Law and Governance in the New Age

In from the Countryside

Our Hilltown is not sited in the middle of a spaghetti junction surrounded on all sides by motorways, its residents relaxing on their terraces amid swirling exhaust fumes. Residents must leave their cars in a secure multi-storey carpark situated in the nearest city 20 miles away, linked to the Hilltown by a transit line the cost of which is included in each apartment's maintenance charge. Fully automated, the line runs on overhead track supported on slim pillars so as not to intrude on the surrounding countryside. The track is located for minimal visual impact, frequently screened by trees. It glides, smoothly and speedily along its track, supported by magnetic levitation and propelled by linear induction. A softly spoken announcement signals the approach to the Hilltown. But where is the town, the rows of suburban houses, the edge-of-town shopping malls?

Front-seat passengers see only a green, pyramid-shaped hill some 300 feet high. Only the glass pyramid glinting in the sun at its top dramatically signals habitation, rather like the tall cathedral spire of an old English market town. Despite its deceptive covering of greenery this gently sloping hill is not a creation of Nature but a complete, self-contained town with surrounding terraced garden homes, its hollow iterior containing shops, manufacturing and processing plants and a full range of cultural facilities within its structure. Nor is it a small construction. The 'hill' is half a mile wide at its base and inside the hollow centre is a huge atrium 1200 feet across, lit by natural light through the pyramid glass roof at its apex.

The train dives underground so as not to intrude on the town's views and surrounding park amenities. The 'tunnel' is not dull or boring however, for the natural surface has been cut smooth from the natural rock, polished and treated with a varnish which enhances the beauty of the original natural veins and patterns. The tunnel is softly and evenly illuminated as the vehicle passes through, often with some special geological feature highlighted. After a few minutes the vehicle comes to rest below the Hilltown's base whence glass elevators bring arriving passengers up to the central atrium.

The Atrium itself, with sunlight streaming in from its glass pyramid topping the Hilltown 300 feet above, is a huge piazza broken up by planters in which exotic tropical plants and trees enjoy the carefully monitored interior micro-climate. The odd monkey or colourful bird can often be seen peering through the foliage.

This is the place to see and be seen, to enjoy the ever-changing parade of people, to make new friends or meet old ones, to read or relax, enjoy some light refreshment, work on a laptop computer, or play some table game with anyone who's interested

One can take a leisurely stroll around the perimeter, pausing to watch the passing scene in one of the many sidewalk cafés or benches set in alcoves among flowering bushes. The beautifully tiled floors and surfaces, alcoves with small sitting areas surrounded by scented flowering bushes and the many small ornamental fountains recall some ancient Moorish palace.

This is the hub of community life. The numerous small cafés and meeting areas are used as they were in the traditional coffee houses of central European capitals – places to sit for as long as you feel inclined, places to work, to read, to meet friends old and new, to play chess... the list is endless.

Tropical greenery and flowers abound, apparently thriving in the warm and slightly humid climate which is carefully monitored and controlled to resemble as nearly as possible what the technicians fancifully, though quite seriously refer to as “nature's own sweet breath”!

Around the Atrium periphery are numerous attractive counters dispensing a great variety of pastry and baked goods, fruit, fresh fruit juices and hot drinks, which people collect on trays then take over to one of the eating areas where elegant white tables and chairs are set under palm, mango and other tropical trees, perhaps grouped around a turquoise-tiled pool with its own small fountain.

Along the ground and second level galleries surrounding the concourse are the shopping areas, each area specializing in the sale of different categories of goods such as food, clothing and household articles. The shops are thoughtfully and attractively laid out as pleasing display areas, showing off demonstration items of the complete range of goods available in settings similar to those in which they will be used. Customers can test equipment and appliances, try on garments, and make their selections.

Their chosen items are then ordered by programming a hand held computer note-pad and passing a personal credit card over its surface which enters their name, address and account code. The goods are then immediately dispatched to the customer's home from automated warehouses deep in the pyramid's internal industrial areas by automated goods delivery, the cost being directly debited from the customer's personal bank account.

