I wrote a brief outline:

Eco-cities special: Ecopolis now 16 June 2006 … Fred Pearce … Magazine issue 2556

Forget the rural idyll - urban living may be the best way to save the planet, as New Scientist discovers A HUNDRED years ago, the largest city in the world was London, with a population of 6.5 million. Today it is dwarfed by Tokyo. With barely a quarter the population of London a century ago, Japan’s capital city has since mushroomed to 34 million, propelling it to pole position in the global city league table.

Tokyo’s phenomenal growth is largely down to a single factor: migration from the countryside to the city. It is just one of many to have overtaken London, which with a population of 7.5 million today doesn’t even make the top 20.

This rural to urban migration can now be seen in scores of cities across the globe. And it has brought us to a pivotal moment in human history. In 1900, most people lived in the countryside, with a little over 10 per cent of the world’s population living in cities. … From next year, the population of the globe will be living predominately in urban environments. We need to find a way to do so on a sustainable basis.

(The complete article is 3153 words long, from page 36)

= = = NOTES from the Article :

• By 2007, most people (>50%) will be urbanities
• There seems to be a ceiling of perhaps 16-18 million, for the size of a supercity. Perhaps after that it becomes too difficult to feed the spralling city
• London needs 125 times its own area to provide the resources it consumes .. Data: London’s total eco-footprint is 125 times its surface area = 197,000 sq.km .. whereas the potential productive service area of the entire UK is about 210,000 sq.km
• Returning the world’s poulation to the countryside is not an option, especially as energy prices cxontinue to rise, since rural living is not energy efficient, when the population requires a modern high tech lifestyle, with electrification, computers, modern communications, and multiple transport options
• A NEW FORM OF CITY LIVING (ECOPOLIS), is the only option,
• Governments, planners, architects, and engineers are beginning to wake up to this idea : and they are seeking new ways to “green the metropolis”

= = = = = ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINTS : Average for the globe: 1.8 hectares per person - - Americans……… : 9.7h Shanghai……….. : 7.0h Rural China……. : 1.6h

CAR JOURNEYS : Private Transport energy per capita - - Houston………… : 65,000 Mn. Joules (eyeballed from chart) Denver…………. : 58,000 Mn New York………. : 48,000 Mn Montreal……….. : 29,000 Mn Stockholm…….. : 19,000 Mn Copenhagen…….. : 16,000 Mn London………… : 12,000 Mn Singapore……… : 10,500 Mn Tokyo………….. : 7,500 Mn Hong kong………. : 4,000 Mn Philippines…….. : 3,000 Mn

Note : related to density: more dense, the less car journeys per capita

= = LOTS of interest on this idea on my website