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Ecotopia 2121: A Vision for Our Future Green Utopia?in 100 Cities
A 2016 Green Book Festival "Future Forecasts" Winner and 2017 Silver Nautilus Book Award Winner
A stunningly original, lushly illustrated vision for a Green Utopia, published on the 500th anniversary of the original Big Idea.
Five hundred years ago a powerful new word was unleashed upon the world when Thomas More published his book Utopia, about an island paradise far away from his troubled land. It was an instant hit, and the literati across Europe couldn't get enough of its blend of social fantasy with a deep desire for a better world. Five hundred years later, Ecotopia 2121 once again harnesses the power of the utopian imagination to confront our current problems, among them climate change, and offer a radical, alternative vision for the future of our troubled planet.
Depicting one hundred cities around the globe—from New York to San Francisco, London, Tokyo, Sydney, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, Beijing, Vienna, Singapore, Cape Town, Abu Dhabi, and Mumbai—Alan Marshall imagines how each may survive and prosper. A striking, full-color scenario painting illustrates each city. The chapters tell how each community has found either a social or technological innovation to solve today's crises. Fifteen American cities are covered. Around the world, urban planners like to tailor scenarios for the year 2020, to take advantage of the metaphor of 20-20 vision. In Ecotopia 2121 , the vision may be fuzzy, but its sharp insights, captivating illustrations, and playful storytelling will keep readers coming back again and again.
A stunningly original, lushly illustrated vision for a Green Utopia, published on the 500th anniversary of the original Big Idea.
Five hundred years ago a powerful new word was unleashed upon the world when Thomas More published his book Utopia, about an island paradise far away from his troubled land. It was an instant hit, and the literati across Europe couldn't get enough of its blend of social fantasy with a deep desire for a better world. Five hundred years later, Ecotopia 2121 once again harnesses the power of the utopian imagination to confront our current problems, among them climate change, and offer a radical, alternative vision for the future of our troubled planet.
Depicting one hundred cities around the globe—from New York to San Francisco, London, Tokyo, Sydney, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, Beijing, Vienna, Singapore, Cape Town, Abu Dhabi, and Mumbai—Alan Marshall imagines how each may survive and prosper. A striking, full-color scenario painting illustrates each city. The chapters tell how each community has found either a social or technological innovation to solve today's crises. Fifteen American cities are covered. Around the world, urban planners like to tailor scenarios for the year 2020, to take advantage of the metaphor of 20-20 vision. In Ecotopia 2121 , the vision may be fuzzy, but its sharp insights, captivating illustrations, and playful storytelling will keep readers coming back again and again.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2016
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128 people want to read
About the author
Alan Marshall
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 15, 2024
3.5 stars.
Interesting ideas with a patchy execution: some of the artwork is sensational, some pedestrian (though, obviously, that's eco-friendly); some of the scenarios fascinating, some silly. However, as Marshall says in his conclusion, the point of the utopian concept is about challenging the status quo and provoking thought, rather than providing a definitive blueprint for a future society, which, to be fair, he does achieve.
The scenarios are largely extrapolated from an historical and current point, which provides an insight into a lot of the shortsightedness and corruption of politicians and policy-makers around the world. Many of the ecotopia's Marshall presents are organically developed by citizens in the aftermath of some kind of catastrophe, whether economic, environmental or technological. There is something in this view about the resiliance of the human spirit, but he does leven his optimism with examples of the kind of human stupidity that can elect climate-change deniers into the most powerful seats of government at a time when low-lying Pacific islands are already being wiped of the map by rising levels.
Interesting ideas with a patchy execution: some of the artwork is sensational, some pedestrian (though, obviously, that's eco-friendly); some of the scenarios fascinating, some silly. However, as Marshall says in his conclusion, the point of the utopian concept is about challenging the status quo and provoking thought, rather than providing a definitive blueprint for a future society, which, to be fair, he does achieve.
The scenarios are largely extrapolated from an historical and current point, which provides an insight into a lot of the shortsightedness and corruption of politicians and policy-makers around the world. Many of the ecotopia's Marshall presents are organically developed by citizens in the aftermath of some kind of catastrophe, whether economic, environmental or technological. There is something in this view about the resiliance of the human spirit, but he does leven his optimism with examples of the kind of human stupidity that can elect climate-change deniers into the most powerful seats of government at a time when low-lying Pacific islands are already being wiped of the map by rising levels.
June 5, 2020
This is a really fun read. It's all about sustainability, with the history of progress, and the new technology that could improve our urban relationship wit the earth. Tree city, anyone? We could all be living in tree-houses, or buildings with green roofs. Who knows? This book has some fun illustrations, and it covers a lot of ground. Set a bit in the future, it examines the dangers of our current course, and the solutions that will save our planet.
December 21, 2021
Interesse/comoção: 2
Escrita e estrutura: 2
Aprendizagem: 2
Ilustrações: 4
O maior mérito deste livro está nas ilustrações. É interessante também como estímulo à imaginação. As conjeturas sobre o futuro daqui a 100 anos são muito fantasiosas e difíceis de crer apesar das justificações científicas. No entanto, quem sabe, a realidade ainda poderá superar a ficção...
