Evidently there are too many of us, all the data proves. With rising populations there will definitely be too many to live sustainably on small-holdings in the countryside. One-planet living describes this by data showing that if everyone on the planet lived like a European, we would need three planets.
Therefore the model for eco-living off-grid, in the middle of no-where - although it has a certain charm - as an idealized sustainable life needs to be erased. Cities are currently fuel guzzling, consuming swarms of potential and individual opportunity that spread their waste and destruction far and wide, but, if re-thought, re-fitted and cycled up, (looped,) they are just what we need in order to see human society into the future of human population growth.
The grid is good. It both provides everyone in small, dense spaces with what they need as well as freeing up peoples time to be spent being citizens. (One theory for the emergence of cities – those producing things not food (ploughs and shoes) for those who produce food, allowing those who produce food time to make a surplus to feed those who need time away from growing food in order to make the things needed.) – Such as Catal Huyuk on the Mesopotamian plains possibly back to 9000 years ago. (‘Cities’ by John Reader.))
Current grids are linear, with input and output waste, we need to change this to sustainable systems that are circular and effective and that everybody can contribute to, eliminating the concept of waste and creating more self-sustaining city systems. This is why the movement to micro-renewables and feed-in-tariffs is essential to the development of our cities. But is a very small part of the over-arching theme of things that need to change.
