LUTHER GULICK 121 



side the land boundaries of the central cities, and seek continually 

 more distant available space. 



Energy consumption is vastly higher on the part of urbanized pop- 

 ulations than on the part of nonurbanized people. Present indices 

 show that the use of electricity, oil, coal, and natural gas is substan- 

 tially higher per capita for the urban centers than for the rural re- 

 gions. Only gasoline consumption for private transportation is higher 

 per capita in the rural regions, for reasons which are evident. How- 

 ever, the growth of electricity consumption in the past generation 

 has been at a much faster rate in the rural regions, partly because of 

 farm mechanization, and partly because many industrial and sub- 

 urban loads are now recorded as "rural," though they are in fact 

 within some metropolitan orbit. 



While we may anticipate a continued rising standard of rural con- 

 sumption of energy, I think it is reasonable to assume that urban 

 consumption will tend always to be higher because of higher gen- 

 eral urban standards, and because in urban regions more mecha- 

 nized services like elevators, street lighting, and traffic systems, street 

 sweepers, and ventilating and air-conditioning systems are required, 

 not to mention the industrial, entertainment, and communication 

 uses of power, lighting, heating, and other energy resources. Already 

 the cities "heat all outdoors." Soon they will air-condition it too. 



If this analysis is correct, urban concentration will of itself in- 

 crease the pressure on our energy resources and fuel and will con- 

 centrate that demand geographically. It is indeed fortunate that 

 nuclear energy is not too far away. 



General living standards. This brief discussion of energy require- 

 ments calls attention to the fact that general standards of consump- 

 tion are higher in the metropolitan regions, and that a considerable 

 fraction of this excess consumption involves the use of basic natural 

 resources. 



The median income of metropolitan populations in the United States 

 exceeds that of the nonmetropolitan populations very substantially. 

 Even making full allowance for educational differences, individual 

 incomes in the biggest urban centers average per head $500 to 

 $1,000 a year respectively over the averages for the rural nonfarm 

 and the rural farm income levels. This is a very substantial differen- 



