Open-ended growth is the primary
assumption upon which modern cities and
economies are based. Sustaining that growth
with limited resources requires that major
innovations — such as those historically associated
with iron, coal and digital technology
— be made at a continuously accelerating rate.
The time between the ‘Computer Age’ and the ‘Information and Digital Age’ was some
20 years, compared to thousands of years
between the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages.
Making major technological paradigm shifts
systematically faster is clearly not sustainable,
potentially leading to collapse of the entire
urbanized socio-economic fabric. Avoiding
this requires understanding whether we can
continue to innovate and create wealth without
continuous growth and its compounded
negative social and environmental impacts.