The expansion of this model into cities such as Cairo, where the military has unchallenged access both to politics and capital (land, resources, construction), would have a disastrous impact on the urban majority – who will be marginalised, moved out of the way when necessary and put to work under unacceptable conditions, with no power to mobilise and with little pay.
Vijay Modi, a professor of mechanical engineering, is working to create sustainable energy models for cities, such as New York, where current infrastructure will not be able to support future demand, and for countries as far away as Tanzania, where power costs are high and energy is inefficient.
A variety of apps for summoning taxis have threatened the traditional taxi model in European cities such as London where strict rules govern which cars can stop on the street to pick up hailing customers and which cars have to be pre-booked.
The road from the reactor to Prypyat takes a visitor past a sign proclaiming 1970 as the year of the town's founding as an "atomgrad", one of nine such model cities in the Soviet Union.
But analysts say the fondness for "fair" is also fueled by a globalized economy that has drawn ever more models from Europe to cities such as Mumbai, India's cultural capital.
This model has served well in cities such as Cleveland and Detroit, which were majorly affected by the recent economic downturn.
If a model is based on a small number of cities, such as in the Rvachev-Longini model, the role of individual cities in the global spread will be underestimated.
He lauded the recovery of the bailed-out auto companies, and, in what was perhaps the most radical departure from any State of the Union address in my memory, he suggested that Detroit could serve as a model of economic regeneration for other cities, such as Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Raleigh.
Stephen Wasko, the president and COO says he believes the model can be replicated in other cities such as New York and Miami providing senior executives and business owners a convenient out and back schedule that will enable them to make business travel a bit more comfortable and definitely faster in and out of the airport.
