BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Map reveals ancient urban sprawl
If you read between the lines of this story, it seems to suggest that instead of living in large, sprawling cities, we should live in small, self-sufficient communities with their own governments. Kind of like...well, you know.

The great medieval temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia was once at the centre of a sprawling urban settlement, according to a new, detailed map of the area..."The large-scale city engineered its own downfall by disrupting its local environment by expanding continuously into the surrounding forests," said Damian Evans of the University of Sydney and one of the authors of the paper and map.