Hugh Barton: What about population growth?

Barton’s theories offered little in addition to what should now be considered common knowledge amongst designers of the built environment. The most frustrating component of his writing is that it seems to completely ignore the impacts of inevitable population growth. The focus is entirely on transport in terms of emissions and its impact on climate change. Sure, this is important to consider but its highly plausible that a clean alternative fuel source is not so far away on the timeline of technological development. If a clean fuel source is available then limiting people’s transportation is obviously not as necessary in terms of environmental protection. What will be a much more pressing issue is the strain an over-inflated population will have on congestion of transport networks and access to resources (food, water, housing). Finding a solution to clean energy already fits into existing principles of human psych, for example, high values placed on human development, economic stimulus etc. Where as solving population growth is likely to require a solution that contradicts most existing social norms. For example, population distribution (to adjust to more localised carrying capacities) would challenge nationalism, immigration policies, territorial instincts etc. and population capping would potentially challenge values on family choices, healthcare (its effect on life expectancy), and essentially the value of a single human life.

I believe when considering future scenarios we should place some faith in those people who are currently developing technologies that will provide a renewable and clean source of energy. How this might affect our grid systems, infrastructure, transport and building services (will everything be completely ‘wireless’?), is far more important to consider than whether or not clean energy technology we require is actually possible. When it comes to transport systems and urban design, I believe it is much more important to consider the unit of space a car consumes than the fuel it consumes. As population and density inevitably increases, transportation will need to adapt to suit high volumes of people with an expectation of relatively personalized transport modes – an expectation of choice in locations to be picked up/dropped off. Will this mean cities will no longer require the same transport veins that roads have, for centuries, enforced upon them? Will our mode of navigation through cities entirely change? In terms of gps technology in phones etc, roads and street names certainly don’t have the same necessity as previous generations experience in our navigation of a city.