Imagine a neighborhood where landscaping comes in the form of vertical gardens bursting with fresh fruits, vegetables, and legumes; where the roads are only wide enough to walk or bike to a friend's house; where you can volunteer at the local community center in exchange for homeowner association (HOA) fee or rental discounts, tracked using blockchain technology, of course. Silicon Valley–based construction company ReGen Villages has imagined a place like this and is planning to develop the world's first self-sufficient suburb 20 minute outside of Amsterdam in the Dutch town of Almere.
Inspired by research for the Solar Decathlon from Stanford University as well as a UN sustainability brief from the Stanford Center for Design Research—which was co-authored by ReGen Villages founder James Ehrlich outlining preliminary plans for the villages—the construction firm aims to address the issue of exponential population growth by creating affordable, sustainable housing options, according to its website.
Part of ReGen Village's mission is to create "off-grid capable neighborhoods," according to the company. To achieve this, the firm is consulting with local design practice Except Integrated Sustainability and plans to erect internet-of-things–enabled prefab and modular structures.
The 60-acre village will feature 203 houses and vertical greenhouse gardens that will provide fresh produce grown with collected rainwater. Precipitation can also be filtered through the houses and stored for drinking purposes. Food waste will become fish and animal feed for on-site aqua and animal farming. The houses are designed without driveways or parking areas to encourage residents to walk or bike. Self-driving electric cars and buses will be stationed on the outskirts of the village to transport people to and from Amsterdam and the Almere town center.
The residences will range in price from approximately $233,000 (€200,000) for smaller row houses to approximately $990,000 (€850,000) for larger villas. Residents will play a role in sustaining the community through volunteer work in gardens and community centers, among other things. Using blockchain technology, their hours will be logged and translated into HOA fee discounts.
Following the successful completion of the Almere ReGen Village, the company hopes to develop more villages in other harsher climates, including sub-Saharan Africa and rural India. It plans to break ground in the Netherlands by the end of 2018 with the first structures to be constructed in 2019.
This article has been edited since first publication to accurately credit Except Integrated Sustainability as the design partner. ARCHITECT regrets the error.
This article originally appeared on our sister site, ARCHITECT.
