The cleanliness of Tokyo, the diversity of New York and the social services of Stockholm: billionaire Marc Lore has set out his vision for a “new city in America” of five million people and has appointed a renowned architect world to design it.
Now it only needs one place to build it and $ 400 billion in funding.
The former Walmart executive last week unveiled plans for Telosa, a sustainable metropolis he hopes to create, from scratch, in the American desert. The ambitious 150,000-acre proposal promises eco-friendly architecture, sustainable energy production and a supposed drought-resistant water system. A so-called “15-minute city design” will allow residents to access their jobs, schools and facilities within a quarter of an hour’s drive of their home.
While planners are still looking for locations, possible targets are Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Texas and the Appalachian region, according to the project’s official website.
The announcement was accompanied by a series of digital representations from Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), the architecture firm hired to bring Lore’s utopian dream to life. The images show residential buildings covered in greenery and imagined residents enjoying a large open space. With vehicles powered by fossil fuels banned in the city, autonomous vehicles are represented that travel through sunlit streets next to scooters and scooters.
Another image depicts a proposed skyscraper, called Equitism Tower, which is described as “a beacon for the city.” The building has high water storage, aeroponic farms and a photovoltaic power-producing roof that allows it to “share and distribute everything it produces.”
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The first phase of construction, which would house 50,000 people on 1,500 acres, has an estimated cost of $ 25 billion. The entire project is expected to exceed $ 400 billion and the city will reach the target population of $ 5 million in 40 years.
Funding will come from “several sources,” project organizers said, including private investors, philanthropists, federal and state grants and grants for economic development. Planners expect to approach state officials “very soon,” with the goal of hosting the first residents by 2030.
A new urban model
In addition to innovative urban design, the project also promises transparent governance and what it calls a “new model for society”. Taking its name from the ancient Greek word “telos” (a term used by the philosopher Aristotle to describe an inherent or higher purpose), the city would allow residents to “participate in the decision-making and budgeting process.” In the meantime, a community endowment will offer residents shared ownership of the land.
In a promotional video, Lore described her proposal as the “most open, fairest and most inclusive city in the world.”
On Telosa’s official website, Lore explains that she was inspired by American economist and social theorist Henry George. The investor cites the “major flaws” of capitalism, attributing many of them to the “land ownership model on which America was built.”
“Cities that have been built so far from scratch look more like real estate projects,” Lore said in a promotional video for the project. “They don’t start with the people at the center. Because if you start with the people at the center, you’d immediately think, ‘Okay, what’s the mission and what are the values?’ “
“Telosa’s mission is to create a more equitable and sustainable future. This is our pole star.”
Meanwhile, BIG founder Danish architect Bjarke Ingels says Telosa “embodies the social and environmental care of Scandinavian culture and the freedom and opportunities of a more American culture.”