ABSTRACT
To start on a provocative note, I feel that the notion of the sustainability of a city is a contradiction in terms: cities are concentrations where there is a flow of resources in and out, so no city can be self-sustaining. However, a city as a part of a larger sustainable system is a more realistic concept. But I would also question whether we want things to be sustainable. We could have sustainable traffic jams in London, thousands of cars, buses and lorries gridlocked but using nice clean solar-generated hydrogen fuel! We could imagine these sustainable vehicles scorching up the motorways, their owners occupying totally dispersed and unrelated regions for work, leisure and residence.
