Orbit Elevator

The orbit elevator is an elevator to orbit located on the equator. It exists in the 2100's.

Elevator design
The elevator starts in any place along the equator (the book gives Brazil, Kenya, or Indonesia as an example), taking up a whole city. There is a superlight canopy made from light yet strong metals (presumably made from the space factory) to provide shelter from the Sun. There are parking lots, living areas, hotels, an airport, and elevator staff quarters. The cable goes up to the orbit station, where solar panels provide power for the cables, and docking ports for the local spacecraft and universal transports. A cable goes out the other direction to balance the weight. The cable runs 22,300 miles in total. The elevator is located on the equator because the station must make a rotation in the same time as the earth.