From Cities to Salim Village

A Shift Toward Sustainable Living

Human civilization has always pursued the efficiency of concentration. Since the Industrial Revolution, cities have functioned like massive mainframes—absorbing energy, resources, transportation, labor, and consumption into a single hub. For a long time, they symbolized national progress and prosperity. Yet today, this very system is straining under its own weight.

To sustain dense populations, cities devour staggering amounts of resources. Water must be transported from hundreds of kilometers away, food shipped across global supply chains, and waste piles up endlessly. Concrete and asphalt trap heat, accelerating the climate crisis. Just as a mainframe crashes once it exceeds capacity, cities are now approaching their breaking point.

Climate scientists warn that the 1.5℃ threshold will be crossed before the 2030s. This is not just a number: it signals a direct threat to the safety of our daily living spaces, particularly cities. Once seen as the beating heart of civilization, cities have become its most vulnerable point.

The signs are already clear:

Environmental concentration: Over half of humanity lives in cities, which produce more than 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Heat islands: Asphalt and concrete absorb heat by day and radiate it at night, worsening health impacts.

Energy dependency: Surging cooling demands increase the risk of grid failure and blackouts.

Food and water reliance: Cities are absolutely dependent on external supply chains; floods, droughts, or transport breakdowns quickly turn into survival crises.

Inequality: Rising housing costs and gentrification harden economic divides, leaving low-income groups and the elderly most exposed to climate shocks.

Mental health crisis: High-density, high-speed living fosters stress, isolation, and depression, weakening social cohesion.

Cities are no longer symbols of growth, but of vulnerability. The question is: what comes next?

From Mainframes to PCs, from Cities to Villages

Computing history offers an analogy. Mainframes once dominated, but their capacity was finite. The invention of the personal computer decentralized computing power, linking small units into vast networks. This shift unlocked explosive growth—AI, cloud, and hyper-connectivity all became possible because PCs distributed capacity away from the mainframe.

Human settlement faces a similar choice. Will we cling to the outdated model of centralized megacities, or move toward decentralized, self-reliant units? The alternative is Salim Villages.

Salim Villages: New Nodes of Resilience

Salim Villages are small-scale communities designed around self-sufficiency, circularity, and coexistence. They are not just eco-experiments, but adaptive strategies for a hotter, more unstable world.

Zero Basic (self-reliance):
Solar power and storage for electricity independence, rainwater harvesting and reuse for water security, local farming and greenhouses for food resilience, and circular waste-to-energy systems.

Urban Basic (distributed services):
Telemedicine, remote education, and digital infrastructure embedded at the community level. Microgrids allow independent operation in times of crisis.

Culture Basic (community and care):
Recording and sharing communal “Salim stories,” decision-making through service and cooperation, and mutual care systems for vulnerable members.

Beyond survival, Salim Villages also introduce a new economic logic. Carbon reduction achievements can be issued as Mini Carbon Credits (MCCs), and community narratives turned into digital assets. These resources circulate back into the village, ensuring economic sustainability and strengthening local autonomy.

Conclusion: A Hotter World Demands New Designs

Climate response has long focused on mitigation, but adaptation is now unavoidable. The budgets required to retrofit megacities against climate shocks are astronomical—and may never truly resolve their vulnerabilities. Instead, we must redesign how we live.

The lesson is clear: just as PCs liberated computing from mainframes, Salim Villages can free humanity from the fragility of megacities. The future of sustainable living will not be secured in centralized cities, but in distributed villages.

“Salim” goes beyond household management. It means nurturing life—saving others, saving nature, and saving ourselves. In a heating world, this logic of life may be the most reliable wisdom we have left.