A little dense

Here is a neat website if you have some time to kill. Its fun to play with the buildings and I like their attempt to quantify the benefits of density in tangible terms.

http://www.shapevancouver.com/

With that said one of my goals is to get better at decompacting these type of things. Obviously, this "survey" is designed as a way to get people to think about more density in the City, which is not in and of itself a bad thing. However, as the main sponsors are Concord Pacific there is obviously some profit motive at work here as well. Density serves their interests as more density means more condos sold and higher profit margins.

This has got me thinking about my earlier post about the concept of space and how the ways in which we live, the architecture we use, and the planning policies in place reflect changes in the means of production.

We are currently going through a major economic shift, and its interesting to see the local effects of this change.

For whatever reason there is a major push throughout the developed world for more public transit, urban density, and other "sustainable" ways of living. A naive view would say that these changes were demanded by regular people and then implemented by governments on their behalf. An opposite view would say we are being brutally manipulated by power forces outside of our control, in order to have a functional economy in a world without oil etc...The truth lies somewhere else as the relationships between these concepts is complicated. In any sense, these changes are perfectly able to function within capitalism and do not represent an alternative in any real sense even though they are often presented as such.

The key is to make these changes work for everyday people rather than just those in positions of power. What kind of city and what type of social relations are required in order to get rid of capitalism?

With that said lets get me one of those air parcels

Terminator 4 - Fan Fiction (Episode 1)

John Conner, looked down from the back of his helicopter into the sea below. The waves raged around him, a veritable perfect storm. The wind and seas were so fierce John worried that the pilot might loose control and plunge dangerously into the deep dark ocean.

"Your not going down there are you? You'll never make it to that submarine in this storm," screamed the pilot over the sound of the struggling engine of the now 35 year old helicopter. John spat back in his usual vicious tone. Did no one understand the fate of all mankind rested in his callused hands.

With a determined breath, John jumped into the ocean. He could feel the water surging around him. It dampened his every pore. Soaked him to the bone. John could barely swim, but swim he did. John continued down deep into the murky depths of black foreboding waves, he needed to reach that submarine.

At that very moment, John saw a large dark shape out of the corner of his eye. He feverishly hoped it was his destination. The submarine could not be to far now. John's water logged clothes begged him to give up, to forever commit to the dark mistress of the deep. Despite these feelings John resisted continuing ever forward on his quest.

Upon getting closer, John was disappointed when the ominous shape before him turned out to be a whale. In spite of this, John kept swimming, downwards towards the resistance leadership. As he swam the whale matched his every stroke. The whale got closer and closer, and soon its intentions became clear. Opening its enormous mouth, the whale swallowed John without so much as a thought.

Some time later, John awoke in the stomach of the whale. To his surprise it was quite roomy and he was not alone. In addition to the numerous fish, shipwrecks, and twitching Terminator carcasses, an old man sat in the center of the whales stomach. He was gently roasting a small herring over a tiny fire.

"Greeting wayward traveler. It looks as if you too are stuck in this whales mouth. I myself have been in here for sometime. 25 years by my count. Has much changed since I last saw the sun and stars dance above my head."

John explained to the man, the fate of the world. Of Skynet and the Terminators and how fate had ordained him as the lone protector of mankind. John pleaded with the old man for help. He had to get out of this whales stomach, and quickly. The old man found John's story hard to believe but reluctantly agreed to help.

Just then, John remembered a movie he had seen in what seemed like the distant past. A past without Skynet, without Terminators, and without the horrors he now witnessed daily.

Putting John's plan into action the two men worked diligently. They dutifully piled the wood of various discarded shipwrecks into a makeshift fire. The smoke irritated the whale, and its stomach began convulsing. The smoke had the additional effect of completely drying John's clothes and hair. As the smoked filled the whales stomach, John and the old man smiled at each other. The plan was working it looked as if they would be freed from the stomach of the beast. Spat out of whales stomach like so much fateful vomit.

As the smoke continued to billow the whale let out a tremendous.

AAACHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

And with that John zoomed out of the whales stomach. A bubble of air surrounded him preventing the water from reaching his clothes and hair. Miraculously, the whales smoke induced digestive problems piloted John directly into the waiting hatch of the resistances' command military submarine. Confused but excited, John had reached his destination. Looking around for his comrade in fire and unwanted digestion, John could not see the old man. Out of the submarines' hatch window John caught a glimpse of the now deceased old man sinking slowly into the depths.

Briefly thanking his lost comrade, John continued on with his quest. With the fate of mankind resting in his hands there was no time to waste grieving. With a final thought, he stormed into the command center of the submarine. Finally he posed the information he needed to defeat Skynet once and for all. Fate was ready for him, and John was ready for fate

.....