Prohibition of dying

In the 6th century BC, the tyrant Peisistratus, of the city-state of Athens, ordered that all graves within sight of the island's temple be dug up and the bodies removed to locations on or beyond the perimeter.

The main reason for the attempt to pass such a law with such severe punishments if broken is that the town's 28,000 inhabitants apparently do not look after their health properly, making them more vulnerable to death, which would mean having to bury more corpses in the already full cemetery.

The mayor, to support his uncommon proposal for a law, stated that 89% of the town is occupied by rivers, of which most are underground and serve as vital water sources for nearly two million people living in São Paulo, and that the remaining area is protected because it consists of tropical jungle.

So, public land five times the size of the cemetery was set aside to provide space for a new one, which environmental experts claim will not affect water tables or surrounding tropical forest.

The environment council decided to analyze such a solution carefully, while the state government had agreed to help build a new vertical cemetery; but, as of 2005[update], nothing has been done, and the law has not yet been passed, leaving the situation in suspense.

[4] In 2007, Cugnaux also prohibited death, for similar reasons,[3] and was subsequently granted permission to enlarge the local cemetery;[6] inspired by the town's success, Sarpourenx was next to follow suit, in 2008.