one for BR......it's here already mate !

[santaman2000]

There are some quite nice cities out there, parts of Paris .....

That's the key word when discussing ANY big city; "parts." once a city attains any real size, there are good parts and bad parts.

 

[sandbender]

That's the key word when discussing ANY big city; "parts." once a city attains any real size, there are good parts and bad parts.

Paris is huge, I know I've walked across it, however most of the other cities listed above are quite small, I can't claim to have visited every district in each of them but each had a 'vibe' which was on the whole very positive, folks were generally quite friendly in their demeanour.

I think the size is important, you could walk out of those cities in less than an hour, people didn't have to waste most of their day travelling to and from work and if they did the transport infrastructure worked for them not against them. In the German cities people appeared to prefer to cycle, walk or to catch the tram rather than drive.

Lots of trees too, not imported pretty ones but local useful ones, I think that makes for a nicer city.

 

[bilmo-p5]

... it's already here, mate;

Vision of Hell, part 2;

Behold the Plantscraper.

 

[santaman2000]

... it's already here, mate;

Vision of Hell, part 2;

Behold the Plantscraper.

54 meters high? That's only 177 feet or about 17 stories. That's not much taller than the beach condos along the resorts here (not even tall enough to be a skyscraper really) and that stagger back design is common among them too.

Here's one just down in Destin

http://www.beachguide.com/Destin-Vacation-Rentals-Edgewater-Beach-Condominium-8366962.jpg

http://www.destin-resort.com/images/edgewater-beach-condo-in-destin-florida.jpg

 

[British Red]

They really are a stupid idea though - does the water pump itself up there? How is the ground fertilised?

I suspect the "architect" has never grown a plant in his life!

 

[santaman2000]

The ones in Destin aren't agricultural. They resort areas; either vacation rentals or wealthy retirement homes. All with a view of the beach. The Air Force is partnering with a private company as we write for the purpose of building a similar one on Okaloosa Island for a recreational destination for active duty and retired GIs on furlough.

 

[wingstoo]

They really are a stupid idea though - does the water pump itself up there? How is the ground fertilised?

I suspect the "architect" has never grown a plant in his life!

I would hazard a guess they would have a similar system to "Aquaponics" which apparently works very well without the use of soil.

As land is getting diminished by the current need to build on it then the developers have built high rise buildings to put people in, so certain crops being grown in a similar way is certainly a good idea although it won't be an easy system for growing spuds and the like it would be good for other crops that are more suited to it.

Tiered growing has been used for centuries in places like China, so vertical is only a small step away from those tiered growing lands.

http://theurbanfarmingguys.com/aquaponics-how-to

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquaponics

Also the "Hanging gardens of Babylon"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanging_Gardens_of_Babylon

 

[blacktimberwolf]

I trust all the folk commenting on how horrible the OP's picture is & sigh at the ever increasing human population .......don't have children.
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.

 

[British Red]

I think one child per couple must be okay...if everyone was so restrained, we would halve the human population in a generation. If no-one had offspring we would be looking at extinction, not sustainability!

 

[Paddytray]

It gets worse .
Did anyone else catch newsnight tonight ?.
I've managed to find some of the program and another program that explains a little deeper
THE INTERNET OF THINGS .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJYo8ontdUE#t=237 ,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LnaLNG5kdc.
soon you wont be able to without the toilet telling the world your fibre needs & location & choice of bog roll .
And everything literally everything will be on fibre sync by 2015 .
Tooth brush that will tell you your not doing it right .
A fridge that warns you your on your forth doughnut .
They said on newsnight that inhalers could tell when and where it was used how it was used /needed .
followed by trees(sweet rappers anything ) that could then be used to triangulate location & test pollen and dust etc
and see areas effected by harmful air particles etc .
coffee machines that know when you wake and start brewing are the least of my worries .
Amy is always on form with that one , but do we really want to live in a world where we are on camera and being tested on constanly ?
So if this new monitoring happens and it will .
Will they stop the mass production of everything wasting everything on a ridiculous scale .
while others go without or will they just be able to tell what your interested in so they can make more money by marketing to the individual ?.