Do you think the earth would eventually turn into an Ecumenopolis?

[malec]

The reason it can't happen is because people need food from plants and animals so none of these = no food. If anything like this happens in the future it'll only happen on another planet where animals and plants can't grow so easily. If humans colonise other planets then the Earth would be used for keeping animals and plants since that would be the cheaper option rather than having to terraform a planet in order to do the same thing.

[Tom_Green]

When people getting richer they stop to make babies. I think we will have never more than 15billion people on this planet.

[ch1le]

It will happen.
@Malec

Skyscrapers can act as giant farms Theres also hydroponics, and offplanet farms.
@Tom Green If everyone is rich than who is poor, the rich become the poor and well start all over again - get my drift?

[matt_sbs]

na its pretty impossible, since who would build a city in antartica, not me

[ch1le]

/\ with Fusion and pretty much unlimited energy we could do anything we want

[ManhattanBoy]

The Earth will not last forever. The sun will not last forever either and the ocean levels are rising. The Earth will never be covered with urbanity.

[monkeyronin]

Originally Posted by bob rulz

What, you don't like Coruscant?

Also, your facts are wrong. Coruscant was around long before the prequels ever came around.

Not at all. part of the reason I hated those movies so much was cause of the settings (and the characters.. and the story.. and the fact that it ruined an awesome series). and I don't remember Coruscant ever being mentioned in the old movies. obviously it would have had to exist on the updated timeline (which didnt really exist anyway!), but not before that I think..

[Chibcha2k]

Neh, water and food will run out before that ever happens

[koolkid]

Na I dont think so either. But isnt it already happening in Singapore!?

[monkeyronin]

Originally Posted by koolkid

Na I dont think so either. But isnt it already happening in Singapore!?

yeah well Singapore only has 700 km2, not quite there yet

[miamicanes]

Would you settle for "Ecumenurbia" -- every square inch of terrain on earth that's not part of an actual urban area or park transformed into hardcore suburbia... 5,000+ sf single-family homes with 5-car garages on 1/4-acre lots built off cul-de-sac'ed streets in walled, economically-homogenous neighborhoods... sprawling from Shanghai through Siberia to Lisbon, Morocco down through the Sahara to Cape Town, Mar del Plata across the Pampas, terraced up the Andes, and continuing without so much as a vacant lot up to Nova Scotia, over to Iqualiat, and spanning to San Diego and Valdez? Maybe even McMurdo and southward, if enough glaciers melt to turn Antarctica into prime, virgin buildable real estate (glaciers are just about the only thing modern engineering can't overcome and build permanent structures upon).

Think: suburban ${anywhere-in-America-or-Australia}, but on a planetary scale... global mass affluence, with 2 SUVs in every garage, a trampoline and swimming pool in every backyard, and fish pond with illuminated fountain and faux-cobblestone stamped concrete driveway in front of every home. All supported economically by shamelessly-expoloited miners who spend half their lives doing dangerous work throughout the asteroid belt, bathed by hydrochloric acid hurricanes on the surface of Venus, and amidst endless volcanic eruptions on IO, before finally getting to retire and afford to buy their own tiny bit of the Promised Land (in less-desirable regions, of course... forget about anywhere within 500 miles of a coastline, mountainside, or forest... maybe a halfway decent 50 x 100 foot lot in the middle of what used to be the Sahara, Siberia, Wyoming, Amazon, or Gobi Desert.), where humans can actually go outdoors without dying...

[classhopper]

Never

[The Cebuano Exultor]

*Key Words are highlighted.

In a pessimistic view:

This cannot happen because:

1. The Earth is a water planet with 75% of it's (and shrinking because of land reclamation but might expand if global warming will melt the polar ice caps and/or shrink dramatically because of another "ice age"--as in, what happened in the movie "The Day After Tomorrow") surface covered with water.

2. Technology can't advance fast enough to allow humans to manipulate factors that would allow us to get the needed resources (on Earth and within our Solar System) to create such an ecumenopolis.

3. The human population will not grow exponentially indefinitely. In a certain point in the not too distant future, human population growth will peak (if not peaked already) which will cause the population to age incremently before shrinking. This would happen if wealth and education will have reached basically everyone of Earth's citizens (this is based on the hypothesis that, as people get wealthy and educated, they tend to make fewer babies, if any.

Given this premise, there won't be enough people to support (use, contruct--i.e. manpower) the infrastructure of a planet-encompassing urban ecumenopolis.

