Do Wolves Save Rivers? Are They Saving Yellowstone? A Popular YouTube Video Makes The Case Beautifully

Stacey Hearl and I went down for an Open Water Swim 🏊 today. It was just after the turn of low tide. It was overcast and dead calm. My swim was 448m in 13:49. Water temperature 7 degC. #greenock #rwsabc #openwaterswimming #shoreline #beach (at The Royal West of Scotland Boat Club)

Dome City Blog 4 - Welwyn Garden City and my proposals for a Dome City

I have looked at an old map of Welwyn Garden City and I estimate that this town is around 7.5 square kilometers.  The population according to Wikipedia is 43,000.  Welwyn Garden City is considered that classic example of a “Garden City”.  Recent proposals are to build 5 new Garden Cities in Southern Britain to help reduce the current chronic housing shortage.  The proposals that I have read suggest that each of these cities would house around 15,000 people.

Garden Cities are attractive to people and politicians because they are considered to be great communities and a very pleasant place to live.  If we accept that new Garden Cities are a good place to live what would that suggest about my proposals for a Dome City?

In a previous blog I worked out that the Geodesic dome I am proposing would have a area are within it of 25.3 square kilometres.  assuming 43,000 people per 7.5 square kilometers this would allow a population of 143,000 people.  As I have stated previously my goal wold be to have 100,000 people living in the city so the effective density of this dome city would actually be less than Welwyn Garden City.

I have visited Welwyn Garden City once to have lunch at my Prefessor's house when I was doing my MSc.  While this visit was a long time ago and I wasn't paying really close attention I do remember my Professor's house as being in a quiet cul-da-sac with lots of green space around.

Assuming when get get the lighting within the centre of the dome right this suggests to me that the dome city could provide a very comfortable environment for it's residents.

Reasons that I would like to live in a dome city are:

The ability to walk everywhere within the city.  There would certainly need to be elevators when one is going up or down more than a few levels but once on any level you would never be further than 500m from your destination.

I live in Scotland where it rains alot.  The dome city will provide a roof over my head at almost all times allow me to be outside of my house much more.  I would hope that this would encourage more "outdoor" activities like sport, walking, cafes, open air concerts etc.

I feel that since people would walk around more that they would come into contact with their neighbours on a more regular basis.  I would hope and expect that this would engender better feelings of community.

I wouldn't need to own a car for day to day living.

Given the high population density I would see that public services would be easier and less expensive to provide.  Examples are:

With a electrical power plant located very close to the city combined heat and power is a real possibility.  The energy provider would be able to supply district heating at relatively low cost.  

I imagine that garbage collection could be made more efficient since people could carry their waste and recyclables to larger bins.  

Schools could also share facilities much more easily.  In addition, parents would have a greater choice of schools for their children since every school is accessible on foot by any child.  

Waste could be disposed of in an incinerator located within the city providing additional district heating options and reducing the amount of waste going to landfill.

Sewers could be smaller since they would not have to deal with rainfall.

I am sure there are more examples that I haven't thought of yet but I hope these do show you how costs could be reduced and services improved.

I hope you have found this interesting.

Helen and I cycled from Kirkintilloch to Falkirk and back. The total distance was about 50km. 😊

We walked the Greenock Cut today. The weather was beautiful.

Today I had the privilege of organising the RWSABC Clyde Swim 2018. 31 swimmers who are pictured here completed the 3km swim from Kilcreggan to RWSABC. Thank you to the participants, the safety boat crews, the kayakers, those who did the barbeque and served hot drinks and scones and the committee of RWSABC. #rwsabc #inverclyde #openwaterswimming #kilcreggan #greenock #theclyde (at Royal West Of Scotland Amateur Boat Club)

Now that I am back from China I felt I needed an Open Water Swim. It was a lovely day. Stacey, Colin and I went in. Stacey and for a swim. Stacey and I did 1030m in 34m 22s . Water temperature was 11.3 degC. I was in too long and came out very chilled. #openwaterswimming #greenock #esplanade #rwsabc (at Royal West of Scotland Amateur Boat Club)

