The Urban Oasis


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1. The Lost Symbiosis of Urban and Rural: Explores factors, other than racial, that work to induce urban flight, and presents arguments--social, cultural, economic, demographic, and ecological--for the development of more compact communities within existing metropolitan areas.

Chapter 2. An Apparent Conflict of Environmental Values: Reviews dilemmas faced when new development is planned sufficiently high to justify provision of public transit--planning theory versus planning reality. Underlines the value attached to the natural environment for residential location.

Chapter 3. Pi*r2 (Formula for the Area of a Circle): Explains why local circulation systems, serving residential communities, must be made efficient and convenient first, if longer-distance transit patronage is ever to be realized on a significant scale.

Chapter 4. Pedestrian Zones and Their Place in the Region: Traces the development of pedestrian zones in cities, and analyzes elements that have contributed to, or in some cases detracted from their success. Considers the potential use of this concept to create new types of development.

Chapter 5. The Long Electrical Cord: Outlines the vital advantages of fixed transit guideways and automated operation in meeting the criteria that were called for in chapter 3, and in making readily accessible the pedestrian zone development projected in chapter 4.

Chapter 6. The Urban Oasis: A Tower Extended: Contains proposals for "urban oases", five basic variations on the theme, illustrated with drawings, model photos, and montages.

Chapter 7. Capillaries and Connections: The regional application of urban oases is demonstrated, together with the timing of trips from within the oases to longer-distance, area-wide transportation networks. A variety of automated guideway transit types are introduced.

Chapter 8. Less Is More: Descriptions of these systems are further developed. The relative simplicity of those systems which would be appropriate for urban oases is clarified, and is differentiated from full-scale automated metros, and from higher-tech concepts for small, personal automated vehicle systems with selected service.

Chapter 9. Equilibrium: Discusses some of the means available for effecting these proposals. It also comes full circle back to issues of urban policy that were reviewed in chapter 1.

Appendix: Selective Service and Automated Guideway Systems:

Further defines the distinctions between those guideway systems that would be most appropriate for urban oases, and the more "PRT" concept, which would, in fact, be irrelevant to their purpose.

As the intent is to describe the interrelationships and unity among the various subjects in this book, each is of necessity touched upon in a relatively summary way. The footnotes invite the curious reader to explore these issues further.