The warehouse computers are in direct contact with the computers of supplier factories, so the factories are continuously informed in realtime as to sales movements. Providing that there are no design changes and that the product remains current, re-orders can be scheduled automatically.

There are supermarkets for basic bulk-food requirements. Considerable effort has been directed into minimizing wasteful packaging, and much use is made of bulk food dispensers and returnable containers; household needs from cleaning materials to dry or preserved food products such as nuts and grains are selected from rows of automated dispensers. A shopper wanting some flour for home-baking will select the bin containing the chosen grains, program an indicator panel, and the grain will be ground to individual requirements in the quantity desired. The finished product is then dispensed into a small returnable container which is automatically labeled and coded with contents, ingredients, weight and price. When all the desired goods have been selected the customer passes a credit card and the coded packages over a scanner, then places the purchases into a container which is coded for immediate, automated home delivery.

Fresh fruit can be picked or collected personally in the surrounding market gardens; but for convenience many prefer to make a selection from the varied and colourful market stands gathered together along one side of the atrium concourse, where fresh produce is brought in from the town's agricultural areas several times each day for maximum freshness.

Entertainment

In the higher galleries overlooking the central atrium are the cultural areas and facilities: concert halls, theatres, and many meeting rooms large and small. Performances in the various theatres and activity spaces vary considerably, from old style operas to contemporary works. Maintenance requirements are minimal and low, often zero rental charges encourage amateur performances and experimentation offering a rich and varied cultural life, both from performers' and audiences' viewpoint.

Indeed the matter of rental cost is a significant factor influencing the use of urban space.

In the traditional pattern of urban development, land is bought and sold as an 'investment'. When a town or city grows in attraction and population, property owners are able to ask higher and ever higher prices and rents, so the fate of the city is already sealed. As costs and rents have moved up in the old European cities, many of their familiar meeting places, the famous-name cafés where people had been congregating, chatting, and reading the papers for centuries gradually became more expensive and many were forced out of business. In America, escalating urban rents set in motion the infamous 'flight to the suburbs', to the cheaper greenfield sites, and thus many city centres gradually died while their outer growth sprawled. In the Hilltown the use of urban space is priced only to reflect the capital write-off and maintenance costs, remaining both reasonable and stable.

Most productions are 'recordings' projected in multi-dimensional form. Others may feature live human performances by local amateurs which can be combined with multi-dimensional background scenes recorded anywhere in the world or in other worlds, the audience totally enveloped with realistic surround sound and vision. Some productions however, are entirely 'live', largely because people still enjoy 'acting' simply for the fun of it. This provides an outlet for local amateur talent, very popular with participants and audiences alike. Professionalism in performance is important, but equally important is that both performers and audience should enjoy the show.

Many people prefer to enjoy music in their homes; but there is always a wide selection of musical concerts, some 'live', involving local amateurs or else some pre-recorded featuring full surround-sound accompanied by a visual display of instruments, natural scenes, or complex interplays of light. Again the musical offerings are numerous in their variety, from medieval to contemporary and New Age. While the music completely surrounds and envelops its listeners, it is never aggressive either in volume or in content.

The act of musical performance is also enjoyed in its own right, and in the many smaller rooms and performance spaces music students can invite a few friends or the public to a short performance. Or perhaps someone will be reading poetry, others might be giving talks... there is always something going on and the variety is almost endless. Any event can be experienced either in the central theatres where they are taking place, or accessed live from people's homes relayed onto their video screens.

An Art & Craft centre displays creative individual craftwork. There are working demonstrations of many types of crafts, together with their wonderfully individual products each so carefully made and finished, reflecting an enormous variety of creative artisan talent.

While the Hilltown has extensive educational and research facilities, students must commute to the city for higher and university-level education. Local apprenticeships are however offered, and 'libraries' consisting of multiple computers in private bays are available 24 hours a day. The wide selection and the merging of cultural and educational facilities encourages learning, exploration and experimentation, while their immediate proximity to every home makes for easy access. Opportunities are endless for mental expansion and the widening of knowledge.

