In from the Countryside

Passengers reaching their local town on one of the the rural transport lines dive underground as they approach the Hilltown, emerging below the central atrium at a terminal bay, one of several grouped in a circle, with glass elevators in the center of the platform bringing arriving passengers directly to the County Town's central atrium.

The Atrium itself, with sunlight streaming in from its glass pyramid 300 feet above, is a huge tropical paradise of exotic plants and trees vibrant with life, their leaves shimmering with the excitement of the activity around them. The odd monkey or colorful bird can often be seen peering through the foliage, though there are special areas set aside for them where they have been asked, and generally agree, to remain. They are not of course 'captive' but here of their own free will and agreement. They tend to enjoy their interaction with humans and generally stay for long periods, often for life, though they will be returned to their previous habitat at any time they make a mental request to do so.

This is the place to see and be seen, to enjoy the ever-changing parade of people, to make new friends or meet old ones, to read or relax, enjoy some light refreshment, work on a laptop computer, or play some table game with anyone who's interested

One can take a leisurely stroll around the perimeter, pausing to watch the passing scene in one of the many sidewalk cafés or benches set in alcoves among flowering bushes. The beautifully tiled floors and surfaces, alcoves with small sitting areas surrounded by scented flowering bushes and the many small ornamental fountains recall some ancient Moorish palace.

This is the hub of community life. The numerous small cafés and meeting areas are used as they were in the traditional coffee houses of central European capitals – places to sit for as long as you feel inclined, places to work, to read, to meet friends old and new, to play chess... the list is endless.

Tropical greenery and flowers abound, apparently thriving in the warm and slightly humid climate which is carefully monitored and controlled to resemble as nearly as possible what the technicians fancifully, though quite seriously refer to as “nature's own sweet breath”!

Around the Atrium periphery are numerous attractive counters dispensing a great variety of pastry and baked goods, fruit, fresh fruit juices and hot drinks, which people collect on trays then take over to one of the eating areas where elegant white tables and chairs are set under palm, mango and other tropical trees, perhaps grouped around a turquoise-tiled pool with its own small fountain.

Along the ground and second level galleries surrounding the concourse are the shopping areas, each area specializing in the sale of different categories of goods such as food, clothing and household articles. The shops are thoughtfully and attractively laid out as pleasing display areas, showing off demonstration items of the complete range of goods available in settings similar to those in which they will be used. Customers can test equipment and appliances, try on garments, and make their selections.

Their chosen items are then ordered by programming a hand held computer note-pad and passing a personal credit card over its surface which enters their name, address and account code. The goods are then immediately dispatched to the customer's home from automated warehouses deep in the pyramid's internal industrial areas by automated goods delivery, the cost being directly debited from the customer's personal bank account.

The warehouse computer, like those in other towns and cities, is in direct contact with the computers of supplier factories, so the factories are continuously informed as to sales movements. Providing that there are no design changes and that the product remains current, re-orders can be scheduled automatically.

There are 'supermarkets' for basic bulk-food requirements. These do not offer the bewildering range of competing highly-packaged 'brands' which were once a feature of the supermarket shelves in the old days. Packaging is considered a waste of resources, and high standards of quality and productivity make competition between similar products almost irrelevant. Much use is made of bulk food dispensers and returnable containers; household needs from cleaning materials to dry or preserved food products such as nuts and grains are selected from rows of automated dispensers. A shopper wanting some flour for home-baking will select the bin containing the chosen grains, program an indicator panel, and the grain will be ground to individual requirements in the quantity desired. The finished product is then dispensed into a small returnable container which is automatically labeled and coded with contents, ingredients, weight and price. When all the desired goods have been selected the customer passes a credit card and the coded packages over a scanner, then places the purchases into a container which is coded for immediate, automated home delivery.

Fresh fruit can be picked or collected personally in the surrounding market gardens; but for convenience many prefer to make a selection from the varied and colorful market stands gathered together along one side of the atrium concourse, where fresh produce is brought in from the town's agricultural areas several times each day for maximum freshness.

Entertainment

In the higher galleries overlooking the central atrium are the cultural areas and facilities: concert halls, theatres, and many meeting rooms large and small. Performances in the various theatres and activity spaces vary considerably, from old style operas to contemporary works; for something quite different there are dramas brought from other worlds in which the emotions involved in the action are communicated directly to the audience telepathically.

Most productions are 'recordings' projected in multi-dimensional form. Others may feature live human performances by local amateurs which can be combined with multi-dimensional background scenes recorded anywhere in the world or in other worlds, the audience totally enveloped with realistic surround sound and vision. Some productions however, are entirely 'live', largely because people have found they still enjoy 'acting' as an aspect of creation. This provides an outlet for local amateur talent, very popular with participants and audiences alike. Professionalism in performance is important, but equally important is that both performers and audience should enjoy the show.

Many people prefer to enjoy music in their homes; but there is always a wide selection of musical concerts, some 'live', involving local amateurs or else some pre-recorded featuring full surround-sound accompanied by a visual display of instruments, natural scenes, or complex interplays of light. Again the musical offerings are numerous in their variety, from medieval to contemporary – that is, New Earth music. New Earth music is not the same as the so-called 'New Age' music of the old times which tended to consist mainly of relaxing background sounds and harmonies.

The 'new' music expresses the New Age belief that music, like life itself, should reflect the 'trinity' of intellect, emotion and inspiration; thus it reflects more closely the baroque music of the 18th century, with its fugues and variations. Indeed the original baroque composers are much respected and their works when performed are particularly popular.

The music completely surrounds and envelops its listeners, but does not deafen them; it is never aggressive either in volume or in content.

