Living in High-Tech Villages
There's a middle ground between cities and villages
FUTURE PROOF – BLOG BY FUTURES PLATFORM
Our world is run by cities. Not only are they the locus of economic and political power, entertainment, and media, they are also growing. And fast. Yet, there will always be a demand for a different lifestyle - away from the city. Today, we have suburbs and the countryside. But could there be a new type of residential area addressing a gap not yet filled? Welcome to high-tech eco-villages.
LIVING IN HIGH-TECH VILLAGES
In 2050, close to 70% of people worldwide will be living in urban areas. Many people are looking to step away from their small and somewhat outdated environments and seek the opportunities that only cities can offer. And, despite attempts to make the countryside more connected, and all the benefits associated with it, the drivers of urbanization will continue to play a major role. But what if living in a village didn’t mean abdicating some of the standards for high-tech existing in major cities?
That’s what a high-tech eco-village pilot project in the Netherlands, started in 2016, has attempted. The company driving it, US-based ReGen Villages, has a compelling value proposition. According to their website, with close to 10 billion people living on the planet in 2050, issues such as water, food, and land scarcity have already begun driving international discussions. With the middle class growing to 4 billion, there will be an increasing need for neighbourhoods with localized accountability and capable of addressing diverse needs.
Their solution? “Desirable off-grid capable neighbourhoods comprised of power positive homes, renewable energy, water management, and waste-to-resource systems that are based upon on-going resiliency research – for thriving families and reduced burdens on local and national governments.”
In other words, high-tech “villages” that are self-reliant. And, according to them, the first homes could be ready to move in by 2020.
Their architectural partnersEFFEKT’s co-founder, Sinus Lynge, said, they like to think of ReGen as the Tesla of eco-villages. Indeed, despite being off-the-grid, residents would live in comfort with access to many modern amenities. On top of that, they wouldn’t really need to worry all that much about keeping the village “going.” Their food production, water supply, waste, and renewable energy would large be managed by the village’s OS – a tech platform that will use AI to do the legwork. That means people will have plenty of time to connect with one another, work, and relax.
There are some challenges, though. According to James Ehrlich, the founder of ReGen Villages, a lot of regulations are based on grid-based electricity or district-based water and sewage. Getting around that can be challenging. On top of that, financing in real estate development, for a company attempting a new concept as they are, is not easy to come by. At least until their pilot project proves successful.
These challenges may account for the fact that we haven’t read much news about the project as of late. Nevertheless, judging by the support, e-mails, and attention they received, one might expect that they are onto something. And these types of high-tech eco-villages may be just the thing to fill in that gap between urban areas and the countryside.
As populations begin to demand businesses and governments to define their success in new metrics other than financial growth and economic prosperity, new routes for future economic systems are starting to take shape.