Escrita e estrutura: 2
Aprendizagem: 2
Ilustrações: 4
O maior mérito deste livro está nas ilustrações. É interessante também como estímulo à imaginação. As conjeturas sobre o futuro daqui a 100 anos são muito fantasiosas e difíceis de crer apesar das justificações científicas. No entanto, quem sabe, a realidade ainda poderá superar a ficção...
January 30, 2020
This is not the kind of book you just plunk down and read--at least, it wasn't for me. It envisions a future world of city-specific changes to adapt and counteract climate change that is fascinating for its knowledge of local terrain, cultures, and challenges. An amazing feat!
January 4, 2022
interesting ideas about possible futures.
March 1, 2018
Phenomenal! Beautifully illustrated. These wonderfully researched and imagined future cities and the questions they raise are an antidote to despair. See also, the gorgeous accompanying website Ecotopia 2121.
In this book, Dr. Alan Marshall looks at 100 cities and their most pressing problems. From this, he extrapolates their future and imagines a positive outcome for their citizens through an ecotopian lens (positive futures reached through sustainability and renewable energy).
There are some wonderful and possible ideas here for improving urban life the implementation of which typically depend upon the political will and involvement of an outspoken populace.
Some of the imagined cities verge on dystopias (cities with serious disadvantages or perhaps undesirable aspects), but Marshall always aims to solve a problem and lean towards a positive implementation and outcome of an idea.
Some favorite ideas:
--"All of the buildings are veneered with a skin laden with algae that not only capture solar energy but also feed on carbon dioxide and fix it into the building walls..." — Vienna 2121
--"hotels transformed into public schools" — Varna 2121
--Participatory budgeting, eco-drones! — Toronto 2121
--"every individual in business...attends annual environmental education classes before being granted a license to work" and "good food is more important than excessive mobility" — Sydney 2121
--Piezoelectric tubeways! — Shanghai 2121
--"It was not technology that changed the world but enthusiastic storytelling!" — New York 2121
--"Precautionary Principle: if there is any risk to human or environmental health from a new machine system...then err on the side of caution..."— Plymouth 2121
--Robust democracy!
A couple of favorite cities:
"All they can do is survive within, then beautify and savor, their own small part of the world." — San Francisco 2121 * The City of Growhemia
"...an evolving ecotopian city will offer citizens a chance to pursue other forms of freedom beyond the superficial freedom of mobility that a car offers. A utopian city....acts to encourage each and every person to learn to adapt to the new or the evolving utopian form. Citizens can thus teach themselves...to be happy—even happier—without cars." — Oxford 2121 * Tranquil Streets of a Retro-future City
What the book does wonderfully: It avoids a single solution or polemic approach. Instead, it engages in problems with creativity and explores various possibilities.
It's a fun and inspiring read and gorgeous to browse through.
Pairs well with: Ernest Callenbach's Ecotopia
Quotable: "Hope and desire, mixed with a rich social imagination, can work together as potent antidotes to the complacency of accepting the status quo."
Recommended for: Urban planning, geography, sustainability studies, creative writing students -- This would make a fantastic classroom text for a variety of studies and students!
In this book, Dr. Alan Marshall looks at 100 cities and their most pressing problems. From this, he extrapolates their future and imagines a positive outcome for their citizens through an ecotopian lens (positive futures reached through sustainability and renewable energy).
There are some wonderful and possible ideas here for improving urban life the implementation of which typically depend upon the political will and involvement of an outspoken populace.
Some of the imagined cities verge on dystopias (cities with serious disadvantages or perhaps undesirable aspects), but Marshall always aims to solve a problem and lean towards a positive implementation and outcome of an idea.
Some favorite ideas:
--"All of the buildings are veneered with a skin laden with algae that not only capture solar energy but also feed on carbon dioxide and fix it into the building walls..." — Vienna 2121
--"hotels transformed into public schools" — Varna 2121
--Participatory budgeting, eco-drones! — Toronto 2121
--"every individual in business...attends annual environmental education classes before being granted a license to work" and "good food is more important than excessive mobility" — Sydney 2121
--Piezoelectric tubeways! — Shanghai 2121
--"It was not technology that changed the world but enthusiastic storytelling!" — New York 2121
--"Precautionary Principle: if there is any risk to human or environmental health from a new machine system...then err on the side of caution..."— Plymouth 2121
--Robust democracy!
A couple of favorite cities:
"All they can do is survive within, then beautify and savor, their own small part of the world." — San Francisco 2121 * The City of Growhemia
"...an evolving ecotopian city will offer citizens a chance to pursue other forms of freedom beyond the superficial freedom of mobility that a car offers. A utopian city....acts to encourage each and every person to learn to adapt to the new or the evolving utopian form. Citizens can thus teach themselves...to be happy—even happier—without cars." — Oxford 2121 * Tranquil Streets of a Retro-future City
What the book does wonderfully: It avoids a single solution or polemic approach. Instead, it engages in problems with creativity and explores various possibilities.
It's a fun and inspiring read and gorgeous to browse through.
