Arcology

Arcology (from Architecture and Ecology) is a term coined by architect Paolo Soleri for a self contained high density constructed enviroment able to fulfill most of the functionality of a city with a minimal impact on the surrounding ecology. A massive structure which encompasses the functions of a city including not only residential spaces but also commercial, services (schools, police, etc), economic and even agricultural spaces.

Arcologies in Speculative Fiction

Soleri was a Utopian futurist, though many Arcologies in fiction are on the other side of the spectrum.

Hives in Warhammer 40,000 are described as Arcologies in that they house a large volume of people in an extremely high density situation. Even so, while they have the shape of an arcology they don't meet it's goals. Rather than minimizing human impact on the environment Hive Cities act as anti-terraformers and their design is fairly random and haphazard, with Hab-Blocks stacked on top of each other. They are also typically dependant on other worlds for food. In Varangantua there are structures which are explicitly described as Arcologies which were designed to be self-contained communities but these are the exception rather than the norm and they are also older structures from better days, now falling into disrepair.

The Vaults from Fallout would qualify as Arcologies, as would the Silos in Hugh Howey's Silo books. Both are Self Contained structures designed to accommodate large numbers of people internally for decades or centuries.

This article is a stub. You can help 1d4chan by expanding it