Human Behavior in Space

For some of the experience of an arcology, visit one of the mega-
malls, like Mall of the Americas or West Edmonton Mall. I worked in
West Edmonton Mall for over a year. The place is HUGE. Over 5
million square feet; 800+ shops; a hotel; a waterpark with a wave
pool and 13-story waterslide; an indoor saltwater lake with dolphins,
a full-sized replica of the Santa Maria and six submarines (more
subs, by the way, then the entire Canadian Navy); a miniature golf
course; an amusement park featuring a triple-loop rollercoaster; the
world's largest McDonald's; an NHL sized hockey rink; and of course
the world's largest parking lot. If they added apartment complexes
and a hospital, you might never have to go outside again. The whole
thing, parking lot and all, sits on an 8 block by 8 block square.

West Edmonton Mall starts to feel crowded when there are more than
100000 people inside the building. Granted, only a few hundred are
living there at any one time in the hotel, but that is still a lot of
people in one building.

:) ed

--- In spacesettlers@egroups.com, "Darren Brown" wrote:
> --- In spacesettlers@egroups.com, Al Globus wrote:
> Al,
>
> First let me say I'm sorry to heard that your wife has a
disability.
> I'm pleased to say that today we are able to do much to enable
> anybody with a disability to more fully participate in society and
> this is a trend that is continuing, I have also seen signs of
greater
> acceptance in the general population but there is still a lot to do.
>
> So let's have a look at your points and I will grant you that on
the
> surface they are reasonable ones. When my wife does the shopping
for
> the groceries (Stop, before you make any comment about it being the
> wife doing the shopping, let assure you it's only this way because
> she works part time and is at home when it is most convenient to do
> the shopping and I am not, when I am home, rarely, I also do it,
> besides she doesn't agree with me about what is best to buy), she
> buys enough to last for the fortnight, now, but when we were first
> married we would only get enough to last for a few days. The
reason
> for the change, is the distance to the markets and changes in our
> lifestyles over the last twenty years. A very good friend and her
> husband for a time lived on a navy base and while there, they
seldom
> if ever went shopping, rather they formed local groups (in most
cases
> of the 5-8 houses nearest) and made bulk orders from the Navy store
> and had it delivered. One of my wife's friends lives with her
> husband on a large farm in upper New South Wales and they go
shopping
> for most items only twice a year and then have the lot shipped out
to
> the farm in a large truck, only going into town for a few staples
> once a week or so. Each shopping strategy is different in response
> to the situation the couples find themselves in. People are very
> adaptable and change patterns of behaviour to suit the moment.
>
> Now, with no disrespect to either you or your wife, you may find
that
> in a WELL (and that's the key word) designed arcology some of the
day
> to day problems people with a disability face may disappear of be
> greatly reduced. Take your example of shopping with an infant, a
two
> year old and a handicap that limits mobility. You are right, this
> would be a daunting undertaking but it is so now.
>
> In the shopping centre nearest to my house they have a very cheap
> child minding centre where a parent can safely leave any children
> while they go shopping, the centre management underwrite the costs
> because it attracts harried mothers. This could just as easily be
> applied to an entire arcology, in fact it is easier, if I wanted to
> put a crche within a ten minute walk of every house in Canberra
then
> I would need hundreds, perhaps thousands of them and for certain,
not
> all would have enough children to make them viable, in the
arcology,
> I would need only a handful.
>
> Travel within the building would be very much like moving around
> inside a large shopping mall. If the person was so disabled that
they
> could not browse a shopping centre then moving around the arcology
> would present the same barriers. If we look at a simple shopping
> trip in a normal city and in an arcology (granted, not all cities
or
> for that matter arcologies are equal but this is the best I can do)
> side by side you will see the advantages (I hope;-). In the city
you
> leave your house and get into your car to drive to the shopping
> centre, you look for a park and exit the car, enter the shopping
> centre, browse the shops and make purchases, carry your purchases
> back to your car and return home; in the arcology you leave your
home
> and walk to the elevator or if disabled ride your electric scooter
> (the small one person, tricycles that have a walking pace top
speed)
> to them, the elevators need to be large and they need to build
ramps
> rather than stairs, go down a few floors and walk 400 metres to the
> commercial area or again ride the scooter, enter the shops and make
> your purchases and then return home. Now here is where the
arcology
> is the better option, if you had taken the children with you, there
> are no roads with speeding cars and by clipping a small passive
radio
> tag to the child they can not run away and get lost. If you are on
> the scooter, the same lack of cars removes the biggest single
danger
> to you. If your package is too large to carry then you have it
> delivered by way of robotic carrier, this can be a pneumatic
> (lockable for the paranoid) tube or if you don't want to use that
> much space how about a sealed box attached to a mobile unit that
> follows imbedded guide wires to your house.
>
> The key to this is to make sure that the corridors that wind
through
> the arcology are wide enough and here what's best has to battle
with
> the developers desire to put as much income generating space in as
> possible and each square metre of service space and corridor is a
> square metre less of income space.
>
> I think that arcologies are a better option for those who for
reasons
> of age, physical limits or the need to care for children, they
> require no more effort than a regular city and offer more in the
way
> of advantages.
>
> Darren Brown
>
> DB:
> The advantages [of an arcology] are that you would not need roads,
> elevators, travelators (moving sidewalk's) and just walking would
be
> all
> that is needed, with the longest average distance in a single trip
> being
> only a kilometre or a ten to twenty minutes.
> AG:
> Try that with a week's worth of groceries, an infant, and a two-
year