History Main / Arcology

* Iron Crown Enterprise's ''TabletopGame/{{Cyberspace}}''. One possible origin for characters was being raised in an arcology. The average population of an arcology is less than 10,000, and they tend to be oriented toward environmentalism.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'s'' infamous [[CityPlanet Hive Worlds]] are covered with thousands of Arcologies, though they're not actually self-sufficient: They rely on importing food from nearby agri-worlds.
** Some sources state that only the upper classes on such worlds can afford real food from off-world, the masses live off of [[FutureFoodIsArtificial nutrient paste]] and [[HumanResources Soylens Viridians]].

* ''OrionsArm'' has arcologies on several planets and high-population orbitals. Originally on Old Earth they were exclusive communities for the wealthy and powerful, then nanotech meant they were cut off from a lot of the countryside's resources, then the Nanodisaster happened and the arcos were well defended and many survived into the exodus.

** ''Simcity 2013'' has the option to build an arcology in a Great Works site, an area in the inter-city region. It's monumentally expensive, both in cash and raw resources (the idea is that all the region's cities will help in its construction), but offers large bonuses to business and tourism in the region.

->''Arcology , n.: a concept in which the ideal city is a massive vertical structure, which preserves more of the natural environment, a concept combining architecture and ecology as envisioned by Paolo Soleri''
->''Etymology: '''arc(hitecture) + (ec)ology''' ''
--> [[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/arcology - Dictionary.com definition]]

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer40000}}'s'' infamous [[CityPlanet Hive Worlds]] are covered with thousands of Arcologies, though they're not actually self-sufficient: They rely on importing food from nearby agri-worlds.

* ''Literature/TheNightsDawnTrilogy'' by PeterFHamilton describes futuristic Earth cities that are explicitly referred to as arcologies. Considering the [[ShownTheirWork detail]] and [[MohsScaleOfSciFiHardness scientific realism]] of the series, the descriptions of the cities' inner workings is pretty much spot-on.

[[caption-width-right:320: [[Main/{{Utopia}} The ultimate city]]. [[InTheory Theoretically]].]]

* Creator/WilliamHopeHodgson's ''TheNightLand'' (1912) has an early version of this in [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_Land#The_Redoubt The Great Redoubt]] (more than 7 miles high, holds millions of people) and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_Land#The_Lesser_Redoubt The Lesser Redoubt]] (more than a mile high). They're both sealed off from the outside world by necessity and are completely self-sufficient.

This trope tends towards either extreme [[MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness hard or soft sci-fi]], since the full explanation is pretty complex. It's either going to be [[InfoDump explained in detail]], or it's going to be [[HandWave handwaved]]. Because we don't currently have the technology required to make an arcology work in the real world, a fully functional arcology in fiction requires some AppliedPhlebotinum until TechnologyMarchesOn comes into effect. Arcologies appear most often in speculative fiction that tend toward the [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism cynical end of the spectrum]], since they are essentially futuristic paradises with a bit of science to back up their justified existence and functionality, and {{Utopia}} never holds up under scrutiny. They often appear in video games set AfterTheEnd or TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, CyberPunk stories, and most often feature heavily in stories that rely on an environmental or class warfare [[AnAesop aesop]].

# [[ClosedCircle Contained in a single building]].
# [[PerpetualMotionMachine Self-contained in regards to energy, amenities and waste reclamation.]].

# [[PerpetualMotionMachine Runs on waste reclamation systems that do not affect the surroundings]].

* In [[Music/JeffersonAirplane Paul Kantner]]'s science fiction concept album, ''Blows Against the Empire'', the GenerationShip which is hijacked by a rag-tag band of hippies is an arcology:

Because they are so insular and answer all of humanity's material needs, arcologies are a great setting for a WretchedHive masquerading as a ShiningCity, if not just playing the LayeredMetropolis disgustingly straight. If the arcology ''is'' actually a ShiningCity, and a sympathetic character hails from it, expect it to look like a DoomedHometown eventually. Broken arcologies tend to be the breeding ground for [[ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight all]] [[Main/{{Morlocks}} sorts]] [[EvilEvolves of]] [[OurGhoulsAreCreepier nasties]], too, since they are no longer fit for human habitation, there's a chance at least some of the sustenance systems still work, and there are at least millions of hiding places.

* In ''[[VideoGame/EscapeVelocity EV Nova]]'', the Auroran capital planets each have at least one large arcology where their inhabitants live, due largely to the planet itself being too polluted to support life anymore.

