A Stable Urban Ecosystem

Abstract

The future evolution of a stable ecosystem in a densely populated society is described. The habitat of man at the time that the world reaches steady state must have a predominantly urban character. A pathway to stable population and adequate levels of living can be worked out even for densely populated societies now near subsistence. Java serves as a fair example. From the Third World come crucial contributions to the needed urban transition, including invention of added inducements to limit human fertility; self-help settlement with decent environmental standards; energy-saving transport systems; arrangements for economical domestic water use; techniques for intensive food production in town, combined with waste recycling; and social institutions that extract human satisfactions and cultural productivity from high densities of people and artifacts. These recent innovations now exist, often separately, in only 1 or a few isolated locales; accelerated diffusion is necessary. Indonesia''s greatest lack now is varied formulas for intermediate level self-organization for the provision of a broad range of services. An improved apparatus for gathering data is needed to collect information.