We seek to promote the creation of the world's first true intercommunity or "unicuture," which might also by called a "cyber arcology" or "broadband ecovillage." Once completed, this community, mini-city, or business/residential/cultural center will serve as a prototype, leading the way toward a global system of unicultures linked by compatible arteries of transportation, energy, and high-bandwidth communication.

Joining with others, our strategy is twofold: (a) to help complete a prototype uniculture; and (b) to develop and disseminate uniculture principles and technology to those wishing to build other cyber-arcologies or to retrofit existing communities and cities.

The longer-term objective is to facilitate a trend toward broadband communication and ecological balance versus transportation as the key driver of city and community development. We believe it's time to move beyond the auto's creation of wasteful, pollution-breeding suburban sprawl with its bedroom communities and far-flung business parks, shopping malls, and agriculture.

The global system of cyber-arcology nodes, if evolved properly, will re-introduce and redefine earlier values: close-knit community living characterized by a rich integration of family life with work life, culture, education, religion, and food production -- all the elements, close at hand, that make life meaningful and productive.

Although the first true uniculture might be built from scratch on a virgin tract of land, a more likely option is to add missing features to an existing community, complex, or city. Possible sites for the retrofitting option include --

• Arcosanti. Paolo Soleri's prototype city near Phoenix, Arizona, already incorporates the principles of architectural compactness, shared spaces, and integrated ecology (principles pioneered by Soleri). Adding broadband networking would be relatively straightforward. Introducing real estate ownership and mainstream businesses to Arcosanti might be more of a challenge, but could accelerate the Arcosanti's completion.
  
  
• Chautauqua Institution. This venerable facility in upstate New York is perhaps the most advanced uniculture in the human and cultural dimentions. Rich resources in education, religion, the arts, and recreation abound. Chautauqua's layout offers ample green space through sharing, yet a compact residential layout allows people to get almost anywhere by foot. However, to be true to uniculture principles, the buildings -- many of them old -- would need to be retrofitted with Soleri's greenhouse features for food production and climate control. And broadband infrastructure would need to be added. It would no doubt take years for Chautauqua to evolved into a true uniculture, but the result would be well worth the effort.
  
  
• A large corporate headquarters. A few years ago, AT&T's announcement that it was putting its Basking Ridge, NJ, headquarters up for sale may be a bellewether. Large, centralized corporate facilities may become more and more anacronistic as information age economics and terrorist fears foster decentralization and distributed work. These complexes are ideal for retrofitting into intercommunities, however. A business-oriented intercommunity would accomodate hundreds to thousands of businesses, the shops that service them, cultural and educational venues, and pedestrial access to nearby residences. Though sold as a new corporate HQ for a single company, Basking Ridge exemplifies provocative multi-use possitilities. Even in it's original one-company form, the complex sported two restaurants, a barber shop, a bank, a library, a learning center with hotel facilities, an auditorium that could host a symphony orchestra, and underground parking for 3,900 autos.

Intercommunity retrofitting projects are possible almost anywhere. With the right leadership, almost any small town, urban area, or city could be converted into a uniculture or intercommunity over time. For example, the neighborhoods of New York City's boroughs could be retrofitted into dozens of unicultures, all linked by fiber and people-friendly transit into a mega-uniculture. For starters, imagine cars banished to the periphery, and the streets converted into vegetable and flower gardens; playgrounds and walkways; outdoor shops, art galleries, and performance spaces. New York's High Line project, now in progress, is a step in that direction.

Prime locations for cyber-arcology development include third-world countries as well as the United States, Europe, and Asia - especially areas in need of economical, productivity-boosting reconstruction.

In addition to the organizations that have established complexes with uniculture elements (Arcosanti, Chauitauqua Institution ...), several others have developed relevant programs, literature, or technolgies. They include --

• Califia. Paradox and Green Century Institute
• Netville / E-neighborhoods
  

EraNova is supporting the formation of a new organization to offer intercommunity consulting, intercommunity networking infrastructure and services, and resources for retrofitting existing communities and business/cultural complexes. Write us if interested in participating.

If you know of a candidate complex ... have a resource to contribute ... seek a forward-looing real-estate investment ... would like to live, learn, and work in a uniculture ... have a product or service that would be useful in a project ... need consulting or proressional services for a development project ... or just want to be involved or know more ... please write us.