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anarchy 105
have provided routes into the city – ‘wild-life corridors’ – that lead to
a central park, passable by all but the largest and most dangerous
creatures. They also allow bears to fish any one of the three rivers
which run through the city, but they discourage these bears and the
local lions from living in their midst. The city is fully self-sufficient
and restricts the exploitation of the surrounding forest to the gathering
of medicinal herbs, fishing and hunting trips, and the organization
of camping holidays and wilderness camps for sick and
handicapped children.
The dominant feature of Bear City is its ingenious application of
sophisticated biotechnology. This technology enables the city to
function self-sufficiently without damaging the eco-system.
Aristotle tells Tom that Bear City has pioneered the ‘science of
edible chemurgy’ and that everything in the city is edible. In the suburbs,
for example, the citizens grow vegetables under cold frames
made out of a ‘membrane of clear plant extract’ which dissolves into
liquid plant food. And they live in remarkable energy efficient
houses. From a distance, Bear City gleams as if constructed from
glass and mirrors. When he enters the city Tom discovers that the
house fronts are made from a reflective material that is used to
maximize the amount of light that the solar energy panels, placed on
the front of each house, can collect. This material is an important
energy source in its own right. Each house has two sheets placed
together like double-glazing but in a partially a sealed unit, which
allows water to flow though, and energy-converting algae to live in
the gap. Houses, bicycles and, as Tom discovers later on in his
journey, clothes and underwear are fully edible. The only thing that
prevents the city from being eaten by rats and mice is the foul tasting
vegetable lacquer that the inhabitants use to coat fixtures and fittings.
The citizens of Bear City live in considerable comfort. Citizens
make use of botanochemical computers, televisions and phones and
social ecology gives them a number of sources of energy: wood, gas,
wind-power and micro-hydroelectric power to run these devices.
The city has a complex underground road system for the use of
botanochemical bicycles. It has a light railway network, for heavy
freight, and a monorail passenger transport system connecting the city
to neighbouring areas. It has access to a helicopter ‘in emergencies’
and has even developed a ‘space-craft constructed entirely out of
plant extracts’. Aristotle’s daughter, Mollie, tells Tom that the rocket
is still experimental and that the botanochemicals of which it is
made are not expected to withstand much more than the heat of