A boring photo of the beach before today's swim. However, it was a great swim. Lowish tide coming in. Stacey Hearl, Campbell McCall and I swam 1 mile. It took us 18 minutes to the turn around and then 33 minutes coming back. Aren't tides wonderful? Water temperature 13.6 degC #scotland #inverclyde #rwsabc #openwaterswimming #greenock #theesplanade (at The Royal West of Scotland Boat Club)

Lovely day - very calm 2 hours before high tide. I did a non wetsuit swim on my own. 675m in 18:24 water temperature 8.6 degC #inverclyde #rwsabc #openwaterswimming #greenock #scotland #theesplanade #clouds (at The Royal West of Scotland Boat Club)

Dome City Blog 5 - Churches, mosques, synagogues & temples

We are coming to the end of the Easter Weekend as I write this.  Therefore, it seems appropriate for me to comment on churches, mosques, synagogues and temples within the Dome City. 

I believe that on balance religion is a power for good.  As a practicing Christian I see the merit in having a set of beliefs and guides for living that encourage me to love my neighbour, to be honest and to be trustworthy.  

If a Dome City is going to be a success it will need to be the sort of place people want to live.  Having good neighbours is one of the factors that I would list as important to making a place somewhere that I want to live.  Religion can play a role in this is 2 ways.  The first is as a guide for peaceful living and the second is the way that religion brings people together for religious observations, celebrations and works.  

Therefore, I would suggest that space be set aside for churches in the Dome City.  In my mind, the obvious place for a Dome City in the UK would be near London.  In Britian as a whole according to the Office of National Statistics, based on the 2011 census data, 59.3% stated that they are Christian, 25.1% of the population state that they have no religion, 7.2% did not respond to the question, 4.8% stated they are Muslim, 1.5% stated they were Hindu, 0.8% were Sikh, 0.5% were Jewish, 0.4% were Buddhist and 0.4% were other religions. If this were an accurate reflection of the people who chose to live in the Dome City it is clear to me that around 75% of the population would have a religious affiliation.  Of course not all of them would be regular participants in their religious community but a reasonable number would be.

The data for the above paragraph was taken from http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171776_290510.pdf 

In the spirit of interfaith pluralism I would suggest that the churches, mosques, synagogues and temples be placed close to each other, probably on the same level of the Dome City.  

In Triumph of the City by Edward Glaeser it talks about a suburb of Houston called Woodlands.  One of the things that intrigued me about this suburb is how the developer, George Phydias Mitchell,  recognised the importance of religion for promoting social capital.  The paragraph that captures this best for me has been extracted and is shown below:

One of the most interesting, and almost urban, aspects of The Woodlands’ management is its focus on social capital. The Woodlands works precisely because it is not a collection of isolated individuals; its social infrastructure has been designed to foster interpersonal connections. In 1975, Mitchell hired a Wharton-trained Lutheran minister to run The Woodlands Religious Community Incorporated, now called Interfaith, which was meant to “plan the religious community and all the human services in this new town.” The minister bought a motor scooter and followed moving vans , meeting new residents as they arrived. Interfaith made sure that The Woodlands provided appropriate space for social, particularly religious, activities. Because nothing sours an area like religiously motivated hatred, Interfaith makes sure that religious messages are kept positive. In the aftermath of the 9/ 11 attacks, Interfaith managed to get rabbis to pray for Palestinians and Islamic leaders to pray for Jews.

Glaeser, Edward (2011-03-18). Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier and Happier (pp. 181-182). Macmillan Publishers UK. Kindle Edition. 

Aside - Those interested in energy matters like I am will recognise the name "George Phydias Mitchell", this is the man credited with developing the techniques to extract natural gas from tight shales using hydraulic fracturing (fracking). - end aside

I would hope that a UK Dome City would encourage the same sort of thing taking into account the differences between American and British religious views and practices.

Joe Heffernan 6-April-2015

Conditions at my swim at RWSABC yesterday (11-Mar-17 @ 16:00). Calm, low tide, water temperature 8.3 degC. Swam 480m in 18 min. #rwsabc #greenock #openwaterswimming #scotland #theesplanade (at The Esplanade Greenock)