With sufficient finances, any dream or aspiration is possible to achieve, and this view will be cemented by American Billionaire Marc Lore, who plans on establishing a new city in the US. Usually, people have ‘small scale’ hopes which can be attained within a short time, but Mr Lore is going for a ground breaking plan which will be a monumental achievement if he succeeds. While other wealthy individuals of his caliber, such as Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and Sir Richard Branson, chose space explorations, Lore is in pursuit of creating a new city with a ‘modern touch,’ technological advancements, and architectural prowess.
Marc Lore (50) revealed plans to create a city on American soil. The former president and CEO of Walmart US eCommerce amassed a lot of wealth from various projects and became one of the most proficient entrepreneurs in the US. In 2014, he launched an eCommerce website Jet.com, and the company was acquired by Walmart, Inc. [Source]. Prior to that, he was the CEO of Quidsi, which he also co-founded, the parent company of a family of websites, including Diapers.com. When it comes to the business world, Mr. Lore is a self-taught guru with a web of successful corporations that are still kicking and earned a sit on the table with great business people across the globe.
Pegged at $400 billion, the Telosa plan is expected to be built from scratch in the American desert. In unraveling this project, Lore said, “Cities that have been built to date from scratch are more like real estate projects,” and he added that “They don’t start with people at the center, you would immediately think, ‘OK, what’s the mission and what are the values?”. BIG’s founder, Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, seemed impressed by Telosa as he suggested that it “embodies the social and environmental care of Scandinavian culture, and the freedom and opportunity of a more American culture.” He commented on Telosa’s mission by saying that “The mission of Telosa is to create a more equitable and sustainable future. That’s our North Star,” [Source].
As a way of showing his pure determination to leave a significant footprint on American territory, Lore employed the services of a famous architect to design his biggest project up to date. According to the released draft of Telosa, it will fill up a large land, around 150 000 acres of land, and with “eco-friendly architecture, sustainable energy production, and a purportedly drought-resistant water system.” Residents who will reside in the city are going to have an easy life under the “15-minute city design” that enables them to go to work, school, or any place “within a quarter-hour commute of their homes.”
A series of digital designs were shown during the project’s announcement on public forums, and some included pictures with residents enjoying open spaces and greenery landscapes. To support the reduction of global emissions, the images depicted autonomous vehicles moving and fossil fuel-powered vehicles will be banned in the city. Another notable feature in the display was a skyscraper termed ‘Equitism Tower,’ which was described as “a beacon for the city” with elevated water storage, aeroponic farms, and “an energy-producing photovoltaic roof that allow it to share and distribute all it produces.” Equity is an ideology where people own a reasonable part of the land to instill equality among the residents [Source]. The project website aired out concerns about the inequality trend in America, and the city might be able to rectify this issue. “While the current economic system is a growth engine, it has led to increasing inequality,” as noted by the website. Hence “Equitism is inclusive growth” and enact active participation from all parties instead of locking out societies from building their heaven on earth.
With a design crafted by a trusted architect firm, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), what is left for Telosa is to find a suitable area to place it in. Officials included in the project are currently searching for appropriate territories, and it is believed that possible targets include Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Texas, and the Appalachian region, as noted on the project’s website. Construction of the city will be in phases, with the first phase amounting to $25 billion dollars and will cater to 50 000 residents across 1 500 acres of land. Presented statistics show that around 5 million people would inhabit the city within 40 years, and the $400 billion funding will be obtained from various sources, including private players, state funds, federal grants, and other interested investors.
In laying out his plans, Lore went an extra step in doling out the “new model for society.” This model is applauded for being transparent, stemming from the coining of the name ‘Telosa,’ which was derived from the Greek word ‘telos,’ meaning “an inherent or higher purpose.” Under this form of governance, residents will “participate in the decision-making and budget process” and have part ownership of the city’s land. Lore described it as the “most open, most fair and most inclusive city globally.”
Lore explained his initiative in regards to the benefits to society and said, “If you went into the desert where the land was worth nothing, or very little, and you created a foundation that owned the land, and people moved there and tax dollars built infrastructure, and we built one of the greatest cities in the world, the foundation could be worth a trillion dollars,” [Source].
He added that “And if the foundation’s mission was to take the appreciation of the land and give it back to the citizens in the form of medicine, education, affordable housing, social services: Woe, that’s it!”
Some analysts described Telosa as a utopian world that might need a lot of effort in setting up because, on paper, it looks good. But the implementation process will demand more enthusiasm and dedication from everyone involved to achieve such a status like ‘equitism.’ Only time will tell, but given the plans so far, one can sense a picture of success being painted by Lore and his team.