In an optimistic view:

1. Technology would develop/advance fast enough so that humans will have the capability to manipulate factors that would allow us to get the needed resources to build such an ecumenopolis and more.

What are these resources?
Metals, Rocks, etc. to build infrastructure. Can be used to cover up the oceans and store them in glass containers (as is the case of Coruscant).

What does more mean?
Technology advances are so fast that we have the manipulative power to alter factors on a planetary or stellar or galactic. Then we could definitely build more than just a planet-wide ecumenopolis.

2. Accelerating population growth will be assured for an indefinite period of time into the future due to forced pregnancies (silly idea...I know) and/or the availability of mass cloning technology. This will allow the population not only to grow but grow exponentially.

******************************************************************************************
Hehe, me and my fuckin' imaginations.

[bob rulz]

Originally Posted by monkeyronin

Not at all. part of the reason I hated those movies so much was cause of the settings (and the characters.. and the story.. and the fact that it ruined an awesome series). and I don't remember Coruscant ever being mentioned in the old movies. obviously it would have had to exist on the updated timeline (which didnt really exist anyway!), but not before that I think..

There's more to Star Wars than the movies. There's books, too. Coruscant came around with the Thrawn Trilogy that began in 1993 (which, by the way, are some of the greatest pieces of published fan fiction in existence).

Originally Posted by Kiss the Rain

Many of you are missing the point here, sure its going to take AGES and CURRENTLY its pretty much impossible to support such a huge pop. But the question is will it EVENTUALLY happen. I mean during the entire course of history, the human population has never stopped growing, and i see no reason why the pattern would reverse itself in the future. Once we conquerred other planets in the system or even the galacy, sure people will want to get off the crowded earth and suburbanise other planets, but human have learnt the need to "zone" the use of land a long time ago. As in, this area is only for comerical building, another is only for residential, and another only for farming and etc, so why cant we do this in a wider sense as in "zone" an entire planet for just urbanization so that other planets can dedicate to their particualar task as well, and with the gradual growing(and accelerating)population, i think an Ecumenopolis WILL EVENTUALLY happen. Its not a matter of if, but a matter of when.

No, actually, I don't think it will happen that way. If anything, more advanced technology, more efficient energy use, and everything becoming more consolidated and integrated will eventually halt the expansion of urbanization, especially in areas already heavily urbanized (like Earth) although other, newer planets will probably become heavily urbanized, just not to the extent that we're seeing now (with endless subdivision development and urban sprawl and what not). In addition, people won't want to see the most famous Earthian () natural landmarks destroyed by endless subdivision development. There will be natural areas on other planets, but natural scenery and landmarks and famous sites will continue to be protected for the rest of Human existence, imo.

Originally Posted by Kiss the Rain

Btw, just a off topic question, whats with the yellow circles on Coruscant when viewed from orbit, surely they are not city lights, or else they wouldnt be in perfect circles.

Why couldn't they be? People are capable of building in patterns, you know. The mathematics required to pull that off would be mind-blowingly simple.

[Eric Offereins]

Originally Posted by monkeyronin

Not at all. part of the reason I hated those movies so much was cause of the settings (and the characters.. and the story.. and the fact that it ruined an awesome series). and I don't remember Coruscant ever being mentioned in the old movies. obviously it would have had to exist on the updated timeline (which didnt really exist anyway!), but not before that I think..

It is shown at the end of episode 6 at least.

[bob rulz]

Originally Posted by Eric Offereins

It is shown at the end of episode 6 at least.

Yes it is, but that's only in the special edition. Note, however, that that was also before Episode 1. Either way, it was around before that in the Expanded Universe (the name given to the books, comics, and games not directly based off of the movies).

[Saigoneseguy]

I think human population will increase to a peak value, after that, it will eventually fall. Ecumenopolis is just unsustainable and economically senseless.

[Saigoneseguy]

In other words, Ecumenopolis is like building a castle the same size of Minath Tiris in the Middle Ages, technically possible but never happens.

[I-275westcoastfl]

It wont happen, I wouldnt want it to either there are so many nice places on earth that are just pure natural with no significant buildings around some places should stay like that. I think eventually we will end up on other planets as resources and other things run out it would also be good for the survival of our species if we had civilizations on a few planets. The earth is fucked either way so that would be the smart thing to do.

[ROCguy]

give me a break.