What does it take to create a city.

Set aside your sim city skills, and try not to rely on corporations when you think about it. And leave your negative comments on another thread.

This has been bugging me for the last few elections. Why are we still dead last? Last in technology that isn't self defense, last in education, last in resources, and last place to ever live?

What does it take to build a self reliant, and completely independant city?

Why can't we rely on our own soil to meet our needs? Why can't we build a city that doesn't need help from a neighboring city, let alone another continent?

We should not be relying on corporations for jobs. We should be relying on the city people.

What I hate seeing is nothing but corporations doing all the planing, adjusting prices, and firing workers every 6 months. Why can't a city be self reliant for every thing?

I admit that when I grew up I was confused on what I wanted to be because the schools I went to didn't make it clear on what it was I should be doing.

And the more I think about how our society got where it is today the more I question its intentions.

So... without using corporations what so ever what would it take to create a city? I am talking about a blank slate, nothing but a highway being nearby. What Skills are needed? Without having to rely on the purchase of goods what would it truly take to create a city complete with its own machine factory, power, water, wood, cement, steel, brick, copper, plastic, factories, car manufacturer, transit, train.

Basically what I want to see you guys help out with is the ability to create a city completely from scratch. This means no renting equipment, no hiring a corporation to make plans, no use of pre fabricated building materials, no contracts with private groups, no use of machinery from outside of the city itself, no purchases of any goods from other cities other than wood, steel, cement, plastic, very basic hand tools, and other raw minerals.

What would it take to create a real city absent name brands? If I had a group of about 1000 people or so who knew how to erect buildings using as much of the surroundings available to them absent the need to make a phone call to purchase anything from anyone what would it require?

I know I keep repeating the same question in a different form over and over again but it is only to try and make it clear on the intentions of such a project. Every day we see ads for the new this or the new that.... but why not create something that only exists locally?

a reply to: GiulXainx

If you do not want to use outside money or rented equipment I would suggest you and your 1,000 friends and family members build your city from Adobe. See this image for reference.



This construction system is your best bet for city in your cost range. Now you just need your recruits to locate a suitable bit of desert and everyone bring water and hand tools and start working on your new city. Maybe a tribe will rent you a cheap plot of land and help you get started.

Honestly, there are a lot of cities & villages in poor countries that already fit your description. The main question is how much technology are you wanting to have & allowing for construction?

Shelter, water, and food supply are the 3 biggest needs by far, then I'd guess medicine & safety. If starting from scratch, shelter will be completely dependent on the amount of people and the resources nearby. 1,000 people is a lot, because that's 200 shelters with 5 people per shelter or 100 shelters if 10 people are huddled up. So if you're making bricks (adobe or "standard clay bricks"), that's going to require a lot of spare water and clay. And time. Clay &/or adobe bricks will take a lot of time to set & dry, and that doesn't include the actual shelter constructions. Wood would probably be tougher for 1,000 people because of the sheer amount of trees and/or bamboo needed to build that many shelters. Not to mention you're starting from scratch & would need to cut down the trees in the 1st place. Even grass huts are incredibly time consuming to build & require near constant maintenance.

As for water. Well, you'd clearly need to be in a place with either a river, lake, or several ponds. Initially, you wouldn't be able to depend on groundwater because of the lack of tools to dig it or extract the water. Baked clay pots could be used to hold and transport the water. But water borne disease (as well as predators near the water) would be chief concerns.

Food supply is going to make or break things. You would need enough land to reliably grow staple crops, as well as the ability to catch & tame wild animals, either for milk, eggs, or for their offspring (think pigs, goats, and chickens). You'd also have to worry about season changes, because animals migrate & you'd have to have food stored in order to survive the possibly rapidly changing seasons (some regions have rainy seasons, yearly droughts, etc).

Sewing, weaving, hunting, trapping, farming, FORAGING, and creativity would be your biggest assets. Blacksmithing is useless without metals, but clay stoves can be made to get hot enough for basic smithing. And basic stone smithing & whittling can be helpful. You'd probably need to divide everyone into 10 or 15 different jobs, so that everyone is working towards a common goal. Also, some people will desperately need to test different plants & animal parts for cures/effects, because this would be the only healthcare you'd have. So a knowledge of herbalism would be huge too.

Oh yeah, and you'd absolutely have to manage your resources. Use of too much wood and the trees won't grow fast enough to sustain your village. So burning wood would be nearly forbidden during most times (better burn dried animal feces lol). Killing too many fish means they won't be able to reproduce fast enough, same with other animals. In fact, if you're able to even catch any birds, you'd probably only eat them in hard times, preferring to keep them for breeding & just eat the eggs. Same goes for goats- just consume the milk while helping them increase their numbers. Rabbits & pigs might grow fast enough to be able to eat though.

So basically you want communism?

originally posted by: Develo
So basically you want communism?

But it wouldn't be "communism" or any modern political or economic theory. It's literally the same way of life indigenous people have been living for tens of thousands of years all over the world. Different Native American groups who weren't nomads used to live like this as well, and even the nomads would make temporary settlements. In other words, it's life without modern technology and a centralized city state.

a reply to: enlightenedservant

I knew someone would bring up communism.

That is hilarious.

What I find even more hilarious, and yet ironic, is how an idea such as this has a lot of thought put into it for such a short response. I'd love to see where this goes further.

And I love the question about technology. It made me laugh as well.

And I love how each person gets assigned one job to do. And I love the mindset behind each response.

Now... What would be an ideal location to create a new city having all necessities available to keep the civilization alive?

I know enlightened has a pretty solid idea going so far so let's kick it up a notch.

Say we start with adobe. And we have 1,000 people. And we find a spot. Where would that spot possibly be? What would the climate be. What would be the wildlife surrounding it? What technology would you want to have in this city? And of the ones you pick, how would you get what you wanted, without "cheating?"

I know it is hard to imagine living in a world like this. Without cars, computers, plumbing, and even hvac #. But through my years I have found out that our bodies can still take a lot of abuse, if you know how to get past the wall.

So.. continuing on. What would have to be built to get what you want? Time is a factor, but it remains constant.

What then?

a reply to: GiulXainx
look into Resilient Communities

waldenlabs.com...
john robb also has a lot on the subject

globalguerrillas.typepad.com...

Global Village Construction Set - Open Source Ecology
opensourceecology.org...

The Global Village Construction Set (GVCS) is a modular, DIY, low-cost, high-performance platform that enables fabrication of the 50 different Industrial Machines that it takes to build a small, sustainable civilization with modern comforts. The name, GVCS, has been coined for the first time in 2008 - at a lecture at the University of Missouri, Columbia

resilientcommunities.org...