Personally I am not a believer in this approach for several reasons too long to write here. These kinds of developments are not new. For example; California City, and the continuing saga of Paradise Valley outside of Joshua Tree National Park which is still fighting for its development even with the environmental impacts well known.
Rather than brand new cities, consider new country towns out beyond the exurban fringe of existing cities, which might be thought of as the third and final stage in the suburbanization of the metropolitan complex. I write about one variant of this idea on my substack and, in much greater detail, here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00U0C9HKW
America has a long tradition of “company towns” and to be honest they aren’t bad. There’s a few in the Chicago area that won architecture and design awards.
I don’t see a company town as anything different than a “megadevelopment” like we have in Long Island City and, again, megadevelopments have significant upsides.
Is it absolutely ideal? No way. But don’t let perfection be the enemy of progress. The important thing is: is the city designed well? If it’s designed for walkability, I’m in favor.
My skepticism about California Forever is the who -- who is building the new city? for whom? New cities could be an exciting way to implement new green initiatives! But company towns are probably not that ...
Personally I am not a believer in this approach for several reasons too long to write here. These kinds of developments are not new. For example; California City, and the continuing saga of Paradise Valley outside of Joshua Tree National Park which is still fighting for its development even with the environmental impacts well known.
Rather than brand new cities, consider new country towns out beyond the exurban fringe of existing cities, which might be thought of as the third and final stage in the suburbanization of the metropolitan complex. I write about one variant of this idea on my substack and, in much greater detail, here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00U0C9HKW
America has a long tradition of “company towns” and to be honest they aren’t bad. There’s a few in the Chicago area that won architecture and design awards.
I don’t see a company town as anything different than a “megadevelopment” like we have in Long Island City and, again, megadevelopments have significant upsides.
Is it absolutely ideal? No way. But don’t let perfection be the enemy of progress. The important thing is: is the city designed well? If it’s designed for walkability, I’m in favor.
My skepticism about California Forever is the who -- who is building the new city? for whom? New cities could be an exciting way to implement new green initiatives! But company towns are probably not that ...