{"id":246576,"date":"2021-05-10T20:14:31","date_gmt":"2021-05-10T17:14:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/private-cities-without-government-control\/"},"modified":"2021-05-10T20:14:31","modified_gmt":"2021-05-10T17:14:31","slug":"private-cities-without-government-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/private-cities-without-government-control\/","title":{"rendered":"#Private cities without government control"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Private cities without government control<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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Tech bros are at it again.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After dominating Silicon Valley in the past two decades, hiking up rent prices in the area and filling the streets with fleece vests<\/a> and wool sneakers, they\u2019re now spreading into other regions, such as Austin and North Carolina<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But merely setting up shop in a hot new spot just isn\u2019t enough for one group of techies, now formulating a plan to build\u00a0their\u00a0very own dream city \u2013\u00a0away from the US entirely and governed by themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Twenty-five-year-olds Dryden Brown of New York University, and Charlie Callinan of Boston College, co-founded Bluebook Cities<\/a> in 2019 \u2014 described as a \u201cfull-stack city builder,\u201d which \u201cpartners with communities to develop beautiful, energetic, resident-owned cities,\u201d the website states.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

So far, their community remains online, in \u201cthe cloud.\u201d But they expect to enlist around 2,000 willing participants (about the size of a small college town) to pack up and move to their yet-to-be-built city. No word yet on where the concept will touch down \u2014 but the two hope to land somewhere in the Mediterranean.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Currently, Brown and Callinan are looking to partner with a country in the region who wants to attract a slice of Silicon Valley and is \u201cdown to forge a partnership with them,\u201d Brown told YouTube<\/a>r Justin Murphy in an interview.<\/a> <\/p>\n

\u201cWhereby they contribute land, perhaps for equity in the project and the terms will obviously be negotiated,\u201d Brown explained.\u00a0\u201cWe are not trying to be a total sovereign nation or something like that. We want to partner with a government and build something really cool that works with us and works for them and is mutually beneficial,\u201d he said, adding that they want a government that will stop blocking people with \u201cdumb regulations.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

With the backing of angel investor Peter Thiel, who has already invested nearly $9 million in Pronomos Capital<\/a> \u2014 a venture capital that focuses solely on startups like Bluebook Cities \u2014 the company is expected to soon morph the online community into a private city reality.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Venture
Venture capitalist Peter Thiel of the Founders Fund attends the inaugural meeting of the American Technology<\/a> Council at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on June 19, 2017 in Washington, DC. <\/figcaption>
Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But membership is even more limited than the already cost prohibitive Silicon Valley real-estate scene.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPraxis app<\/a>licants are carefully vetted with a written application and numerous phone calls with current members. New members are rare because membership is sacred,\u201d the application states.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Their move follows the crippling pandemic, racial tensions and a controversial election \u2014 all of which has mounted talk of secession in what was once the tech capital of the world. The Silicon Valley techies are looking to take matters into their own hands by exploring ways to build an apolitical private city run by private residents without US government control.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen COVID happened, the labor market migrated to the cloud. Now you can move sort of wherever you want and your job will follow \u2014 if you are a knowledge worker in many cases,\u201d Brown told Murphy via a video conference. \u201cAnd I think this is going to create a shift in urban dynamics that\u2019s greater than we have seen in 300 years, where people are no longer moving into cities for the labor market.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brown and Callinan are currently building their online community via Praxis \u2013 a social-media platform for those interested in possibly joining Bluebook Cities (that is, if they meet their exclusive criteria) and where they can communicate directly amongst each other. The\u00a0website<\/a>\u00a0describes Praxis as a \u201csociety of pioneers racing to settle the first resident-owned Affinity City, developed by Bluebook Cities on the Mediterranean,\u201d explaining how the global reach of the internet helps build a community of \u201cnew cities organized around shared values and glorious visions for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

One way to join the Praxis community is through the digital distribution platform Discord<\/a> which is designed specifically to create a community among people with shared ideas and thoughts. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe want young and ambitious people who want to go out in the frontier and build the future.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Fiskardo
Fiskardo beach, Kefalonia island, Greece. Brown and Callinan targeted the Mediterranean for its beautiful beaches and incredible mountains, and are looking for places such as this safe haven to build their own city. <\/figcaption>
Getty Images\/iStockphoto<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But the plan isn\u2019t without its catches.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf San Francisco gets radically better, or New York, and none of these people no longer want to leave,\u201d Brown mused. \u201cI think that is fairly unlikely but who knows? So there could be a demand problem.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He also cited finance sourcing as a potential issue, describing how it would take at least $500 million for Phase 1 of building a city to come into fruition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re joining a startup\u00a0city and you\u2019re owning\u00a0equity in the startup city by living there,\u201d Brown concluded. \u201cWe intend for it to go to the moon but we will see.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Post has reached out to Brown and Callinan for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But they aren\u2019t the only ones trying this.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In February, Japan\u2019s Toyota company launched their idea of a new city\u00a0<\/a>titled \u201cWoven City.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

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