Gaia Theory: The Globally Distributed Future

1. Imagine for a moment that each of the 972 faces overlaid on the planet (12 pentagons and 960 hexagons) represents an area about 500 miles in diameter. They are actually circles, but this is what it looks like when they're squished together perfectly.
2. Like cells in a human body, each circle represents a part of the Earth body, and each has a nucleus of human civilization (even the ones on the ocean!)
3. The population of each cell strives to be as autonomous, efficient, and diverse as possible. What can be made, can be made inside each cell. What can not be made, can be procured from adjacent cells. Information passes freely throughout the cell network.
4. Over time, the remnants of old (current, random, inefficient) civilization are moved, recycled or demolished, and refitted or regrown as natural preserves or farmland, starting with areas closest to the cell 'walls.' Cities become ever more efficient, and wildlife returns to network itself through the cells, unobstructed.

Thoughts:
The polyhedron used for this picture was invented by mathematician Michael Goldberg in 1937, and first modeled in 3D by George Hart (www.georgehart.com/ <---great guy!!). I found this model to be appropriate in many ways, most having to do with logistics:
-972 is a relatively easy number to work with, 3 digits are easy to remember.
-A distance of about 500 miles works well as 'a day's drive' (at a relatively low and safe speed,) meaning that the transport of goods is more easily scheduled, and energy consumption can be allocated for optimal times.
-Over the centuries, certain numbers and shapes have developed symbolic meanings that still pervade modern culture:
--A set of 12 pentagons fits rather well with our preferred measure of time, tribes, and organizations of power.
--Hexagons are relatively new symbols in popular Western culture, though have long been used in Eastern (to great effect by the Japanese, their giant robots are so damn cool!) because of their focus on the insect kingdom; exoskeletal structure, proportional strength, beautiful efficiency.

Very much related to this idea:
www.thevenusproject.com/