ecopolis now

I conduct ‘thought experiments’. These can be fun. They cost almost nothing, you can do remarkable things to anyone, anywhere, anytime — and they don’t even notice! My favourite experiment focusses on metropolitan Adelaide (you can do this too).

The dawning of my political awareness took place during the heady days of the late 1960s and early ’70s and that took my views on organic architecture thoroughly into the public realm, leading me to question how whole neighbourhoods and cities could better fit their place and respond to the needs of their occupants.

By the year 2020 over 50 per cent of the world’s population will live in cities. Most Australians already do. Clearly, our present patterns of urban settlement are not sustainable. In this article, first published in Habitat Australia, Volume 19 Number 4 August 1991 I introduced the idea of ‘Ecopolis’ (from Eco — ecological, Polis — self-governing city), an eco-city concept based on principles of ecological sustainability, bioregional integrity and social equity.