Creating My Own Utopia

My Utopia

What is a utopia?

"any real or imaginary society, place, state, etc, considered to be perfect or ideal" Collins Dictionary 2013.

Research

Man Made islands

In 2006 I visited a small island in the Caribbean, that had been entirely man made. Constructed from concrete and discarded conch shells. Happy Island, self contained, its own power (admittedly not green energy), a fully stocked bar, one mans own utopia.

Happy Island constructed by Janti

Atoll's

Around the same time I saw an advert "Wanted; applicants to live on a research atoll in the South Pacific, for three years". An atoll is a remote natural coral island that encircles a lagoon. Food was grown, gathered or caught upon or around the island, power was provided by wind turbines. Self contained although a passing cargo ship could drop off emergency supplies once a month (if necessary). This idea at the time really appealed to me, although I never applied.

Atafu Atoll (South Pacific)

Taiaro Atoll (roughly 400 miles east of Tahiti)

Seasteading and Arcology

The idea of living on an atoll got me thinking about private islands, seasteading and Arcology.

• Private island's are owned by a person or persons. They have a high level of control over how it is treated, what is built upon it, but still fall under the regulations of the government that controls the area. 

• Seasteading is the concept of creating inhabitable structures at sea, that are not under the control of any government, and can form their own micro-nation. You can also take pre-existing structures like derelict oil rigs and turn them into seasteads.

• Arcology is the combination of the words architecture and ecology. Massive self contained, self sufficient, high population structures. Designed with set areas for agriculture, residential, and commercial. They are mostly depicted in science fiction but.....

Masdar City (under construction) in Abu Dhabi

Electric "pods" transport its residents around.

Masdar's city centre plaza.

Masdar City

A massive walled city, carbon neutral, self sustainable, powered entirely by solar energy. Currently under construction, but partially finished (and occupied) in west Abu Dhabi. With a zero waste ecology and manufacturing facilities specialising in environmentally friendly products for export, and highly advanced research and development institutions, Masdar will also have enough residential space to house 50,000 people. This isn't science fiction, this already exists.

My Utopia

The Three Principals;

• Sustainability
• Respect (for the enviroment and each other)
• Self Reliance (my utopia would be self contained and everyone would need to learn the skills necessary to survive)

Take a large atoll like Aldabra in the Indian Ocean, place several large "biomes" similar to the ones at the Eden Project around its circumference. The biomes would contain housing, shelter from the elements and a more controlled enviroment for agriculture.

  Agriculture could use hydrophonics and traditional methods, to grow crops for eating, medicine and for production into clothing.

Water could be collected; during the rainy season, also from condensation (forming on the inside of the biomes), and from desalination units run by the renewable power.

Electrical power would come from renewable sources, wind, wave and solar. Palm wood a sustainable resource could be grown to use for construction if needed, but not to be burned. 

 

Some animals could be introduced, but would need to be kept within the biomes, in order to protect the indigenous species. Fishing and hunting would need to be done sustainably, each family would be responsible for killing, skinning, etc, defer to the three principals.