Eco-City Basic Concepts

I like to start by saying thank you to my community and thank you for your feedback. As a designer, I find it extremely difficult to show off concepts before developing them to a presentation level first. It is how most firms do things. It works in the for-profit context with a paying client already on board. However, it does not work in society at large when we are all looking for better ideas in which people, all people, can enjoy a happy productive life that doesn't destroy our planet. I personally find our (for-profit-only) standard absolutely insane!

The foundation:

I would like to share the foundation of my idea and where I am coming from to better inform those interested in working with me and my developing team.

It is in my opinion, when you really get down to it... People want/need only 3 things.

1. A positive outlook on the future.
2. A pleasant experience of ourselves.
3. A pleasant experience of reality.

I find it rather sad that most of us learn in today's society how to take away these 3 things from others rather than creating what we truly want. If you think I'm mistaken... Take a look at what Russia is doing to Ukraine because they themselves desperately need to improve their standards of living. Also, look at how small but powerful interest groups are making an incredible profit by supplying a "solution" that still isn't working for Ukraine. Yuck!

I for one, am switching my gears and looking for something that will give me and others a positive outlook on our future. Land development as we know it, is not well designed or planned and is done so with profit is the priority and the needs of residents as an afterthought to be exploited by the banking community.

Why not design and develop property that is in fact, profitable for those living on it instead of for those who are not living on it.

Really!! Are people so stupid that this is a foreign concept these days... Sorry... getting too passionate... : )

What would it take?

I already got feedback about Eco-City being too much of a glamorous luxury project and not a realistic solution for Ukraine. Ok... I get that. I think the misunderstandings arise with the word "City". When I use the word City I am not suggesting a project on the city scale with my ideals. That is in fact, a bit far in the future, even for me.

What I am inviting people to do is look at what we already have created in the last 30 years which are called Eco-Villages. Start with that. These are so focused on being self-sustaining that the quality of housing for many of us isn't very acceptable. To me, they suggest I have to live in poverty to live with nature.

What I am suggesting is to start with an eco-village concept that is working. I took a long look at a eco-village that was 175 acres. They did successfully create a property in which 90% of the land was eco-friendly.

To make the math easier I scaled it up to 200 acres and then thought about how could I add a small but densely populated area that would make it possible for career-oriented people to live very happily at home, at work, and have almost everything they want on the property. And yes... there are roads and people still have cars and can drive to a nearby city or train station to have it all.

Career Oriented Needs

About 900 years ago when I was young and we designed houses in the sand... I was absolutely focused on my career. I was living in the married student housing sector on campus was a dream come true for me! Everything I needed was within walking or biking distance, thanks to the University's landscapers and wonderful sidewalks. There were even small restaurants, cafes, and boutiques that catered to my demographic in close proximity. The only reason I needed a car was to get to work, which was frustrating because of the hours we spent in traffic. Sadly, remote work and online options were not available back then.

This got me thinking, what if we could create a mixed-use set of buildings that could house both living and workspaces? Picture a complex with 300 units designed specifically for career-oriented individuals. With enough office space and internet connection, this could be a dreamy place to live and work.

The buildings could be a mix of heights, with some as tall as seven stories and others shorter, but all designed to ensure that 80% of residents could both live and work on the property. We could offer urban amenities to give residents a "city vibe" while still providing beautiful parks, walking and biking areas for them to enjoy during their free time. When I was solely focused on my career, I craved a peaceful place to walk around with my wife and recharge my energy.

That's why I came up with the concept of Eco-City, a clever name for an eco-village that also has a mixed-use area with a "micro-city" or a large apartment complex. This could be the perfect solution for those seeking an all-in-one living and work space, with easy access to both urban amenities and beautiful green spaces.

Iterations

Will I go through many iterations? Boy! Will I ever! The difference between good design and GREAT DESIGN is time. A project like the one I am describing needs more than the feedback of local architects and developers. It needs the input of all major sectors of society as well as inputs from kinds of business that could easily be incorporated.

Multiple Scales

I intend to develop ideas and designs with others on multiple scales. Recently I was asked about scaling down the idea to 5 acres. My answer was YES! In fact I roughed out one eco-village to fit on 6 acres. My hope is to build a large enough design team that we can quickly and effectively provide solutions for many sizes of properties.

Multi-purpose vs Single-purpose

One main concept that will make the property more eco-friendly as well as economical is well-designed mixed-use of property features.

The man-made lake also as a fish hatchery?

I worked on many projects with very large water features that were very expensive to design, construct and maintain. These features' only function was to look good and actually violated mother nature. Seriously! Around me, we have beautiful neighborhoods in a desert that have a man-made river system with small lakes. The water is stagnant and they add dye to make it look healthy. Along the edges there are "keep out of water" signs because you could get sick? WTF???

I am not sure how yet but I would like to meet with experts and see how a fish hatchery or other use could be utilized in a man-made lake next to the apartments. Even if the venture doesn't produce a net profit, the money t does make would offset the expenses it would take to make a giant bio-pool that is truly healthy.

If the people working on landscaping and the fish hatchery lived on the property then labor expenses would not be as high as the local norm. Ironically, the larger the water feature is... the easier it is to maintain a balance.

Conclusions thus far...

The properties that are used often by people do not have to be that large. However, as soon as you add the goal.. ( dedicate 50% to wildlife) You do have to look at securing a large property. With existing technology today... I see a sweet spot between 80 and 200 acres.

I am very keen on the idea of looking for property 1/2 an hour away from a city by rail and within biking distance of a train station. Also, it is possible to negotiate with railroad companies and add another stop in a remote section. Another idea is have a shuttle to take you to the train station.

Undeveloped property along the rails is very promising location to develop a prototype. ??