Opportunities in society / community

The information age is preparing to spawn a new, dynamic type of community that might be called the "intercommunity." A union of the best of the physical and electronic realms, the intercommunity could replace today's cities and bedroom communities.

For details, see the intercommunity site.

Alternative designations are "cyber arcology," or "wired ecocity." Simultaneously compact and spacious, the fully-realized intercommunity combines ecology and agriculture with architecture and cyber infrastructure (pervasive broadband networking). Within one unified space usually traversable without auto, the intercommunity accomodates living with busines and culture in a rich mix of ultra productivity and dynamic satisfaction.

The intercommunity involves a new kind of mentality, aided in part by the cyber element, that bonds people in a common consciousness stemming from their their interdependence within the complex. It is the antithesis of the alienation so commonly found in traditional cities and bedroom communities.

Elements of the intercommunity have been incorporated into hundreds of so-called "intentional communities" around the globe; in addition, bits and pieces of the concept are popping up in traditional cities such as New York, Chicago, and San Diego.

Plans are on the drawing board for a brand-new city for 7,000 to 10,000 people outside San Francisco, to be called Califia. It promises to incorporate all the key elements of the intercommunity, and to be a breeding ground for commercial and social inventions.