Pairs well with: Ernest Callenbach's Ecotopia
Quotable: "Hope and desire, mixed with a rich social imagination, can work together as potent antidotes to the complacency of accepting the status quo."
Recommended for: Urban planning, geography, sustainability studies, creative writing students -- This would make a fantastic classroom text for a variety of studies and students!
December 2, 2016
This is, without doubt, one of the the strangest books I have ever reviewed. Around 500 years ago, the cleric and politician Thomas More wrote a book called Utopia that brought a new, and much misused, word into the world. Now, Alan Marshall has used some of the concepts of utopia (which he points out combines the meanings 'good land' or 'nowhere land') to provide a vision of an ecologically minded future 100 or so years from now.
The title emphasises that ecological aspect (it has been used before), though for me it's too close to 'ectopic' to be comfortable. In the book, Marshall takes 100 world cities and gives us a vision of what they might be like in 2121. Each has a rather beautiful image, plus between one and five pages of text which typically combine a bit of historical context, an idea of why he has chosen the particular approach he has used for that city and some details on what the future city is like.
The choice of cities is quirky. The obvious world capitals are there but we also find, for example, Andorra la Vella (with a very retro feel and a banning of nanotechnology). Inevitably the urge is strong to pick out the cities in your country first. For the UK we get the fairly obvious London and Birmingham, combined with Bristol, Oxford, Plymouth and Wolverhampton. Inevitably, also, the first response is 'Why these? Where's Cambridge and Manchester? What happened outside of England?' but in the end, the choice is the author's.
The range of environmental futures awarded the cities is impressive - and like all good utopia stories, there are some darker reflections. Paris, for example, is portrayed with the Eiffel Tower collapsing as the remains of a space elevator collapses from the sky (Marshall doesn't like space travel) and Palo Alto (is that really a city?) is a monstrous hi-tech future environment. Many, though seem impossibly wonderful. Marshall's cities seem largely redesigned from the ground up - yet history suggests that this rarely happens, with evolutionary change more likely than revolutionary.
All in all, like most books where you get 100 anything, it's difficult to read from end to end - it's more of a dip in book. There are some interesting environmental ideas here - for example, the Bristol entry concentrates on a tidal barrier to Cardiff, which is wide enough to be a very narrow city in its own right - and I think the future cities will also prove a rich source of settings for science fiction writers. There's not a lot of science here, so I can't score it more than three stars - but at the very least it's a book that's worth taking a look at for its imaginative vision of a very unlikely but inspiring set of future possibilities. It is available on Kindle, but I'd go for the hardback to get a better feel for those illustrations.
The title emphasises that ecological aspect (it has been used before), though for me it's too close to 'ectopic' to be comfortable. In the book, Marshall takes 100 world cities and gives us a vision of what they might be like in 2121. Each has a rather beautiful image, plus between one and five pages of text which typically combine a bit of historical context, an idea of why he has chosen the particular approach he has used for that city and some details on what the future city is like.
The choice of cities is quirky. The obvious world capitals are there but we also find, for example, Andorra la Vella (with a very retro feel and a banning of nanotechnology). Inevitably the urge is strong to pick out the cities in your country first. For the UK we get the fairly obvious London and Birmingham, combined with Bristol, Oxford, Plymouth and Wolverhampton. Inevitably, also, the first response is 'Why these? Where's Cambridge and Manchester? What happened outside of England?' but in the end, the choice is the author's.
The range of environmental futures awarded the cities is impressive - and like all good utopia stories, there are some darker reflections. Paris, for example, is portrayed with the Eiffel Tower collapsing as the remains of a space elevator collapses from the sky (Marshall doesn't like space travel) and Palo Alto (is that really a city?) is a monstrous hi-tech future environment. Many, though seem impossibly wonderful. Marshall's cities seem largely redesigned from the ground up - yet history suggests that this rarely happens, with evolutionary change more likely than revolutionary.
All in all, like most books where you get 100 anything, it's difficult to read from end to end - it's more of a dip in book. There are some interesting environmental ideas here - for example, the Bristol entry concentrates on a tidal barrier to Cardiff, which is wide enough to be a very narrow city in its own right - and I think the future cities will also prove a rich source of settings for science fiction writers. There's not a lot of science here, so I can't score it more than three stars - but at the very least it's a book that's worth taking a look at for its imaginative vision of a very unlikely but inspiring set of future possibilities. It is available on Kindle, but I'd go for the hardback to get a better feel for those illustrations.
December 15, 2016
A vision for our future green utopia is the subtitle for this book. The possible future for each city is given as well as some the city's history. I didn't read every entry but it is one person's futuristic idea of how these cities can change and become more livable in the future. There are some large hurdles between today's reality and the visions in this book.
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August 13, 2017I didn't actually finish the book so I am not rating it. I didn't like it at all and couldn't bear to continue past page 75. It is not what I expected at all. There are not statistics or science anywhere, it is instead an utter fantasy completely unrelated to reality. May appeal to others, but not to me. If I had to rate what I read I would give it only one star, but I am not rating it because I realized it was not for me and did not finish it.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews