Global Civic Center & Capital - the road to a sustainable planet by terrautopia

Dear Judge,

Thank you for the kind words!

I will list in bold italics the questions you posted followed by my answers:

Consider partnering with a more well-funded initiative Inspired vision! Excellent graphics. Location: Perhaps this idea could be sold to a municipality that is searching for a new “smart cities” design.

This could be appealing to a city that has been severely affected by climate change impacts, e.g. San Juan Puerto Rico; or New Orleans, LA. Suggest possible partnerships with the Rockefeller 100 Cities initiative, or Bloomberg’s C40. http://www.100resilientcities.org/ http://www.c40.org/

There may be aspects of this plan that will be appealing to cities that are already focused on climate preparedness. Suggest you investigate speaking opportunities at conferences and other events where these organizations participate. Also, look into events on green building, such as GreenBuild and others events sponsored by the USGBC and public policy institutes that might be complimentary.

I have contacted the above organizations and I hope they will respond to my inquiry. I am also setting up operations with an incubator in the Boston area for the cTrain project and I will try to further communicate with these organizations for that project as well (Article American Association of Structural Engineers Mass Transit Invention Goes Above and Beyond | ASCE )

I love the grounding in ancient practices, e.g., gathering in a circle with Stonehenge, St. Peter’s in Rome, and others as a precedent. Fascinating!

In order to meet its goals to change global attitudes the Global Civic Center (GCC) needs to be play multiple roles as a city, as well as a secular temple and a civic square for the world; as such it can succeed in unifying the planet around a new common belief and goal: restoration and rewilding of the planet to the best possible extent, as well as to rethink/abolish the idea of wars and genocide.

 

Historian Yuval Noah Harari states that human societies have succeeded (as well as failed) because of their ability to unite around a powerful story.

In these times we need a new story, on a global scale, that binds us together in order to avert catastrophic climate collapse. As much as this may sound utopian we need to unite around the story of the devastation we have caused to this planet and the power we have to unite to save ourselves from our own demise while restoring the planet.

Similarly The GCC will also contain a shrine commemorating the victims of wars and genocide throughout history – with the potential of changing global attitudes about conflict; and the power to unify the global citizens around the story of ending wars and genocides. I believe that solving conflicts accelerates agreements on climate change policies.

Skyscrapers as wind towers: yes, please.

The wind mills have two roles. 1) As SYMBOLISM - the 7 Horizontal Windmills with vertical “flappers” or wind wings spinning around the Diamond Tower provide renewable power while creating enchantment and a symbol awakening public awareness of the potential of wind power.

2) Wind towers as skyscrapers capturing a large amounts of energy with minimal visual impact while being at close proximity to consumers (reducing grid costs). In the image below the tower is shown with "vertical blinds" - adjustable to parallel direction of the wind - designed to cover the windmills for safety and visual integration.

Ultimately, with enough media exposure the hope is that it will bring a change in attitude to those who currently dismiss wind energy especially in policy circles and leading business decision makers.

The above concept/proposal was also selected  the semi-finalists: Vertical Axis Windmill Tower for densely populated areas

On the Analemma, it would be interesting to use the shadow to protect from the heat island effect. Many cities, including Boston, are embroiled in controversy re: building projects that will cast giant shadows on the ground. Your proposal makes me think that shadows could be cast as desirable protection from the sun.

Yes, the visitors could use the shadow as desirable protection from the sun while visiting the park and while following the analemma landmarks. Most importantly the analemma landmarks and the experiences of observing the shadows can bring a change in attitude towards our meaning in time and space as well as in terms of the planet (causing the shadow movements as it moves through spaces and around its axis), and our role in the planet, as wells as our relationship to one another.

On the Impact/Benefits section, please take a stab at answering this question succinctly.

Summary of the Impact/Benefits of the GCC

The GCC, as a point of gathering for the planet, brings a globalist spiritual experience that can unify the world population around a new story centered around restoration of the planet and bringing an end to conflicts.

The GCC creates a city that houses a few million people in a higher quality of life than the vast majority of the US population while meeting the following conditions:

- POWERED ENTIRELY BY GREEN ENERGY

- SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

- SUSTAINABLE WASTE MANAGEMENT

With economies of scale the above conditions will eventually be met at at a lower cost than the existing models based on fossil fuels.

