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Plan to create ‘Technotopia’ does not bode well for cities old or new
Tech titans may have the money to build new cities, but what they lack is the disposition.
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A mysterious company gobbling up land in Solano County, in California, is funded by venture capitalists with the goal to build a new city from scratch.
PHOTO: AFP
Molly Turner
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We recently learnt that the mysterious company gobbling up land in Solano County, California, is funded by venture capitalists including Mr Marc Andreessen, Mr Reid Hoffman and Mrs Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Their goal: build a new city from scratch.
In doing so, they are joining a long line of technotopians, including Google co-founder Larry Page and his effort to build cities “from the Internet up”, Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale and his plans for “charter cities”, and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel and his desire for “Seasteader” cities floating on water. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos wants to see cities floating in space, and Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has proposed cities in Texas and on Mars. There is even a venture capital firm funding the creation of new cities.
