Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
that utopian thinking is therefore inherently practical and political because a 'utopia
may be understood as the expression of the desire for a better way of being or of
living'. Thus, the true value of utopias is in providing
transgressive
and
heuristic
spaces. To be of value, he writes, they 'must be rooted in existing social and economic
relations rather than being merely a form of abstraction unrelated to the processes
and situations operating in today's - real world' (Pepper, 2005: 18). If not, they
would be nothing more than intellectual exercises - 'mere utopias of escape'
(Mumford, 1966a: 390). On the other hand, in emphasizing the influence of the
physical environment, whether it be built or natural, some utopian, and certainly
nature, writing, such as the recent work of Richard Mabey (2006) and Roger Deakin
(2007), is able to sharpen our capacity for individual and collective understanding
and sensuous understanding (Buell, 2001).
Practical utopias: ecovillages
As Dawson (2006) shows in his Schumacher briefing on ecovillages, the history of
alternative communities can be traced back to a small settlement, developed by
Pythagoras, called Homakoeion in ancient Greece. Since then there have been many
experiments that have endured for varying periods of time, differing in size and
Box 8.1
Carless living in Ecotopia's new towns
San Francisco, 7 May.
Under the new regime, the established cities of Ecotopia have
to some extent been broken up into neighbourhoods or communities, but they are
still considered to be somewhat outside the ideal long-term line of development of
Ecotopian living patterns. I have just had the opportunity to visit one of the strange
new mini-cities that are arising to carry out the more extreme urban vision of this
decentralized society. Once a sleepy village, it is called Alviso, and is located on the
southern shores of the San Franciso Bay. You get there on the interurban train,
which drops you off in the basement of a large complex of buildings. The main
structure, it turns out, is not the city hall or courthouse, but a factory. It produces
the electric traction units - they hardly qualify as cars or trucks in our terms - that
are used for transporting people and goods in Ecotopian cities and for general
transportation in the countryside. (Individually owned vehicles were prohibited in 'car-
free' zones soon after independence. These zones at first covered only downtown
areas where pollution and congestion were most severe. As minibus service was
extended, these zones expanded, and now cover all densely settled city areas.)
Alviso streets are named, not numbered, and they are almost as narrow and
winding as those of medieval cities - not easy for a stranger to get around in. They
are hardly wide enough for two cars to pass; but then there
are
no cars, so that is
no problem. Pedestrians and bicyclists meander along. Once in a while you see a
delivery truck hauling a piece of furniture or some other large object, but the Ecotopians
bring their groceries home in string bags or large bicycle baskets.
Source: Callenbach (1975: 24-5).
