The city at the end of the cheap-oil era

Abstract

Dr Ilium, with an M.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the Technical University of Denmark, was formerly lecturer of mathematics and computer science at the Danish Academy of Engineering and professor of Energy & Environment Planning at the Department of Social Development and Planning, Aalborg University, Denmark. He is Consultant with ECOConsult, Systems Analysis - Energy, Economy, Ecology, and has carried out comprehensive energy systems analyses for the study of technological and economic ways and means for the transition to sustainable energy systems in European countries and regions. He is also a member of the World Society for Ekistics (WSE). He is the author of Oil-based Technology and Economy - Prospects for the Future. The text that follows is an edited and revised version of a paper presented at the international symposion on 'The Natural City," Toronto, 23-25 June, 2004, sponsored by the University of Toronto's Division of the Environment, Institute for Environmental Studies, and the World Society for Ekistics.