The planned city “Telosa” in the USA is one of many examples of planned cities that show what urban life could look like in the future. More about a billionaire’s project here.
Visualization of Telosa City. The first 50,000 residents are set to move in as early as 2030. Image source: Telosa
City of Telosa
Floating cities such as Oceanix Busan (South Korea) and elongated cities such as The Line (Saudi Arabia) are among the visions for the city of the future. A futuristic project, Telosa City, is now also being planned in the USA. Billionaire Marc Lore, an entrepreneur who does business with Walmart and Amazon, among others, wants to use part of his fortune for the city of the future. In total, the project is expected to cost around 400 billion US dollars (375 billion euros).
Telosa City is to be built in the middle of the desert between Nevada, Arizona and Utah. Around 150,000 hectares are planned. According to Lore, around 50,000 people are expected to live in the city by 2030. Interested parties can already register their desire to live in Telosa. The name of the city comes from the Greek and means “highest goal”. This refers to both sustainability goals and the diversity of the population.
The new city is to be powered almost exclusively by renewable energy. All buildings are to have solar panels. Several water treatment plants will use this resource, which is all the more valuable in the desert, sparingly. At the same time, Telosa City is to become a 15-minute city: Residents should be able to find all stores for their daily needs in the immediate vicinity. Cars should not be necessary in Telosa, as the focus is on pedestrians and cyclists. Any cars that are needed will be electric and autonomous.
Bird's eye view of the planned city of Telosa City. Image source: Telosa
Sustainability in the 15-minute city
No vehicles that require fossil fuels will be allowed in Telosa. Instead, the city should be easy to get around on foot or by public transport. Scooters, bicycles and autonomous vehicles are also part of the plan.
The large, central “Equity” skyscraper will become the landmark of Telosa. Among other things, it offers space for water storage, aeroponic farm systems and a roof with photovoltaic systems.
Together with the architects from BIG and financed by private capital, philanthropy, public loans and subsidies, Telosa is set to become the “most open, fair and inclusive city in the world”. This is how Lore describes it on the city’s website. It also states that Telosa is to be as socially and environmentally friendly as a Scandinavian city and as free and full of opportunities as a US city.
The central tower of Telosa City is to be called "Equity". Image source: Telosa
A new social model
Telosa should not only be sustainable and ultra-modern, but also deliberately diverse. Billionaire Lore is therefore initially looking for 50,000 “diverse people” to move into Telosa to embody a new model of society. Details of this diversity are not yet known, but it can be assumed that this means people from a wide range of backgrounds, age groups and abilities.
In addition, “equality” is to reign in Telosa. According to the investor, there will be no private owners in this city of the future. Instead, a foundation would invest the money from lease agreements in social services. Residents of the new city in the desert should be able to directly influence political decisions. Lore got this idea from the economist Henry George, who dreamed of a tax-free, communal form of society back in the 19th century. However, this has so far only been implemented on a very small scale.
Initial visualizations and designs show a very modern city with green high-rise buildings, landscaped parks and walking paths. Numerous greenhouses, solar panels and wind turbines indicate that the desert city will probably be largely self-sufficient.
Up to five million people are expected to live in the utopian city one day. In addition to its avant-garde architecture, Telosa is characterized by communal resources, drought resistance and a very small ecological footprint.
The streets in Telosa are shared by everyone and are pedestrian-friendly. Image source: Telosa
Telosa - utopia or reality?
Whether Telosa will really become a role model for other cities, as Lore would like, remains to be seen. Criticism, for example from a Guardian article, includes the fact that a billionaire wants to dictate the future here. The question of whether and how a city can function without taxes is also still completely unresolved.
It will become clear in 2030 at the latest whether it will be possible to build such a large project in the desert. Other futuristic and intelligent cities, such as Masdar City in the United Arab Emirates, are failing because, among other things, few people want to live in a planned city. According to Lore, around 5 million people are expected to live in Telosa City by 2050.
Another criticism is that this is a vanity project. After all, instead of building a sustainable city from scratch (and in the desert), it is also possible to significantly improve existing cities with such a large budget. This is not only faster, but also uses fewer resources.
The Danish architectural group Bjarke Ingels was commissioned by Lore to create the master plan for Telosa. It is not yet clear exactly where the city will be built. Inexpensive building land in the deserts of Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, Texas and Appalachia could be considered.
By the way: Read more about the prototype for Oceanix Busan, the floating city, here
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