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* The Millennium Gate from the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode ''11:59'' appears to be one.

* Of the many space stations present in ''Series/{{Andromeda}}'', one of them is actually called the Arcology. True to the idea, it is a hippy's ideal home, being [[GoodOldWays significantly older than most of the featured stations on the show, complete with substandard technology]]. It also happens to be the largest, and [[ZeeRust looks quite]] {{steampunk}}.

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Arcology_9969.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300: [[Main/{{Utopia}} The ultimate city]]. [[InTheory Theoretically]].]]

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer40000}}'s'' infamous [[CityPlanet Hive Worlds]] are covered with thousands of Arcologies.

** The Renraku Arcology, owned by the Renraku Corporation. You have to be an employee to live there, but they'll happily take your money in one of the multiple megamalls located within. Of course, this was before the DeusEstMachina took over, locked everyone inside, and started running grisly experiments on the inhabitants.

* In ''Film/{{Dredd}}'', the 2012 film adaptation of ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'', most of the action takes place in perhaps the best visual representation of a residential arcology in an arcoplex so far. Even the car chase opening through the streets of Mega City One shows multiple levels of automotive arteries all over the city, which is a hallmark of the arcoplex concept.
** To elaborate further, the buildings are almost completely self-sufficient. They have self-defense systems that allow them to withstand a nuclear blast, only the people inside can choose whether any communications can go inside or out, and the main villain of the movie has been operating in secrecy to the outside world for so long that she has ''every last citizen'' who lives in the complex under her thumb. As Judge Dredd progresses his way up to the top, he ends up traveling through shops, factories, people's homes, and classrooms. Even the distance from the top floor to ground level becomes a minor plot point.

* All evidence points towards the TropeMaker being HGWells, as the structures that stand where the cities used to be in his story ''TheSleeperAwakes'' are the earliest description of what would eventually be labelled arcologies.
* LarryNiven and Jerry Pournelle's ''Oath of Fealty''. The arcology of Todos Santos is just outside Los Angeles and has a somewhat hostile relationship with the city.

* The 3 km-tall "urban monads" in Robert Silverberg's ''The World Inside'' that house 800,000 people each were inspired by Paolo Soleri's earliest elucidations of the concept.

* WilliamHopeHodgson's ''TheNightLand'' (1912) has an early version of this in [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_Land#The_Redoubt The Great Redoubt]] (more than 7 miles high, holds millions of people) and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_Land#The_Lesser_Redoubt The Lesser Redoubt]] (more than a mile high). They're both sealed off from the outside world by necessity and are completely self-sufficient.

* Of the many space stations present in ''{{Andromeda}}'', one of them is actually called the Arcology. True to the idea, it is a hippy's ideal home, being [[GoodOldWays significantly older than most of the featured stations on the show, complete with substandard technology]]. It also happens to be the largest, and [[ZeeRust looks quite]] {{steampunk}}.

* ''TalesFromTheAfternow'' is a warning from the future about how civilization eventually migrated to the arcologies to escape the toxic wasteland resulting from nuclear war. The arcologies certainly fit the WretchedHive masqueading as ShiningCity descriptor.

* ''{{Shadowrun}}'' offers several examples:

* CthulhuTech arcologies are all over the place, but most of them aren't described in much detail. They are a necessity, though, since the local StarfishAliens and the multiple ReligionOfEvil cults roaming the countryside have essentially made small towns tantamount to suicide. One common feature, however, is that New Earth Government arcologies are [[CitadelCity highly defensible fortresses]].

** Going in the complete opposite direction from [[ScienceIsBad it's predecessor]], the ''Forest Arcology'', invented in 2050, is a series of habitat rings built on top of each other, and is named for its attractive forest setting on the top level. Throughout the structure, citizens utilize recycling, operate ecologically sound industries, and maintain a [[LuddWasRight rich verbal heritage that replaces television and radio]]. Unfortunately, the youth of Forest Arcos are [[IdleHands bored silly and roam out into your city where they stare mindlessly at soap operas and sports programs displayed in the electronics department at local malls]]. Most of it's 30,000 residents are [[GranolaGirl tree-hugging hippies]].

