Ecovillage Question 2

From CFI

Researcher

Jason Bradford jcbradford@ucdavis.edu 707-456-0760

Question

What is the appropriate population scale for an Ecovillage?

Assumptions

This is a question about social interactions, economics and politics, i.e., both the critical mass required for a community balanced in skills and viewpoints, and the size beyond which it is difficult to know and trust one another.

Answer

People have a limited capacity, given the time we have available each day, to interact and form bonds and a shared history with other people. This sets an upper limit to the appropriate size of a true community where people can work together with a shared sense of purpose, build trust, and be committed to resolving conflicts amicably (Wikipedia, 2004a). Above this size, complex layers of laws and bureaucracy are needed to manage the affairs of interacting strangers, adding inefficiencies to the system. These layers won’t be tolerated in a world of diminishing resources.

According to Gilman (1991): "Human-scale refers to a size in which people are able to know and be known by the others in the community, and where each member of the community feels he or she is able to influence the community's direction. There is considerable practical evidence, both in modern industrial societies and in other cultures, that the upper limit for such a group is roughly 500 people. In very stable and isolated situations it can be higher, perhaps as high as 1,000, while in situations typical of modern industrial societies it is often lower, even less than 100."

Others place the maximum size even smaller: "Ecovillages are socially, economically and ecologically sustainable villages of 50 to 150 people. This size is considered to be the maximum social network according to findings from sociology and anthropology. Larger towns of up to 2000 people are sometimes described as ecovillages, but technically, these transcend any reasonable definition of a single village and more properly describe clusters of same, each perhaps focusing on a different aspect of economy." (Wikipedia, 2004b).

John Jeavons has some information about this but I do not have it with me now. I’ll complete this Answer at a later date and research more about “critical mass.” Currently, I suggest that 50-500 people be considered the size range for a full-functioning ecovillage.

Sources

Gilman, R. (1991). The Eco-village Challenge. In Context. http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC29/Gilman1.htm

Wikipedia (2004a) the free encyclopedia. Social network. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network. Accessed Dec. 16, 2004.

Wikipedia (2004b) the free encyclopedia. Ecovillage. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecovillage. Accessed Dec. 16, 2004.

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