C is the amount of public service needed to sustain private growth:

C  =        N (N-1)                                                     N squared
          ------------     or approximately   C =           ----
                2                                                      2

C is the network of services  ( sidewalks, roads, sewers, fire, police, schools, hospitals, lakes, parks, wildernesses, forests, rivers, estuaries, beaches & oceans.)

N is the number of units in the network of services

Explanation:

“Our theme is that natural environment is an essential part of man’s total environment. Preservation of a substantial portion of the biosphere in a natural state, while not a panacea for all the ills of humankind, is, nonetheless, a necessity if we base the carrying capacity of the earth on the quality of human life.  First, we define ‘natural environment’ as that part or our environment which is essentially self-supporting, in that a minimum of human management is required for maintenance.  In terms of function, ‘natural environment’ is the part of man’s life support system that operates without energetic or economic input from the power flows directly controlled by man.  ‘Natural environment’ is a more restricted category than ‘open space,’ a term widely used by planners to mean any part of the landscape, whether natural or man-made, that is free of building structures.  In this context ‘natural environment’ includes ecological systems ranging from little-used wildernesses to moderately used forests, grasslands, rivers, estuaries and oceans which produces useful products and recycle wastes on a continuous basis, but without appreciable economic cost to man."
 

Theme as opposed to thesis | Methodology | Ecology