For decades, “bigger is better” has been the conventional
path to efficiency in industries ranging from transportation to power
generation. Food once grown on small family plots now comes overwhelmingly from
factory farms. Vessels that carried 2,000 tons of cargo have been replaced by
modern container ships that routinely move 150,000 tons. But now, new research
shows, we are on the cusp of a radical shift from building big to building
small—a change that has profound implications for both established and emerging
industries.