=1-6
baked in 1922 [Laughs Last, Jun 12 2008]

Garden Cities of To-morrow http://www.sacred-t...opia/gcot/index.htm
the 1898 version with only mid-rises [Laughs Last, Jun 12 2008]

Little boxes, little boxes ..... http://www.wku.edu/...h/MALVINA/mr094.htm
....... Little boxes made of ticky-tacky ....... [8th of 7, Jun 12 2008]

[link]






       "any ideas to add?"
Yes, they're called "arcologies" and a well-established concept in many science fiction stories.
phoenix, Jun 12 2008
  

       pffft. Find me an original idea and I'll find you a fairy! Obviously someone would have thought of creating an efficient city before.   

       The joy is in the details. I was hoping that people would help flesh out the details rather than squabble over originality and ownership.
davich, Jun 12 2008
  

       //pffft// {strikes match}   

       //Find me an original idea// See that 'random' link on the left? Hit that a dozen times and I think you'll owe us at least six fairies. Not necessarily good fairies, mind you.
pertinax, Jun 12 2008
  

       /any ideas to add?/   

       A tree museum. Admission: $1.50.
Texticle, Jun 12 2008
  

       How is this any different than NYC or any other modern city? Blocking trucks? How do you get all the stuff in and who wants to live in elevators. I just can back from Vegas and the downside of LONG hallways are very fresh in my mind. So my first suggestion is think about horizontal motion: Wonkavators or tube transports to add to the elevators.
MisterQED, Jun 12 2008
  

       Pretty simplistic view of "efficiency"   

       Like the old "throw away your old car and get a newer slightly more fuel efficient one" phallacy. The energy investment to make a new car takes many many thousands of higher efficiency kilometres to pay off before yielding profit.   

       I especially like the fully lit bike paths bit.   

       Mostly it's the energy investment required for making a brand new city. It's really a nontrivial issue.
Custardguts, Jun 12 2008
  

       You'll probably want motion sensors on those bike paths... to cut down on light pollution, and make the city more energy efficient.   

       But really now, any truly efficient city will be using Scooters instead of bicycles anyhow!
ye_river_xiv, Jun 12 2008
  

       Good old central planning; you know where you are in a command economy - in a bread queue, usually.   

       This is sort-of Baked, in the grandiose schemes of many now-discredited leaders; Josef Dzugashvili ("Stalin"), the late unlamented Nicolai Ceaucescu, and of course Adolf himself, who dreamed of flattening Berlin and rebuilding his new capital city of his Thousand Year Reich, Germania. Well, Berlin got flattened - pretty much - but the plans weren't implemented during the rebuilding.   

       But, waste not, want not. At least the European Union is rebuilding Brussels in a brave pastiche of Mid-Twentieth-Century Albert Speer-esque style ..... no need for the Schlieffen plan or Fall Gelb, all they had to do was wait ....
8th of 7, Jun 12 2008
  

       This is not an example of centralized planning. At least not the kind pushed by Stalin, Hitler, Ceaucescu et. al. In those cases there was little or no incentive - or choice - provided to the occupants of the planned cities to go along with the plan. What [davich] is suggesting is already being done in Minneapolis with its famous 'Skyway' system which connects numerous free-standing skyscrapers. The tenents in some of those skyscrapers could just as easily be private apartments as offices or retail clients. The Skyway works because it promotes freedom of movement between closely located businesses without having to contend with weather or traffic.   

       Ditto bike paths, except they have been traditionally thought of as recreational items. I suspect that, not long from now, they will be elevated to the status of commuter ways - hence regarded as vital to local economies. Minneapolis has those too.   

       If there is a drawback here, it is only in the use of the word 'everyone' which raises questions about people having optiuons about land ownership, private homes etc. I think the writer means 'Everyone WHO ALREADY LIVES IN A CENTRAL URBAN AREA' Of course, I could be wrong.   

       Still, I give it a + vote.
Moonguy, Jun 12 2008
  

       Oh, one other thing: be sure to include some kind of significant water body. A lake, ocean or even a decent river will do.
Moonguy, Jun 12 2008
  

       Would there be an underground, populated by Morlocks? Epsilons? CHUD? Mutant rebels? I bring this up because every ideal city seems to have these. All that perfection is only interesting for the first 30 minutes, and then people want some dirty laundry, preferably horribly disfigured.
bungston, Jun 13 2008
  

       So, Tokyo without the cars?
Bukkakinator, Jun 14 2008
  

       Post it, [bungston], post it ! A dystopc, neo-Apocalyptic supercity, drawing on may themes; Blade Runner, The Time Machine, Westworkd, Split Second ....
8th of 7, Jun 14 2008
  

       Baked. . .It's called 'New York'.
Moonguy, Jun 15 2008
  
      
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