[silliest] Building Loads on PressuShells

> While I agree that the first habitats will be probably be "submarines with
> hydroponics", I hardly believe that they will remain that way once space
> colonization is bootstraped. Assuming that economy of scale will make
> habitats cheaper and cheaper, people will naturally prefer habitats with more
> space - eventually, there could be even habitats immitating rural areas of
> Earth. (Though I much doubt that a civilization that developed in space
> arcologies will even think of rural scenarios. Personally, I don't miss rural
> areas at all, for instance. Most likely, once the era of "submarine habitats"
> is gone, spacers will continue to live in hive-like cities - but they will be
> hives with more space and more extravagant architecture.)

I should expect many types of habitats. Keep in mind too that even when we are able to build large habitats, the majority of immigrants to many new habs will be emigrants from Earth. As for me, I should like a landscape like to the rural areas of western Norway where I grew up, with the very easy access to cities made possible in the space habs as well as to habs of very different landscaping and climate. Then, when coming home from work in a typical Weejun winter drizzle, I should enjoy spending a few hours at the beach in a sister habitat running a South Sea climate - without chiggers or similar. :-) Though at the time that this can be achieved, I shall very probably be much too old to appreciate the sight of the beach babes (or they the sight of me). :-(
As for whether we will build spacious habitats for all, or crowded hives for the majority and spacious habs only for the well-to-do, there is no way that we can determine that yet. It depends in part on how easy it will become to build habitats. It cannot be ruled out that the biggest bottleneck in expanding the High Frontier will be transportation from Earth. It can also not be ruled out that building the pressure-hull and adding the soil will be cheaper than subsequently building houses and infrastructure. Keep in mind that a habitat hull and windows may well be a matter of Big Dumb Building, where automated processes are repeated endlessly, and where large masses may be shaped by few people, while houses, rails, plumbing etc. require much more personal attention by human workers. If there is a bottleneck in transportation, and if the infrastructure within the habitat proves to be relatively expensive compared to the habitat shell, then we may well very early see habitats with a very low population density. Perhaps low enough that everybody can have a beef steak as often as they want to, from cattle grazing in ranch habitats with little supervision, and eating little besides naturally growing grass.

Jon Lennart Beck.