Arcology, from the words “ecology” and “architecture”, is a set of architectural design principles aimed toward the design of enormous habitats (hyperstructures) of extremely high human population density. These largely hypothetical structures, called “arcologies,” would contain a variety of residential and commercial facilities and minimize individual human environmental impact. They are often portrayed as self-contained or economically self-sufficient.
The concept has been primarily popularized by architect Paolo Soleri, and appears commonly in science fiction.
via Wikipedia.
