ABSTRACT
Since ancient times, human beings have worked to solve problems with urban resource scarcity, energy use, environmental sustainability, and quality of life. Though always crucial, these problems increase exponentially as the world’s population grows. As the planet heads toward the mid twenty-first century with an estimated 10 billion inhabitants, humanity is bumping up against finite limits of available natural resources. The planet is experiencing severe climate change along with social destabilization, while entire ecosystems are being threatened. Since the vast majority of humanity-the predications are for over 80 percent-lives in, or will live in an urban environment, it is becoming clear that cities, towns and villages must be restructured for greater sustainability and a reduced carbon footprint.
