Nice that you are here, we would like to introduce you to our vision of a city in which everyone has access to a minimum standard of living. A city in which it is easy for us to meet the climate goals of the European Union and to massively reduce environmental damage. It is a new city concept that combines the advantages of the city with the advantages of the rural region and is intended to support a model of life based on solidarity. A city as it has not yet been built – The One Building City – it is our solution to the challenges of the 21st century.
How do we not want to live?
Just imagine we don’t adapt our cities to the challenges of postmodernism – and they will continue to expand over the next 30 years. The distances are getting longer and the traffic jam on the roads and rails becomes unbearable. Rushed and restless people drive from one appointment to the next, hardly anyone speaks to their counterpart unless they need help. The high levels of air, noise and light pollution are constant companions. Fresh air, quiet places and personal attention have become rare resources in the city. In many parts of the city, children can no longer play alone in front of the door because crime and homelessness have become too high. And many children do not know that there used to be large green spaces with wild animals in many parts of the city.
Time optimization through autonomous flying taxis, operations or medication can only afford the rich. More than 70% of the population have been taken on prescription drugs and those who cannot afford them seek them on the streets. The feeling of isolation and loneliness particularly affects the many old people, who are mostly only taken care of by robots. Competition and stress determine everyday life, because there are only a few meaningful jobs left and rents and food prices continue to rise from year to year. Many citizens live in constant fear of the future in socially disadvantaged districts or have to move to shrinking municipalities outside the city. Many people cannot afford their own land, especially the new migrants.
Some tendencies of this scenario are already recognizable in big cities and we want to show solidarity in order to offer a concrete, positive and realistic model of life that stands for an inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable life in the city. Let’s plan and found a city together in which we would like to live and in which we can work together on more peaceful ways of thinking and acting.
In which we advocate a world in which nobody starves to death, nobody is exploited because of their economic situation and nobody is discriminated against because of their identities (gender, creed, caste, social group, nationality, etc.). A world of respect and dignity for all.
The problem is not that we don’t have good ideas, or that we don’t have enough resources and smart technical solutions. There are many concerned citizens, a variety of initiatives, trying to make the world a better place. The problem of the 21st century is that we are more divided than ever.
What is the One Building City?
Imagine 20 minutes ago by regional train from your dream city there is a beautiful place. 30 soccer fields in size, maybe a patch of forest with arable land. As long as this place is not designated as building land in the zoning plan, this piece of land still has a small value. But if the responsible municipality or city administration were to release even one of the thirty football fields for development, the land price would probably be over ten times as high increase. Anyone who has followed the development of land prices through changes in use in and around large cities over the past 30 years is familiar with these circumstances.
And now imagine we got the building permit to build 50 floors on this soccer field, about 150 meters high or even higher. The price of land would rise again many times over. For example, an aesthetically beautiful high-rise for 5,000-10,000 residents could be built there for one billion euros. The plans for such buildings have already been developed by many famous architects – they are unique works of art whose materiality, construction and lifestyle cannot be compared with the social buildings of the 1960s and 1970s. With prefabricated modular constructions with recycled concrete and wood, which are supported in the manufacturing process by robots and 3D printers, such buildings could be completed in 6 months. Or in a longer process of supervised construction by the future residents themselves and thus create their own jobs.
This building would be up to date with the latest architectural standards and the criteria of population size, population density and administrative structure would be comparable to a city, so that a small-medium-sized city with 5000-10,000 citizens would emerge – on just one soccer field. The remaining 29 soccer fields would be compensation and open spaces. A huge, beautiful communal garden right outside the front door, where man and nature meet. Imagine, an edible forest, seascapes could be created there and animals would also live there.
The social infrastructure would be derived from the guidelines of the supply structure that have already been developed for quarters and city districts. Social housing in the lower residential areas could be cross-financed by luxury apartments on the upper floors and could represent a diverse, sociocultural urban society in miniature form. Retirement homes, medical care, kindergartens, schools, commercial areas etc. would have to be statistically calculated according to the population so that the necessary capacities would also be guaranteed here. And simulations could determine a very precise prognosis for bakers, cleaning staff, gardeners, educators, etc. Communal areas, entertainment rooms, restaurants, exercise and recreational facilities, etc. would all be in the immediate vicinity of the city residents, so that long distances no longer have to be covered for everyday needs, which would mean a great deal of time savings for the residents. An urban society could emerge which, on the one hand, can identify with one another more easily and, at the same time, due to its size and density, brings with it a great variety of culture and entertainment. A city where all family members could afford a place. A city that sticks together like a family.
The technical infrastructure would pay for itself quickly due to the high number of users and support a comfortable, sustainable and self-determined life. Energy would be produced locally and would not have to be wasted on long transport routes. A combination of solar thermal energy on the house walls, geothermal energy or horizontally built-in windmills between the floors could easily guarantee a self-sufficient energy supply. The water supply could be drawn from groundwater and rainwater or from the air and treated several times in a circulatory system.
Food could provide the entire city with exotic fruits, mushrooms and vegetables, etc. through a vertical farm and pesticide-free, soil-conserving methods such as hydroponic, aquaponic, aeroponic. It could become the city with the least pollution per inhabitant, as products and packaging would be designed to be easy to recycle, upcycled or composted. An integrated waste management system would take the city to the next ecological level.
Urban mobility would shift from cars to vertical and horizontal elevators on rails that would get every passenger to their destination in minutes.
For city policy decisions, interactive screens on floors and rooms could implement direct and participatory administrative structures in the sense of e-government, which support processes of information and communication as well as transactions. A data security structure and online currency could also be implemented more easily in this city.
The shared city:
What one cannot afford, many can afford. Whether swimming pool, sauna, office, education cloud or vehicle fleet, with the 1BC member card, residents can develop and use affordable collective offers. The sharing economy not only brings people into contact with one another that they might otherwise never have met, but also by lending and swapping unnecessary new purchases could be minimized, making economical and environmentally friendly consumption easier. The One Building Cities could form a network around large cities and thus preserve the green belt. They could be replicated and networked globally and develop into a new social movement. Members could also swap their homes and work for trips to other One Building Cities and thus create a cheap and flexible model of life.
Costs: As a liberating, new life model, the 1BC can also be financed by social welfare recipients. A studio apartment in the lower length with 11m2 and high-quality shared bathroom, shower, toilet and kitchen should cost 30,000-50,000 euros. This includes all free and discounted offers in the city. There will also be significantly higher investment opportunities for more spacious residential and commercial space or modules. Fixed rental prices should protect against speculation.
Philosophy: Building the One Building City is not the goal and the end of all evil, it should rather be an instrument to support the path to a better society. We do not believe that the One Building City will bring about sudden peace, joy and love between people – these things are the result of an arduous negotiation process towards an environment that is first of all security and protection in the mind of each self and in society is to be encouraged. We want to prove that it works.
Join us to support the realization of the first One Building City and to learn more about the project.
We would like to also share with you the perspective of Sadhguru about One Building City with the videos below