EM Risse - Regional Strategist

"Human settlement pattern is the overarching economic, social and physical interconnection which links and profoundly impacts citizens' most pressing problems. Dysfunctional human settlement patterns prevent civilization from evolving a sustainable trajectory."

"Civilization is a process. It is not a thing or an event. The human settlement pattern at any given time is a reflection of, and the primary artifact of, the process of civilization."

"The lives and experiences of citizens and Households, together with their Agencies, Enterprises and Institutions create the human experience. How satisfying this experience is for citizens determines human quality of life and is measured by the safety and happiness of all citizens."

"To enter into the realm of The Shape of the Future and TRILO-G is to immerse yourself in fresh perspectives on perplexing problems for which traditional disciplines offer few solutions. To emerge from that realm is to never view the world the same."

– James A. Bacon – Former Publisher and Editor of Virginia Business, publisher of Bacon’s
Rebellion and author of Boomergeddon. (2010)

"The Shape of the Future is written not only for scholars and professionals, but for all people who are interested in understanding why many maladies of contemporary civilization are rooted in dysfunctional settlement patterns and how these can be changed."

– I. Michael Heyman – Chancellor, University of California, Berkeley 1980-1990 and
Secretary, Smithsonian Institution, 1993 – 1999

This Website has been created to facilitate citizen understanding of:

• The importance of functional human settlement patterns, and
• The negative impacts of dysfunctional human settlement patterns.

For further information see Mission Statement on the RESOURCES page

For definitions of words that may appear to be 'irregular Capitalization' in this website see GLOSSARY in RESOURCES. also see TRILO-G Chapter 26 – Gibberish: The Vocabulary of Babel and "New Urban Region Conceptual Framework" in Chapter 49 of TRILO-G.