He limns a convincing world just close enough into the future to touch, with
arcologies (insular compounds with their own ecosystem) catering to the wealthy and, by contrast, ghettos of desperate, exploited refugees.
Property forms that diverge from dominant manifestations of private ownership of humancentric, individualised houses abound: witness community housing, cohousing, community land trusts, housing cooperatives, ecological design, ecocities, and
arcologies, to name a few.
Arcologies are designed into the watersheds and ecosystems within a particular bioregion.
This can hardly be seen as a complaint about the particulars of the draftsmanship--some of Ron Herron's collage-drawings of the Walking City (published in Archigram 5), which depict robotic
arcologies wading through New York's East River, are in fact astonishingly detailed architectural renderings.
In addition to the environmental benefits,
arcologies offer a healthier social atmosphere by providing greater opportunities for personal interaction.
Perhaps a thousand evolved Todos Santos
arcologies scattered among Ecotopian agricultural valleys with Rattlesnake Hill parks out of Pacific Edge around them all?
Crime, pollution and poverty are rampant in overpopulated urban
arcologies.