** ''"Launch" Arcologies'', invented in 2150, were nicknamed for their resemblance to modern orbital launchers. The resemblance is not entirely coincidental, as sophisticated methods of biological support were necessary to oxygenate and feed the thousands of inhabitants. While never tested, the manufacturers claim the occupants could stay self-contained for up to two decades. The sides of the Arcology are equipped with vernier jets to [[BlatantLies stabilize the structure during storms and earthquakes]]. A small nuclear facility independently powers the building; spare energy is stored by electrolyzing water into two tanks for oxygen and hydrogen. The "Launch Arco" holds 65,000 inhabitants, but are also the most expensive to built. Build 450 of these in your city and the Exodus will occur. All of the launch arcos will explode, demolishing themselves while a message appears on your screen: "Your launch arcos have departed into space to find new worlds. You have been compensated for the construction." Note: building 450 of them will take up roughly 90% of your entire city's area, meaning you will need to destroy most of what you've already built just to compensate them. This is, however, considered the unofficial "Win Condition" in a technically unwinnable, unending game.

-->''Hydroponic gardens and forests''\

The name of the game here is self-sufficiency. The second attribute above links to the ClosedCircle page because the materials required to keep the systems of the building cannot leave. These processes include food production, waste recycling and environmental refinement (air conditioning and such). People can, in theory, come and go as they please, but the idea is that they don't need to leave. It's worth mentioning that some of the truly huge [[MegaCity mega cities]] in fiction are made up of "arcoplexes," or residentially, commercially, or industrially specialized arcologies that link to each other to create a unified, futuristic ecosystem. After some application of FridgeLogic, CityPlanet settings almost have to qualify as arcoplexes, otherwise they wouldn't funciton.

* '''1.''' [[MegaCity High population density]].
* '''2.''' [[ClosedCircle Contained in a single building]].
* '''3.''' [[PerpetualMotionMachine Runs on waste reclamation systems that do not affect the surrounding ecology]].

* In ''Film/{{Dredd}}'', the 2012 film adaptation of JudgeDredd, most of the action takes place in perhaps the best visual representation of a residential arcology in an arcoplex so far. Even the car chase opening through the streets of Mega City One shows multiple levels of automotive arteries all over the city, which is a hallmark of the arcoplex concept.

* LarryNiven and Jerry Pournelle's ''Oath of Fealty''. The arcology of Todos Santos is located just outside Los Angeles and has a somewhat hostile relationship with the city.
* LarryNiven and Steven Barnes' ''The California Voodoo Game''. The title Dream Park game takes place inside the MIMIC (Meacham Incorporated Mojave Industrial Community), which was built during the 1990's. It was so badly damaged by The Quake that it had to be abandoned. It was later acquired by Dream Park and used as the basis for the Barsoom Project - the {{terraform}}ing of Mars.
* ''Strength Of Stones'', by Creator/GregBear, is set AfterTheEnd in a depopulated world where mobile arcologies roam the land, looking for their former inhabitants (who are actually all around, living in squalor, but the arcologies don't recognize them anymore).

--> ''Hydroponic gardens and forests''\

* TalesFromTheAfternow is a warning from the future about how civilization eventually migrated to the arcologies to escape the toxic wasteland resulting from nuclear war. The arcologies certainly fit the WretchedHive masqueading as ShiningCity descriptor.

* {{Shadowrun}} offers several examples:

* Half of Cairo is now an arcology in the DeusEx universe. The class warfare taking place between the arcology and the old city is a significant plot point.
* In ''[[VideoGame/EscapeVelocity EV Nova]]'' the Auroran capital planets each have at least one large arcology where their inhabitants live, due largely to the planet itself being too polluted to support life anymore.
* The floating city of Cocoon from FinalFantasyXIII is a textbook arcology, albeit one created and run by [[PhysicalGod physical gods]] instead of designed by scientific techniques.

* The Vaults of the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series were designed to be underground arcologies capable of sustaining a population through the lingering effects of the nuke fight that was WWIII. [[BlatantLies And that was their only function]].

* ''Underground Crushed Underground'' follows the story of an underground arcology [[note]] known as a geocity, or a geofront, if you don't like thinking about crappy 90's free hosting websites [[/note]] that is dystopian through and through.

* The TropeNamer is Italian architect Paolo Soleri, a forerunner of the ecological movement and architect of "Arcosanti," the first attempt at a functional, definitive arcology. He created the portmanteau word for the concept behind his eventual goal, and after 40 years, it has had varying degrees of success. By this point, it's a combination tourist attraction, education center, and oddity outside of Phoenix, Arizona. For more information on Soleri, check ThatOtherWiki for information [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paolo_Soleri here]].
* Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright proposed an early version called Broadacre City. His plan described transportation, agriculture, and commerce systems that would support an economy. Critics said that Wright's solution failed to account for population growth, and assumed a more rigid democracy than the U.S. actually has.