Soleri doodled with and designed arcologies of many shapes, each specifically tailored for different physical sites.  But he never settled on a favoured template and, most surprisingly of all, he never advocated pyramids as the ideal physical form for an Arcology, especially considering that a sloping profile is ideal for solar and water collecting.  Considering his concern with sustainability, he didn’t say much about renewable energy either, but solar and wind power technology were in their infancy in the ’70’s and only became commercially viable quite recently.  But why not water harvesting and water re-cycling, especially for someone who was very familiar with desert environments..?  

Another thing Soleri definitely didn’t think important was a comfortable lifestyle, like the simple pleasure of relaxing on a patio with a glass of wine whilst taking in a panoramic view. Or a good social lifestyle with a choice of many bars, cafes, restaurants, etc.  All of which will flourish in OA-Cities, especially as nobody will have to drive home..! 

He seemed obsessed with “miniaturisation” which, in Arcosanti, meant “tiny mostly windowless apartments” (an Australian TV reporter described them as “like monks cells”), hard-work and the necessity for everyone to adopt his own very frugal lifestyle. 

Needless to say, ascetism does not sell..!

Oasis-Cities will popularise pyramids as the logical – and most ideal – shape for Cities to Come..!     

China and Dubai seem to have been on a “mine-is-bigger-than-yours” competition to build the biggest buildings on the planet.  But these are mostly skyscrapers – tall and narrow buildings with relatively small bases. Very large “footprint” buildings, like the Pentagon, are quite rare.  Pyramids to live in are even rarer – almost unique in fact.  Oasis-Cities may soon change this.  

Heathrow Terminal 5 (7 hectares)

Millennium Dome aka O2 Arena (10.5 hectares)

THE PENTAGON (1945) – 12 hectares including its central courtyard

Chengdu Global Centre

Chengdu Global Centre interior

Luxor Hotel, Las Vegas (1993) – still the only large “live-in” pyramid

Deltapolis would neatly fit into the iconic river-bend site wasted on London’s ill-conceived “circus tent” O2 arena.  Unlike that “white elephant”, an Oasis-City would serve a USEFUL EDUCATIONAL PURPOSE as an “Eco Display City” in which people could live, work, shop, and play in a sustainable car-free and carefree community.  Such a building would certainly be a far bigger and better tourist drawcard than the money-losing publicly-subsidised O2.

Oasis-Cities the Garden Cities of the near future

“Oasis-Cities” will occupy far less land than conventional car-dependent “new towns” or the mooted “Garden Cities”. Each OA-City module would be entirely surrounded by a “green belt” of lush parkland with beautiful trees and woodland trails meandering alongside pretty ornamental lakes with rustic bridges leading to perhaps a cosy “country pub”.   Oasis-Cities will not only prevent vast areas of countryside from being obliterated by ugly sprawl development – they will also BEAUTIFY it.  Those sylvan domains will be a wonderfully safe habitat for the birds and small wildlife that would otherwise be decimated by road-traffic. 

The OA-City template can easily be adapted for all countries and climates and any building site – green-field, brown-field, tropics, desert, or even mudflats in shallow waters like the Thames Estuary or The Wash.   A typical OA-City module (like Deltapolis) will comfortably accommodate about 7,500 in a building of just 10 hectares (25 acres) and surrounded by an equal-sized “domain” of gardens, parks and woodlands.   They could either be single-module stand-alone structures or a number of them would comprise a modular eco-city.  

Oasis Cities will inspire co-operation, self-respect, and trustworthiness, and will facilitate new concepts of democracy and self-government, and will generally improve and enhance every facet of life.  OA-Cities will come to epitomise a harmonious, sustainable, and secure society.  But such goals can only be achieved if the insidious “rights before responsibilities” trend of recent history is reversed so that civic responsibilities once again take precedence over “rights”.  Its depressing that something as clearly beneficial to a healthy society as civic responsibility tends nowadays to be associated with authoritarianism.  This goes to show how far western society has travelled down the wrong road.  

Oasis-Cities will come to symbolise not just a new type of city but a NEW WAY OF LIFE, as important a step in societal evolution as were the first cities 5000 years ago. 

Could Oasis-Cities solve the problems of the 3rd world?

For a host of financial, cultural, and ecological reasons – Oasis-Cities are really only appropriate for “1st world” countries, where widespread car-ownership and frivolous consumerism consumes a disproportionate amount of resources whilst emitting most of the GG (greenhouse gases) which contribute to GW/CC (Global Warming/Climate Change).