A large city takes up less physical space than the same population dispersed into small communities, but it lives higher on the energy chain; and per capita consumption in the cities is also higher. The freeways, the transport, the used-car lots, the oil fields, the food-processing plants, the pollution of air, water, and land mean that contemporary urban centers use more resources and ultimately more space than decentralized communities closer to nature.

— ancient-futuresEpilogue