High above the Atrium Concourse where the glass pyramid-shaped roof-dome meets the main hill structure, the roof-top 'Sky Walk' runs right around the 600-foot baseline of the glass dome light, both on the inside and outside, offering magnificent views out across the surrounding countryside or down upon the lively scene of the Atrium below. These lofty heights are reached by several vertical elevators of totally transparent construction, their stately progress as they gently rise and fall giving an added dimension of movement in the interior concourse. At night the elevator cars are glitteringly illuminated, as also is the pyramid glass roof.

Support Services

The internal base areas beneath the Atrium which are devoid of daylight are occupied by the various support services: waste reprocessing, water heating, air pumping and extraction machinery. Many of the manufacturing processes are fully automated, the computer-controlled production machinery also occupies the non-daylighted areas. The operators who control and monitor the machines work remotely from stations overlooking the central Atrium, enjoying the natural daylight which filters down from the glass pyramid dome light, or from control rooms on the town's exterior north face.

All service and production areas are open to public viewing. Where automated machinery is in operation special transparent viewing passages and galleries are provided. Most people like to understand and appreciate the 'behind-the-scenes' operations of their town, and throughout the production, processing and warehouse areas people of all ages can be found viewing everything from effluent purification to maintenance of the transit vehicles. Explanatory commentaries are always provided, with a personal chat for anyone who shows a particular interest.

A totally segregated internal goods transport system known as the 'autodelivery' serves the entire hilltown through its own network of small-bore tunnels and lifts. The system uses 4-foot wide by 3-foot high containers propelled by linear-induction coils and supported by magnetic levitation. Destinations are bar-coded and containers are routed automatically through computer-controlled junctions for direct delivery to homes, shops, warehouses and production areas.

The built environment here in this County Town has been carefully planned and constructed to be varied and exciting, while providing numerous formal and informal spaces for events and activities as well as occasions for the chance encounters which residents so much enjoy. There are small stone-paved squares surrounded by lush greenery and intimate corners hidden away, 'secret' courtyards at the end of narrow passageways, and some special secluded areas with a sign of two hands placed palms together indicating that they are set aside for quiet meditation. In contrast, several wide, imposing avenues run around the outside of the sloping hillside at different heights for summer strolling.

At the same time, everything has been designed from the start for low or automated maintenance, and routine cleaning is simplified. In this way, the highest standards can be maintained at the lowest possible cost to residents.

On the second floor facing the windows of the north wall is the Hilltown Admin Office where a staff of six handle everything from maintenance to accounting. The Office is open to any passers-by through its plate-glass wall. First to be seen is a meeting area with a large table for group discussion. Opening off the meeting area are the individual workspaces, partitioned from one another yet open to the meeting area. Each individual 'office' has a window area, with controllable blinds and windows that open.

In one office an engineer facing a battery of screens monitors the functioning of everything from water, sewage, electrical, and communication to internal atrium air quality. Another office handles all accounting functions, another communication with residents through the Hilltown's internal web pages, another looks after contracting for gardening and cleaning, while yet another officer is responsible for interior ad exterior plant care, health and maintenance. Considerable importance is attached to productivity, offering the best value to residents for the lowest cost compatible with the highest possible standards. This is one public service where long coffee breaks, guaranteed jobs for life, and the 'if you want it get it and put the taxes up' attitude have no place.

The Hilltown's creators, designers, administrators and residents take a pride in the fact that such a convenient, pleasant and challenging place to live is also regarded internationally as a state-of-the-art example of minimal footprint, minimal energy usage and low maintenance. Comparisons are frequently drawn between the compact Hilltown and the usual urban sprawl, and while all services are accessible through man-sized ducting, the inevitable comparison is drawn between maintenance in the Hilltown and the costs and inconvenience caused when breaks in services involved digging up whole streets. No one would disagree that 'this is the way to go.'

Back in the central atrium a cheerful, colorfully dressed gentleman behind a pastry counter set up outside one of the busy cafés tips his yellow top hat to the passers-by, offering free samples and an almost unending stream of humorous quips and stories. “This is the Hub of the Universe ladies and gentlemen” he announces. And no one in the smiling crowd would dream of disagreeing with him.