I like natural materials and a natural environment, but I recognise that densities in cities have to be built up so that more and more people can have the benefit of the amenities that a city offers. I also know that people have to live in a human environment in relation to trees and planting, and there is at this time an enormous dilemma all over the world as to what is the proper way to house people. How does one make use of great opera houses, which need to be supported by large numbers of people, and also live in a simple human environment?
All kinds of stepped housing, which is related to the land fall, permits one kind of answer to be discovered. Medium density townhouse housing is another way of tackling the problem. But even these don’t give the kind of densities that housing has to reach in order for cities to be viable, unless there are radical investments in transport systems that allow greater distances to be travelled in shorter times. But even greater distances are a positive barrier between the interaction of people which is one of the great amenities of a city, to be able to choose from large numbers of people those people with whom one has a high degree of compatibility. And distance always is a barrier, even if it’s able to be traversed quickly.