The act of musical performance is also enjoyed in its own right, and in the many smaller rooms and performance spaces music students can invite a few friends or the public to a short performance. Or perhaps someone will be reading poetry, others might be giving talks... there is always something going on and the variety is almost endless. Any event can be experienced either in the central theatres where they are taking place, or accessed live from people's homes relayed onto their video screens.

High above the Atrium Concourse where the glass pyramid-shaped roof-dome meets the main hill structure, the roof-top 'Sky Walk' runs right around the 600-foot baseline of the glass dome light, both on the inside and outside, offering magnificent views out across the surrounding countryside or down upon the lively scene of the Atrium below. These lofty heights are reached by several vertical Atrium elevators of totally transparent construction, their stately progress as they gently rise and fall giving an added dimension of movement in the interior concourse. At night the elevator cars are glitteringly illuminated, as also is the pyramid glass roof.

Support Services

The internal base areas beneath the Atrium which are devoid of daylight are occupied by the various support services: waste reprocessing, water heating, air pumping and extraction machinery. Since most manufacturing processes are fully automated, the computer-controlled production machinery also occupies the non-daylighted areas. The operators who control and monitor the machines work remotely from stations overlooking the central Atrium, enjoying the natural daylight which filters down from the glass pyramid dome light, or from control rooms on the town's exterior north face.

All service and production areas are open to public viewing. Where automated machinery is in operation special transparent viewing passages and galleries are provided. Most people like to understand and appreciate the 'behind-the-scenes' operations of their town, and throughout the production, processing and warehouse areas people of all ages can be found viewing everything from effluent purification to maintenance of the transit vehicles. Explanatory commentaries are always provided, with a personal chat for anyone who shows a particular interest.

A totally segregated internal goods transport system known as the 'autodelivery' serves the entire hilltown through its own network of small-bore tunnels and lifts. The system uses 4-foot wide by 3-foot high containers propelled by linear-induction coils and supported by magnetic levitation. Destinations are bar-coded and containers are routed automatically through computer-controlled junctions for direct delivery to homes, shops, warehouses and production areas.

Thanks to the increased efficiencies of life in the New Age few people work no more than about three to four hours a day. Production and service work is generally organized in multiple shifts throughout the day to provide an overall 12- to 15-hour service period. With so much of the day freed there is plenty of spare time to enjoy and experience the town's great variety of cultural, recreational and learning facilities; this in turn creates an almost unlimited demand for new facilities and new ideas.

A real-time 'notice board' in the form of a central databank details the enormous variety of events and activities on offer together with their times and locations. This service can be accessed from screens throughout the city and surrounding communities, as well as from the personal communicators which many people carry with them. It is equally simple, via voice activation or keyboard, to reserve a meeting or performance space and enter the details of what you are offering.

The reservation and use of space may seem casual to Old Age readers but there are more than enough spaces of all kinds and sizes to suit every need, and users are very conscientious. No one would consider announcing an event without presenting it, and spaces are always left tidy, ready for the next user.

Another significant factor concerning the use of urban space is that of cost.

In the Old Age land was bought and sold as an 'investment'. When a town or city grew in attraction and population, landowners were able to ask higher and ever higher prices and rents, so the fate of the city was already sealed. As prices moved up in the old European cities the familiar meeting places, the cafés where people had been congregating, chatting, and reading the papers for centuries gradually became more expensive and many were forced out of business. In America, escalating urban rents set in motion the infamous 'flight to the suburbs', to the cheaper greenfield sites, and thus many city centers gradually died while their outer growth sprawled. In the New Age the use of urban space is priced only to reflect the capital write-off and maintenance costs, remaining both reasonable and stable.

The built environment here in this County Town has been carefully planned and constructed to be varied and exciting, while providing numerous formal and informal spaces for events and activities as well as occasions for the chance encounters which New Age people so much enjoy.

In many of the interior and exterior areas of the central core of this City much of the essential spirit of the Old Age cities has somehow been recreated. There are small stone-paved squares surrounded by lush greenery and intimate corners hidden away, 'secret' courtyards at the end of narrow passageways, and some special secluded areas with a sign of two hands placed palms together indicating that they are set aside for quiet meditation. In contrast, several wide, imposing avenues run around the outside of the sloping hillside at different heights for summer strolling.

Though New Age people dress for simplicity and comfort, their clothes are always color-coordinated and chosen with care. Everyone manages to look effortlessly immaculate, with clothes fresh and clean, hair shiny and skin healthy. The atmosphere is definitely casual, yet there is an air of sophistication and worldliness among these relaxed, confident and smiling crowds.

The sense of activity, of things to do, and the ever-present challenge of exploration is almost overwhelming in this, the County's focal point, rather like the great 'World Fairs' of the Old Earth. The floor of this enormous concourse, and its surrounding galleries, offer a never-ending array of traveling exhibitions mounted year round as well as the numerous permanent exhibitions, such as those at the huge Art & Craft Center where all the best and most creative individual craftwork is displayed. There are working demonstrations of many types of crafts, together with their wonderfully individual products each so carefully made and finished, reflecting the enormous variety of creative artisan talent which has blossomed with the increased leisure time now available in the New Age.

Then there are within the County City's envelope, many Science and Art Museums, Concert Halls and theatres of all sizes and shapes, extensive Halls of Learning and a vast Central County Library filled with books from all periods of history and a great data bank of video and music recordings.

Back in the central atrium a cheerful, colorfully dressed gentleman behind a pastry counter set up outside one of the busy cafés tips his yellow top hat to the passers-by, offering free samples and an almost unending stream of humorous quips and stories. “This is the Hub of the Universe ladies and gentlemen” he announces. And no one in the smiling crowd would dream of disagreeing with him.

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