Anyone ever played Sim City 2000?

Remember the arcologies? They were essentially ultra-high density population centers designed to satisfy all of the consumer, entertainment, residential, and employment needs of a population within a single superstructure. Today, most theoretical arcologies are strictly high concept designs, pretty pictures and flights of fancy designed to inspire architects and urban designers, offering a glimpse of a never-quite-within-reach future.

That's the problem with arcologies. We have the technology and the means to build self-contained mini-cities, but not the financial will or the public trust to do so. However, I think the reasoning behind this is not because people mistrust the concept, but because most of the ideas are simply too ambitious and crazy to be within reach.

Then I recently walked into a brand new super-duper-giga-Wal-Mart. As I perused the selection of clothing, groceries, electronics, and so on and so forth I came to the realization that this Wal-Mart was, in fact, a perfect testbed for a living, breathing arcology. All it needed was a conjoined series of residences, and voila! It would be a basic, but functional arcology!

Could this be the future? Can arcologies grow from a single super-duper store and become the new settlements of the 21st century? Is Wal-Mart, an object of my personal hatred for years, in fact the harbinger of the next urban revolution? While I am almost loathe to admit it, they are the only singular corporate entity that has gotten so close to the concept of a true arcology.

Imagine it. What starts off as a successful yotta-Wal-Mart (that's Wal-Mart * 10^24) in a city or neighborhood near you adds residence to the substructure, followed by more complex and specialized office structures for services such as clinics, small businesses, and so on. Then, on top of this initial 'seeding' layer of residences and offices comes a second tier of commercial space designed with entertainment, as well as a local government center-- a 'town hall', if you will, with adjacent police and emergency services.

If this self-contained town succeeds, it can conceivably continue to grow vertically into a massive urban complex with tens or even hundreds of thousands of residents who, if they so chose, would never have to leave the confines of the arcology.

This "Wal-Cology" solves some of the fundamental problems of the arcology concept. First, it mitigates cost. If the population, resources, or demand are insufficient to support an urban complex, the wal-cology will simply remain in its pupal state until conditions change. This quiets the fears that such a massive investment will prove to be a financial bust. Second, it allows for modular growth based on the fabric of the local community. For example, a Wal-Cology in Memphis, Tennessee could be modified without much effort to contain a country music community as well as a superstore for the firearms and heavy ordnance so popular in the American South. A corresponding Wal-Cology in, say, Albania could be equipped with a multitude of auto dealerships and docking bays to showcase the thousands of stolen vehicles arriving from much of Western Europe at any time, facilitating the trading process and regulating tariffs with minimal overhead. With modular development, each urban area can remain true to its local culture and therefore a viable and enjoyable place to live, not to mention a profitable one.

It also stands to reason that Wal-Mart, as the foundation of the future urban renewal, would stand to gain a great amount of political, social, and financial power in the coming decades as Wal-Cologies spring up around the world. Therefore, your benevolent overlords encourage you to continue spending money you don't have on cheap crap you don't need. The global economy and the future of mankind depends upon it!