The picture at the bottom of your diary is a crime against humanity indeed. In the Netherlands not too dissimilar things are called 'Vinex locations'.

I see them as hell on earth, but apparently the people living there are happy with them. Going by train from my old suburbanized village to Amsterdam I always passed the Vinex "Weidevenne" near Purmerend. I remember a couple of middle-aged English women talking about the 'nice houses' so 'near to the water'. It's beyond me how anyone can like these things, but maybe I'm just too judgemental.

You can see plenty of the atrocities through a google image search.

Really great diary. I still dream of my self-sufficient house by the riverbank one day, when I retire in 40 years or so. But it's the city for me now. It's great to read about these things -- decentral energy production in the city, community, organisation, design... it's a way of thinking I don't grok yet at all.