When we talk about “cities of the future,” we talk about autocratic city building in Dubai, autonomous city-states like Hong Kong, special economic zones like Shenzhen, corporate developments like California Forever, and charter cities like Próspera.
But these cities aren’t utopias—far from it.
That’s why I spent the past several months researching the most utopian cities of the past century. Turns out: Companies have built more beautiful cities than Hong Kong. Investors have funded a better quality of life than Shenzhen. Islands and counties have carved out autonomy for residents, not governments. Tribes are building more prosperous cities than Próspera.
The city of the future shouldn’t just build skyscrapers and GDP. It should build utopia.
At 16,000 words and 1 hour and 50 minutes of audio runtime, this long-form essay is an exploration of how we can do that.
I am beyond grateful to the Center for Land Economics who is supporting this series as a patron and whose co-founder, Greg Miller, wrote the introduction. The pamphlet was written by Elle Griffin, illustrated by Nina Bunjevac, designed by Patricia Faggi, and edited by Adrienne Westenfeld, with line edits by Shoni Bruell. Ten percent of pamphlet sales go to writers whose research I relied on in my studies, and the contributors who helped me put it together.
Thank you for continuing to read and support my projects as I explore the deeper-researched pieces that will ultimately become part of my book We Should Own The Economy. I’m experimenting with slow journalism here and that means writing that could survive the next century, not just the next week.
Thanks for supporting that,
Elle Griffin
