It Takes a Wiki to Raise a Village

Dreams of a utopian community powered by the Internet

By Spencer E. Ante

The idea sounds like it's straight out of a science fiction novel: Adeo Ressi hopes to build what he calls the City of the Future, a utopian community with no cars, free schools, and food grown on the surrounding land.

But Ressi is completely serious. What's more, he's approaching the concept with all the energy and ingenuity of a Web entrepreneur, which is exactly what he is. Ressi spent four summers in the Arizona desert when he was a teenager, working in an experimental city called Arcosanti. Now, he believes it's possible to harness the power of the Internet to succeed where others have failed. Today's cities, he says, "are simply not sustainable."

Ressi expects to unveil the first stage of the effort in the next few months. It will be a Wikipedia-like Web site, allowing urban planners, architects, and other visionaries to post and review the world's best ideas for reimagining urbanity. "It's a massive task that needs to involve great minds, practical problem solvers, radical geniuses, and all the talent that we collectively have to offer," he says.

In fact, that's part of the reason he's moved to California. Living on the West Coast, says Ressi, will allow him to more easily scout potential locations for his urban utopia. "Ultimately [the site] will be decided by the vote of the members, but I have a feeling there are great suitable locations in the Pacific Northwest," he says.

Ressi doesn't yet have drawings or blueprints. But he does have four core concepts that he plans to post on the Web site for review and voting by others. To Ressi, the city should have no cars or oil-based vehicles; construction should alter no more than 25% of the natural habitat; government should be run like a corporation, with citizens as voting shareholders; and schooling should be free and available for all residents. "The idea is to have an incredible knowledge worker class employed by knowledge worker companies," says Ressi. "It'll be like Palo Alto, except cooler."