> Market demand for fossil-fuel-free lifestyle

> Acceleration of the switch to green energy and a green lifestyle

> Drop in emissions at a faster rate than without the GCC

Even if you sound like Elon Musk. This is a spectacular and inspiring vision, but such an enormous lift that without a thoughtful plan for building a campaign capable of starting to get traction it feels like daydreaming. I think this is a beautiful and innovative proposal. I would love to see a project like this in action. It is exceptionally detailed and exciting.

However, I do not believe the challenges of this project have been addressed.

I will try to address the above obstacles faced by the GCC project:

POINT OF ENTRY CHALLANGE

Yes, it is very difficult advance the GCC as a large scale proposal. Hence it needs to be planned out to begin as a small venture and grow in an incremental organic way rather than a straight complete proposal. In other words, if someone was to approach an organization and say "we want to build a Global Civic Center and a city of a few million people to serve as a model for sustainable living" the project would stand little to no chance.

However if the proposal would begin with a small research center with the potential to grow into a Global Civic and Research Center the chances increase significantly. The most crucial element of this project is starting in a way that will continue to attract other research and projects.

For example on organization such as Biosphere 2 is an Earth system science research facility located in Oracle, Arizona may be given an incentive to start another center on the new site of the proposed GCC and use the research for developing a new ecosystem in an open environment (versus the closed one they are working on).

Other research organizations such as in the area of desalinization, solar power, and more, including NASA, may agree to establish new centers on the site. It is reasonable to believe that there may be an interest in being pioneers in creating the World’s Civic Center and the first self sustaining city.

Once critical mass has been reached with demand for housing and services for workers on site the project has a decent chance to take off.

Establishing R&D centers will become attractive for corporations challenged to develop advanced materials and methods of construction (without using wood), and with minimal energy, robotics, modular systems etc. as well as many high tech companies.

As the GCC begins to grow and becomes attractive to anyone seeking a higher quality of life at a lower cost, the price of the land will rise and the GCC Intiative/Trust will begin to have significant revenues. With the available capital the Trust can order the development essential infrastructure on a large scale that will continue to make the GCC more attractive. For example a complete and comprehensive mass transit system that is fully green, automated, comfortable, accessible and fast.

Particularly considering the timeline given, I do not think this project is feasible. In the current age, I don't think that a project like this could be implemented at the US/Mexico border (as much as I would like it).

In terms of the timeline I had:

YR-1-2 - The Global Civic Center Initiative - Consortium of Academic Institutions and corporations together with international organizations raises the first $1 billion and makes final decision on site location, and master plan for the city.

It may take as much as 5 years for the initiative to take off. Given my interaction with a number of groups that have aspirations of addressing both climate change and conflicts there is a reasonable possibility for buy-in from at least a few major universities and organizations.

In terms of the US/Mexico border as a location, I understand the concerns given the mindset of the current administration. Looking into the future, in all likelihood the next administration may swing the pendulum more to the left as a reaction and actually increase the chances of the GCC. Most importantly however, for the GCC to begin development it will not need political concessions for sometime. In the first few years the initiative only needs is to receive a lease from the State of Arizona (or the Fed gov?) of an area of land about 8x6 miles along the border.

On the Mexican side a similar land lease would need to be arranged with the start of a research project.

Cooperation between the two sides would begin and at the next phase a border control arrangement may be considered. For example to allow for easy crossing of the border within the GCC area while the border control would be moved to the outer area of the GCC.

I also don't see the funding and space for this project to exist as being available in the near future.

Yes, as a large project the GCC cannot raise funding. However, I believe that the funding aspect needs to be judged in terms of the potential for an effective starting point that leads to organic growth rather than funding for the entire project. Finding the funds for the project on a large scale would be insurmountable. On the other hand, starting with a small project that attracts other projects increase the chances of success. Even if only one organization agrees to establish a presence on the site the reset will come.

CONCLUSION

Thank you again for your feedback and for considering the potential of the Global Civic Center to shift attitudes, to galvanize the global citizenry around a new story, the story of restoring the planet and bringing an end to conflicts, a story that becomes a new ideology - to sustain human life with energy from a higher level, from the sun and the wind, rather than from a lower level extracting and burning fossil fuels, a new story animated by the living proof of a large city, powered and nourished entirely by renewable energy and sustainable agriculture, at a cheaper cost and a higher quality of life than traditional cities.