Simcity arcologies12/17/2023 Contrast Hub City, which offers everything you need but a place to call home. Hive City is the supertrope all arcologies are hive cities by definition, as they consist of either a single colossal building or several overlaid and interconnected ones, but hive cities do not need to be self-reliant like arcologies are. Shares blurred lines with the Mega City, which need only be huge, but sometimes an example of one is an example of both, especially the arcoplex variation. If the arcology has space engines, it's a Generation Ship. In some Cyberpunk settings, an arcology may be a Shining City in the middle of a Wretched Hive, the arcology's walls forming a neat divide for Urban Segregation. Broken arcologies tend to be the breeding ground for all sorts of nasties, too, since they are no longer fit for human habitation, there's a chance at least some of the sustenance systems still work, and there are at least millions of hiding places. If the arcology is actually a Shining City, and a sympathetic character hails from it, it's probably going to be destroyed anyway. They often appear in video games set After the End or 20 Minutes into the Future, Cyberpunk stories, and most often feature heavily in stories that rely on an environmental or class warfare aesop.īecause they are so insular and answer all of humanity's material needs, arcologies are a great setting for a Wretched Hive masquerading as a Shining City, if not just playing the Layered Metropolis disgustingly straight. What is certain is that we don't yet have the political pressure and economy of scale to build one with any reasonable payoff with current population densities, such a project would be Awesome, but Impractical, thus a fully functional arcology in fiction often requires some Applied Phlebotinum until Technology Marches On comes into effect.Īrcologies appear most often in speculative fiction that tend toward the cynical end of the spectrum, since they are essentially futuristic paradises with a bit of science to back up their justified existence and functionality, and Utopia never holds up under scrutiny. Depending on who we ask, we may or may not currently have the technology required to make an arcology work in the real world. It's either going to be explained in detail, or it's going to be handwaved. This trope tends towards either extreme hard or soft sci-fi, since the full explanation is pretty complex.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |