Telosa

Telosa is a proposed utopian planned US city conceived by American billionaire Marc Lore and announced in September 2021.[1][2] The project has a target population of 5 million people by 2050, with the first phase of construction expected to house 50,000. The location had initially not been chosen, with the project's planners intending for the city to be built on cheap land in Appalachia or the American West desert.[1][3]

Telosa
Artist's concept
Artist's concept
CountryUnited States
Project announcedSeptember 2021 (2021-09)
Area
 • Total240 sq mi (610 km2)
Population
 • Total5,000,000 (proposed)
WebsiteOfficial website

The name Telosa is derived from the Ancient Greek word telos, in this case meaning "purpose".[4]

Planning

Telosa was conceived by former Walmart U.S. eCommerce president and billionaire Marc Lore.[5] In a statement announcing his resignation from Walmart, Lore expressed his desire to construct a "city of the future" based on a "reformed version of capitalism".[2] Lore refers to his design philosophy for the city as "equitism", described as "a new model for society, where wealth is created in a fair way... It's not burdening the wealthy; it's not increasing taxes. It is simply giving back to the citizens and the people the wealth that they helped create".[6]

Lore has hired the architectural firm Bjarke Ingels Group, owned by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, to handle the proposed city's master planning.[3]

Features

Telosa is planned to be a 15-minute city, with workplaces, schools, and basic goods and services being within a 15-minute commute from residents' homes. Vehicles that are powered by fossil fuels will not be permitted within the city, with an emphasis instead being placed upon walkability and the use of scooters, bicycles, and autonomous electric vehicles.[1][5]

A massive skyscraper, dubbed "Equitism Tower", is conceived to serve as a "beacon for the city". The skyscraper's projected features include space for water storage, aeroponic farms, and a photovoltaic roof.[1]

The proposed land ownership in the city is based on Georgist principles, as advocated by political economist Henry George in his 1879 book Progress and Poverty.[6] Under the proposed rules, anyone would be licensed to build, keep or sell a home, building or any other structure, and residents would share ownership of the land under a community endowment.[1] [7]

Possible locations

The project's planners intend the city to be built on cheap desert land in a location not yet decided as of 2021, with Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, and Appalachia proposed as potential locations.[1][3]

Reception

Writing in Timeout.com in September 2021, Ed Cunningham stated that "the blueprint designs are, depending on your taste, either dazzlingly utopian or unsettlingly dystopian. There’s plenty of innovative architecture on display, alongside futuristic visions of public transport and spaces filled with greenery and nature."[8] It has been criticized as being an unrealistic vanity project which would be less sustainable than building upon existing urban areas.[9]

See also

References
  1. Holland, Oscar (6 September 2021). "Plans for $400-billion new city in the American desert unveiled". CNN. Archived from the original on 7 September 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  2. Del Rey, Jason (15 January 2021). "Walmart's e-commerce chief is leaving to build 'a city of the future'". Vox. Archived from the original on 31 January 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  3. Brustein, Joshua (1 September 2021). "The Diapers.com Guy Wants to Build a Utopian Megalopolis". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 2 September 2021.
  4. Kirsch, Noah (1 July 2021). "Electric Jets, Buried Trash And Controlled Ownership. Welcome To Marc Lore's 'City Of The Future'". Forbes. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021.
  5. Gleeson, Scott (September 8, 2021). "Former Walmart president reveals plan for $400-billion Utopian city in the US desert". USA Today. Archived from the original on 8 September 2021. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
  6. Alsever, Jennifer (1 September 2021). "Why tech billionaire Marc Lore wants to build a utopian city". Fortune. Archived from the original on 7 September 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  7. "Is Marc Lore's $400 Billion Desert Utopia the Future of Sustainable Cities or Just a Pipe Dream?". Sand-boarding.com. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  8. Cunningham, Ed. "A huge new city is being built in the US desert – but is it just greenwashing?". Time Out Worldwide. Archived from the original on 24 December 2021.
  9. The Week Staff. "Telosa: a desert utopia or a billionaire's vanity project?". The Week UK. Future plc. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
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