Wiktionary
n. 1 (context uncountable English) Urban development theory proposed by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paolo%20Soleri involving three-dimensional building methods and efficient use of space and resources. 2 (context countable English) An extremely large habitat or settlement, sufficient to maintain an internal ecology as well as an extremely high human population density.
Wikipedia
Arcology, a portmanteau of " architecture" and " ecology", is a field of creating architectural design principles for very densely populated, ecologically low-impact human habitats.
The concept has been primarily popularized, and the term itself coined, by architect Paolo Soleri. It also appears in science fiction. Authors such as Peter Hamilton in Neutronium Alchemist or Paolo Bacigalupi in The Water Knife explicitly use arcologies as part of their scenarios. Arcologies are often portrayed in science fiction as self-contained or economically self-sufficient.
These structures have been largely hypothetical insofar as no arcology, even one envisioned by Soleri himself, has yet been completed, but he posited that a completed arcology would provide space for a variety of residential, commercial, and agricultural facilities while minimizing individual human environmental impact.
Usage examples of "arcology".
Only now was he beginning to realize how ignorant of the universe outside the arcology he truly was.
The front of his jump suit split open to reveal his thin powder-blue T-shirt, stained a shade deeper by sweat The lightweight silk-smooth garment might be ideal for shipboard use, and even in an arcology, but for dealing with raw nature it was ridiculous.
The contraband was invariably sold deep in the hinterlands, where dreams soured within weeks when it became clear just how tough it was to survive outside the enclosed comfort of an arcology, and nobody was going to question where sophisticated power hardware and medical packages came from.
Jay had never met an Edenist, although back at the arcology Father Varhoos had warned the congregation about them and their soulless technology of perverted life.
So much better than the way people back in the arcology regarded them.
Darling Paula, the little girl who would sit on his lap in their apartment back in the arcology and try to pull his nose, giggling wildly.
There had been rumours back at the arcology about the prowess of people geneered for spaceflight, something to do with enhanced flexibility.
She heard them in the darkness, crying for their lost parents or siblings, crying because they wanted to go back to their arcology where none of this horrid confusion and upset happened.
The lightweight silk-smooth garment might be ideal for shipboard use, and even in an arcology, but for dealing with raw nature it was ridiculous.
His brief spell in the arcology refuge had shown him how little use theoretical medicine was in the face of real injuries.
His mind was focused on construction of the second arcology, then the third .
The half-built arcology blinked into full-color display on the screen.
As a backup to the recycling systems, each arcology would tow along an asteroid several hundred meters across, to be mined as needed.
That kind of thing, mostly, but sometimes the terrorists come up with something really nasty, like the grenade that killed a dozen people in the Crown Center Arcology in Kansas.
Every previous arcology had begun its life as a hopefully self-sufficient entity.