Okay, I admit - I came up with this when reading the 'Skinny city' idea.
You have a central hub, like all cities, and it does the job that central hubs do. It's also the hub for the transport network. Raditating from this are spokes, which have all the skyscrapers that cities normally have, all linked together by a mass transit system... running through the skyscrapers, which are linked by bridges at various levels. Finally, you reach the end of the spokes, where you come across the ring that encircles the town. This would probably hold everything that is traditionally on the outskirts, such as warehouses, factories, stadiums, airports and the like (although it might be possible to make one of the spokes an airport...). The transit system continues on this ring.
Inbetween all the spokes you have farms and parks, which benefit from all the CO2 and waste water the city produces, as well as making a nice area for people to wander in.
So, whadda you think? I imagine that certain aspects are probably already baked. The idea might already be baked by certain countries; I don't keep up with architectural developments in China.-- Selky, Jan 07 2010 //probably already baked// http://maps.google....9,0.219727&t=k&z=12... a bit wobbly though [pocmloc, Jan 07 2010] The subway map might look like this... http://apartments-r...guide/metro-map.htm [Jinbish, Jan 08 2010] Venus project. http://thezeitgeist...title=Jacque_Fresco [2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jan 08 2010] Prior art. http://www.cais-soa...zabadAerialView.jpgthe Glory of Ardeshir [2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jan 08 2010] well, your outer ring is going to have to up stakes and move outwards when the population grows. Pets and children are going to be much closer to wandering wild fauna than desired (and this goes for the "skinny city" concept as well). Worth thinking about though.-- FlyingToaster, Jan 07 2010 [+] Very cool idea. Reminds me of an Asimov-type science fiction city.-- DrWorm, Jan 07 2010 [FlyingToaster] I was thinking that the outer ring would stay as it was until the spokes reach a certain distance out, at which point they'd relocate. The same issue is faced by growing cities today, as they expand past the factories that had traditionally been on the exterior.
As for pets and children being closer to wild fauna, that would only happen if they were allowed. You don't often hear stories of children in rural towns and villages being torn apart by wild animals. The same precautions would be taken in the city. Besides, why would you let in really dangerous animals?
//City! Why burn all that fuel to reach a central point, I mean why, really ? Answer that question and save.// I don't understand what you're saying. Especially since the transit system would probably be electric. It would take the most efficient route, be it through the central hub or around the rim.
[pocmloc] What am supposed to be looking at? I can't really see anything resembling a spoked city...
I wonder how small it could start off...-- Selky, Jan 08 2010 I think it's a neat exercise, but obviously spoke to spoke transportation is going to cover more distance than if the city part of the city was a blob of equal area. Goods transportation to/from farming is much less often so you're not saving much in that regard by having it interlaced with the spokes.
All in all you're envisioning something that might be built under a dome or 'forcefield' on the Moon where there may be a reason for the spokes to reach the edge of habitation.-- FlyingToaster, Jan 08 2010 Sounds like the Venus project. first [link]Prior art. second [link]-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jan 08 2010 Hmmm. Thought it would already be baked. Has anyone yet tried doing this with a modern city?
I was actually thinking more in terms of cnnecting rural and urban landcapes together than to make it self sufficient (although in an emergency...). Basically large parks in the city, that the waste water can be fed into. One can imagine a network of pipes delivering human organic waste and water straight to the roots of the plants.
Sure, it would take more energy to travel between spokes... but then again, what's the reason for doing so, when you can make each spoke contain basic facilities (i.e. shops)? I imagine most people would be working in their home spoke. Besides, I don't envision it being a sprawling massive city (at least to start with), so people could probably descend to ground level and take a nice leisurely stroll between spokes.-- Selky, Jan 08 2010 [Selky], the city is basically in the shape of a N-S-E-W cross, with rivers and meadows (grazed by livestock) reaching in almost to the centre from NW, NE, SE, SW. There is a dual carriageway encircling the lot. Alongside the dual carriageway are a car factory and various retail and industrial plants. Click 'show labels' under 'sattelite' to see the roads.-- pocmloc, Jan 08 2010 Indianapolis, Indiana, USA is a planned major city that was built with The Circle round street at the center and then has N E S W streets emanating therefrom. Then, a couple blocks away, NE SE SW NW streets. That's similar to the feature of your idea but not your entire idea.-- Mustardface, Jan 09 2010 Indy is anything but a major city. It's more like an overgrown small town.-- RayfordSteele, Jan 12 2010 random, halfbakery