New, Sustainable, Smart City - Telosa
A Billionaire's Vision and Dream of Utopian City Telosa
New City in Southwestern US that Could be Home to Millions
Billionaire Marc Lore, who funded e-commerce company Jet.com, wants to build a totally sustainable new city to house 5 million residents in the southwestern US. To do so, he is employing a very accomplished architect Bjarke Ingels of Denmark along with his firm Bjarke Ingels Group to design his city of the future. It is called Telosa, which is Greek for "higher purpose". The city is financially based on a community owned business model. The mission of the city is to create a sustainable and equitable future. Telosa's website says of Telosa: "What if you pay the same taxes today but get the best social services for any country in the world?" The question is: Is this quixotic, utopian city envisioned by a dot.com billionaire worthy of your consideration? Let's dive into the concept.
BIG Dreams In the Not To Distant Future
Helping to build Lore's dream is BIG, a firm that created 2 Google campuses. The Telosa street design prioritizes pedestrians, cyclists and autonomous driving transportation. It will have a lot of farms and greenery. The eye-catching element will be a centralized big tower, called Equitism Tower in the middle of a central park, that will serve as a meeting place for the community and the city's beacon of light. This city of the future will also have technology spaces to recycle water and promote and process renewable energy. Buildings will have renewable energy features like solar panels and rainwater collection.
Funding for the Grand Experiment
Lore calls his grand experiment Equitism, which starts with the acquisition of land. The land is donated to a community endowment. The endowment will democratically manage income from land leases and land appreciation to pay for city services, health care, education and more. The city is targeted to open in the not so distant future. Lore wants to open Telosa in 2030 with 50,000 residents. Lore is now looking for 1500 acres of land to start the community. Phase one of the project will cost $25 billion. Over upcoming decades Lore wants to expand the city to 150,000 acres and 5 million residents. Overall, the project will cost $400 billion. Funding is expected to come from private investors, philanthropies and state and federal grants. Top location candidates for the project include Texas, Idaho and Arizona. This is a billionaire's vision of a better way of living for millions of people and it is already being designed for rollout.
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