What should the city of the future look like? In September 2021, the billionaire Marc Lore introduced the futuristic American city of “Telosa”, which should become the most sustainable city in the world. It is a project that should be built by 2050 and should become home to 5 million people. It should be a city that returns citizens to the wealth they have helped to create.
The concept of the perfect city
It should be a city of sustainability and equitability. The city should combine the best elements of different cities around the world. It should be as diverse as New York, clean and safe as Tokyo, and with great social services like Stockholm.
Our vision is to create a new city in America that sets a global standard for urban living, expands human potential, and becomes a blueprint for future generations.#CityofTelosa #NewCity #CityoftheFuture pic.twitter.com/T9OO5ub6OT
— City of Telosa (@CityofTelosa) September 1, 2021
The city will respect the natural resources
It will not be a city full of cars, on the contrary, it will be intended mainly for pedestrians and cyclists. Cars will also be here, but they will be fully autonomous and will drive so slow that it does not endanger anyone. All means of transport in the city will be powered only by electricity.
Every resident of the city should have all important institutions and shops within 15 minutes of the house. There will be a system for the safe and clean transport of waste and goods in the city’s underground. There will be photovoltaic roofs throughout the city and aeroponic farms will be used to grow plants. Although it will be a city, there will be a large number of native plants. In addition, the city will be full of green areas, especially parks.
Ecology first
The whole city should be as ecological as possible and its construction should be ecological. Fossil fuel machines will not be used during construction. Telosa will be built on a circulating material economy; and Telosa will create a fund to protect the region’s natural resources and restore critical animal habitats. Lore refers to his design philosophy for the city as “Equitism”, which he states is “a new model for society, where wealth is created in a fair way. In terms of location, the city will be built on cheap land in Appalachia or the American western desert.
Who is behind the project?
Lore has hired the architectural firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), owned by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, to handle the proposed city’s master planning. The cost of the entire project should be $ 400 billion. The first phase of construction, which would accommodate 50,000 people on 1,500 acres, comes at an estimated cost of $ 25 billion. The construction of this city should take 40 years.
Who will actually fund such a huge project? Funding should come from a variety of sources, from private investors to philanthropists, federal and state grants, and various state development grants. Lore explains that his inspiration for the creation of the city of the future was the social theorist Henry George, who emphasizes the shortcomings of capitalism.
“Cities that have been built to date from scratch are more like real estate projects,” Lore said in a promotional video for the project. “They don’t start with people at the center. Because if you started with people at the center, you would immediately think, ‘OK, what’s the mission and what are the values?’
“The mission of Telosa is to create a more equitable and sustainable future. That’s our North Star.”
It will be interesting to see how this project develops. If the project is successful, it could become an inspiration for building more such cities.
Credit: Bjarke Ingels Group and Bucharest studio
