7 A possible world-wide archetype

But when density increases to the levels discussed in this chapter, the options become more restricted, and the limitations of human need and human desire coupled with the density lead to a smaller range of possible good solutions. Just as high-rise apartments, though detrimental to people’s wishes, became used all over the world, so I believe that archetypes like the one I have shown here show a partially universal form which might, in different versions, modified for culture, address the feelings and wishes people have in many, many places on Earth where building density has to be extremely high.
In most countries of the world, people are suffering from modern forms of housing. These forms of housing have, unnecessarily, gone in a direction which is inhumane, inefficient, expensive, and unpleasant. It has happened because people have assumed (wrongly) that there is no alternative. They have therefore reluctantly built the 19th- and 20th-century types of housing, regretting the necessity, perhaps apologizing in their hearts to the families whose lives they have destroyed or damaged.

#book/The Nature of Order/3 A Vision of a Living World/10 “Belonging” in High-density Housing#