Profit has been the motive and consumption has been the behavior required to reach the objective since we first began trading for more than survival. The problem that we all wish would disappear is that unlimited consumption of limited resources makes no sense, but may not affect those who happen to be first in line.
So what is the shelter capacity of a Built Domain limited in geographic area that has the goal of protecting our quality AND source of life? It is a question that confronts everything we have learned regarding the economic principle of supply and demand. It implies limits that apply to all other species, but we continue to ignore the lesson that has surrounded us since the beginning of time. We all know there is a natural law of limits. We just hope it will be a problem that future generations will solve. Our financial advisors have already informed us, however, that hope is not a strategy.
We have been struggling with the air and water pollution produced by human activity for quite some time. Climate change is a somewhat more recent concern that currently generates fierce debate over its cause and the role of human activity. I have been concerned with another threat that is produced by the unlimited conversion of agriculture and the Natural Domain for human activity. It concerns the pavement, open space, and life support systems we construct to serve the shelter we build to protect the activities we depend on for survival. We have called the progression of this physical pattern sprawl; and have recognized its unhealthy characteristics, but have had no ability to define and defend an alternative in mathematical terms equal to the economic arguments that perpetuate an annexation pattern of shelter for activity that has the potential to become a plastic bag over the face of the planet.
In other words, human activities require shelter to survive. Adjusting activity to eliminate pollution and stabilize the climate will continue to ignore the advance of sprawl. Unfortunately, it is produced by unrestrained social and economic interests that pursue profit based on consumption in the only way they understand.
I have written this in response to a specific question I received and will not attempt to go into further detail that has been covered in my essays and books. I’ll simply close with something I’ve previously written to address the question I posed at the beginning of this essay.
“…I hope I have shown that it is entirely possible to mathematically correlate land consumption with gross building area capacity, activity, economic potential, and quality of life within limited geographic areas when the leadership topics for each building design category classification are comprehensively defined and correlated with the algorithms, value decisions, and master equations required. The goal is to constructively define a limited Built Domain without excessive and continuing reliance on annexation. I think we all understand at some level of comprehension that limits are required. It remains to define them with a language that can lead us to consistently positive results.
I have contributed the conceptual framework and technical information needed to continue this discussion in my book, “The Equations of Urban Design”. It is available on Amazon.com but the title may have been an unfortunate choice since the book is not consumed with equations. They are simply the foundation on which the conceptual, predictive, measurement, and evaluation format is based. I have also published over 190 essays regarding this topic on my blog www.wmhosack.blogspot.com and posted the more recent on Linked-In. The blog has been visited by over 32,000 readers.
There is a lot of work to be done to reach the only goal that matters. Symbiotic survival is not an option. It is a mandate that will not be met until the habitat we build ceases to be a threat to ourselves and our source of life – the Natural Domain.”
Walter M. Hosack: February, 2023
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