Malivian Arcologies

The Carless Society
Malivia is one of only two countries on Terra that has outlawed private ownership of automobiles. Malivia’s campaign to do away with the car began with environmentalists, but grew into a new vision for the country and the lives of its citizens. It has waned from time to time, but the carless dream has been promoted for much of the time period between 2291 and the 2800s.

In 2291 the Jawatankuasa passed the Protectorate Party’s Reformation of Transportation bill, which started a ten year phase out of cars from all metropolitan areas with over 70,000 residents. These ten years saw a rapid expansion of public transit, which was made totally free in 2308, as well as a significant change in the lay out of existing cities.

Spread of the Arcologies
New developments, drawn up under Malivia’s new policies, rose from within cities, appearing as curved and alien monuments within what had been traditional Malivian architecture.

These new buildings were conceived of and constructed by a new generation of Malivian architects, who were putting the philosophy of arcology into practice for the first time in their country’s history. For these innovators, the car had been a dead weight around the ankles of city design. A society where even a quarter of its inhabitants used private transportation was forced to devote almost half its urban space to streets and parking for the cars. Cars also deflated the impetus to create the kind of super-dense urban landscapes necessary to radically reduce the human footprint on the environment. Freed from the constraints of being forced to plan around where cars would park and drive, and energized with the sudden need for new city designs, a small niche of architects suddenly found their skills in high demand.

Prescient developers in several cities, anticipating the victory of the PP’s transportation bill, had already begun development of the first Malivian arcologies in 2290. By 2291, only weeks after the bill was passed, ground broke on the Two Moons Arcology in Greabok, which after several renovations in 2324 includes a museum on Malivian arcologies that draws tens of thousand of visitors each year. By 2300, over a dozen arcologies were under construction in Malivia’s urban centers, ranging from the Sanctuary Arcology in Maliv City to the smaller Amogha arcology design used in many previously suburban or rural communities.

Modern Arcologies
Malivia's commitment to a sustainable car free society has waned from time to time, but the carless dream has been promoted for much of the time period between 2291 and the 2800s. After the 2200s, the majority of Malivian buildings built in cities were arcologies in style. During the chaos of the 2720s Malvian anarchy, most major pre-arcological settlements that remained in non urban areas were destroyed. As such the modern Malivian population (of the 2800s) nearly entirely lives in arcologies.

Self-sufficient arcologies allow for much of Malivian land to be used for maintaining rainforests, and for producing agricultural goods used for export. It has been speculated by prominent non-Malivians that should a nuclear war occur on Terra, Malivia would be one of the last nations safe to live in due to the internal ecosystems of the arcologies.