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> Cities grow around something. Today that resource could just be "cheap land". We don't need coal or iron today, we need housing. > very strong government in

by 323 5y ago

> Cities grow around something. Today that resource could just be "cheap land". We don't need coal or iron today, we need housing. > very strong government incentives Could "cheap housing" be such an incentive?

spacemanmatt 5y ago
Last I checked, those resources are water and roads (or promises of roads). But people can't live without water and don't keep building where they can't get it.
MisterBastahrd 5y ago
You can have all the empty space you want to build on, but if it doesn't have water or electricity, it will continue to be empty. Modern societies rely on modern infrastructure.
- 323 5y ago
  Do you think someone building a new city will not connect it to the grid and think about the water?
  - larsiusprime 5y ago
    They will certainly try, but if they pick the wrong spot it will be prohibitively expensive compared to other locations and so they will be more inclined to pick another location, and the market price of the land will price this all in
  - aardvarkr 5y ago
    That's exactly the point. Where do you think water comes from? You can't just build a city in the middle of the desert. In order for it to be sustainable you need it located next to a lake or river or other large source of freshwater that's easily exploited. Water is a natural resource just like any other.
  - MisterBastahrd 5y ago
    The reason that major cities are where they are is because either there's a ton of traffic that flows through the area OR because they were the highest, easiest point to build on near a major source of fresh water. So no, they're not going to just appear because you build a city there. That's not how cities or infrastructure work.
deepnotderp 5y ago
> We don't need coal or iron today Yes, who uses steel anymore? /s
- fragmede 5y ago
  All of us, but the Swedish are doing it without using coal or other fossile fuels. [0] Iron's going to be a bit harder to remove from the process though ;) [0] https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidrvetter/2021/08/19/how-sweden-delivered-the-worlds-first-fossil-fuel-free-steel/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidrvetter/2021/08/19/how-swe...

by 323 5y ago

spacemanmatt 5y ago

Last I checked, those resources are water and roads (or promises of roads). But people can't live without water and don't keep building where they can't get it.

MisterBastahrd 5y ago

You can have all the empty space you want to build on, but if it doesn't have water or electricity, it will continue to be empty. Modern societies rely on modern infrastructure.

323 5y ago
Do you think someone building a new city will not connect it to the grid and think about the water?
- larsiusprime 5y ago
  They will certainly try, but if they pick the wrong spot it will be prohibitively expensive compared to other locations and so they will be more inclined to pick another location, and the market price of the land will price this all in
- aardvarkr 5y ago
  That's exactly the point. Where do you think water comes from? You can't just build a city in the middle of the desert. In order for it to be sustainable you need it located next to a lake or river or other large source of freshwater that's easily exploited. Water is a natural resource just like any other.
- MisterBastahrd 5y ago
  The reason that major cities are where they are is because either there's a ton of traffic that flows through the area OR because they were the highest, easiest point to build on near a major source of fresh water. So no, they're not going to just appear because you build a city there. That's not how cities or infrastructure work.

deepnotderp 5y ago

> We don't need coal or iron today Yes, who uses steel anymore? /s

fragmede 5y ago
All of us, but the Swedish are doing it without using coal or other fossile fuels. [0] Iron's going to be a bit harder to remove from the process though ;) [0] https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidrvetter/2021/08/19/how-sweden-delivered-the-worlds-first-fossil-fuel-free-steel/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidrvetter/2021/08/19/how-swe...