As citizens of the city, we collect, consume, produce and dispose on a daily basis. We are part of an urban ecosystem, inseparable and complex, legible to us only to a certain extent. Attempting to design the “perfect” block, carbon-neutral, energy-independent and self sustained is indeed a noble task. It is also, in our view, a misguided one. Given the complexity of the relevant variables, it would be almost pretentious to claim self-sustenance, let alone carbon-neutrality. A city block is an integral part of the urban ecosystem, and should be designed as such, taking advantage of the different flows the city has to offer, social, economic and environmental.