Cities being dense doesn’t have to do with work. It has to do with access to food and resources. Historically cities have always been dense. They’ve only stopped being dense temporarily because cars require tons of parking which spreads everything out. Sprawl is only possible if you have cars and cars reinforce sprawl. It’s a vicious cycle.
Even without peak oil, sprawl doesn’t work. Cities like Detroit failed because density is required to make cities economically viable. You need a minimum density to support the cost of infrastructure like sewer and roads. It’s just about the cost of shared resources. If you have more people paying for a sewer line it’s cheaper. At a certain point a sewer line becomes too expensive for a small group of people to maintain. This works with roads, internet, and other utilities. Cities are already collapsing due to sprawl and infinite oil wouldn’t save them.
Cities being dense doesn’t have to do with work. It has to do with access to food and resources. Historically cities have always been dense. They’ve only stopped being dense temporarily because cars require tons of parking which spreads everything out. Sprawl is only possible if you have cars and cars reinforce sprawl. It’s a vicious cycle.
Even without peak oil, sprawl doesn’t work. Cities like Detroit failed because density is required to make cities economically viable. You need a minimum density to support the cost of infrastructure like sewer and roads. It’s just about the cost of shared resources. If you have more people paying for a sewer line it’s cheaper. At a certain point a sewer line becomes too expensive for a small group of people to maintain. This works with roads, internet, and other utilities. Cities are already collapsing due to sprawl and infinite oil wouldn’t save them.
https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2020/5/14/americas-growth-ponzi-scheme-md2020