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Title:

PROJECT ROMULUS

Accession Number:

00241074

Record Type:

Component

Abstract:

PROJECT ROMULUS IS A TEAM EFFORT IN URBAN DESIGN UNDERTAKEN IN AN INTERDISCIPLINARY SYSTEMS COURSE AT MIT. THE SYSTEMS ENGINEERING COURSE DEALS WITH THE DESIGN OF COMPLEX, LARGE-SCALE SYSTEMS INVOLVING BOTH SOCIAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL ISSUES. THOMPSON AND SPECTACLE ISLANDS IN BOSTON HARBOR WERE CHOSEN TO ILLUSTRATE THE SYSTEM OF PLANNING. THE TEAM CREATED A CLOSELY INTEGRATED CITY AND TRANSPORTATION STRUCTURE FOR THIS AREA. THIS AREA WAS PLANNED FOR A POPULATION OF 100,000 IN ONE SQ. MI. THE FOLLOWING STRUCTURAL SYSTEM WAS PROPOSED: (1) A FACTORY- BUILT ACTIVITY MODULE - AN EASILY TRANSPORTABLE, SELF- CONTAINED LIVING OR OFFICE UNIT, (2) A MEGASTRUCTURE OR MODULE TREE CONSISTING OF STRUCTURAL FRAME, UTILITIES, AND ACCESS, AND (3) FLOATING FOUNDATIONS FOR THE WATER-BASED AREAS OF THE CITY TO PROVIDE THE POSSIBILITY OF MOVING ENTIRE BUILDINGS. THE LIVING UNITS WOULD BE HIGHLY PORTABLE AND COULD BE TRANSPORTED BY ROAD OR BARGES, OR EVEN BY HELICOPTER. THE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM PROPOSED IS ENVISIONED AS AN EVOLUTION TO AUTOMATED ROADWAYS, WITH DUAL-MODE VEHICLES ABLE TO BE GUIDED AUTOMATICALLY ON A GUIDEWAY OR MANUALLY ON CONVENTIONAL ROADS. THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW AREAS IN URBAN DEVELOPMENT PERMITS THE CREATION OF TECHNOLOGICALLY PROGRESSIVE CITIES WHILE AVOIDING ABRASIVE DISLOCATIONS OF EXISTING POPULATIONS. FINANCIAL BENEFITS ARE DESCRIBED THAT WILL ACCRUE TO BOSTON IF THIS DEVELOPMENT IS MADE.

Supplemental Notes:

Paper sponsored by Department of Urban Transportation Planning. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved

Monograph Accession #:

01410168

Report/Paper Numbers:

No. 234

Authors:

Breuning, Siegfried M
Verplank, William L
Kettaneh, Anthony

Pagination:

pp 29-49

Publication Date:

1968

Serial:

Highway Research Record

Issue Number: 220
Publisher: Highway Research Board

Media Type:

Print

Features:

Figures (32) ; References (2) ; Tables (4)

Uncontrolled Terms:

Transportation systems

Subject Areas:

Economics; Planning and Forecasting; Transportation (General)

Files:

TRIS, TRB

Created Date:

Aug 28 1994 12:00AM

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