The Image of Humanity?

First, the important things a planned preliminary trip that I could not make might have enabled me to say on alumni night:

Alumni night was a particulary emotional and wrenching confrontation with the past. Russell Adams seemed to be in the same rugged health as the day we dug that ditch. A similarly arrogant defiance of mother nature--an hour's discussion in the midday sun, humbled and exhausted me--or perhaps that happened 30 years ago. I thought on seeing his slides: those of our era were intimate with bedrock, the literal foundation of the city. Bob Williams, Roger Tomalty, Bob Walker, Chris Blackwell, and other Project leaders of the first buildings dug holes in some very tough ground. My fondest memory of the late Skip Sagar was looking up at him with a beatific smile from a 15 foot hole excavated for the footing of the souteast cornrer of the second vault. He expressed his wish to trade places with me, this wise and patient couselor to a small town hick and benefactor from the Jewish community of New York City. Of such moments of poiniant spontanaity was the project begun. The dust and hardness abrasive . the dynamite of Mr. Bennett, so fascinating to us intellectuals and art students, of 90 pound air hammers drilling into mother earth, the vibrations locked in my genetic memory forever, for anchoting those heavy buildings on fractured basalt poured out molten in prehistory. I have tears now writing this. That I could have summoned these words, completely spent from travel and sleeplessness on alumni night. The rock there broke the blades of the largest conventional bulldozers in the world, the Caterpillar D-9, and Paolo's beloved Komatsu, and the site weldor would be summoned to repair and reinforce them.

Does everyone have those personal epiphanies and sensual impressions? How does one evoke reading a poem from from a workshop lover, complete with artwork that nailed the highest view of oneself to which one could possibly aspire in this world in a few lines: "He tries to build a heaven here on earth...dear friend with the clear white light..."I would not trade my remaining copy of that page for anything on earth.  How does one communicate the meaning of one day under the restaurant, in front of one of the largest workshops, gathered to hear Paolo in our weekly encounter, having him ask me to "warm up" the group? The greatest honor of my life, of any life lived in our age, offered for the first time to anyone.

Hearing oneself broadcast for an uninterrupted hour in the great city which first inspired me to seek the city as the highest design form, and Paolo as its central figure? What mattered are the poems of children given to me after a class with catholic schoolchildren, in the same Octagon where Roger hurled a full can of Moosehead at me teaching an experimental Friday Night class. Ah, there are stories to tell...of workshop loves upon which the world seemed to depend, and those urequited...to stand in celebrated nakedness.

I welded mostly without a shirt, wearing shorts, and let the white hot sparks of molten slag, and the radiation of the 7000(?) degree arc burn my sun browned nordic skin. One time, arc welding the old batch plant with only googles, all the skin peeled off my face the next day.

Tradgedy

From the beginning, what Marshall Rosenberg terms the "tragedy" of needs expressed in ways that cause defensiveness on both sides, rather than getting them met, was encoded in the Arcosanti experience. The first site manager, Bob Walker, had departed with bad feeling. I sensed that Paolo's need to feel he could trust his managers not to rebel informed all subsequent decisions on personnel. The following generation of baby boomers who made up the bulk of participants were in no mood to live under authoritarian management. But many also left because they saw no chance to build Arcosanti with the method of molasses-like incrementalism and amateur workers. It was seen as not serious, partly because they hired people like me. Doug Lee and Don Yoshino were the type of people who had produced the drawings and models for the Black Book and the Cocoran exhibit: serious professionals from a culture of extreme discipline like Tomiaki. Their condescension for the dropouts and art students who began work at the site was palpable if understandable. My sense is that up until the beginning of Arcosanti, Paolo had attracted a more refined group of participants to earlier workshops [and subsequent ones?]. Was Paolo's take on apprenticeship shaped by an Italian tradition of abusing apprentices or by Frank Lloyd Wright? In any case, during my tenure there was no consciousness of work shoppers as a resource to be invested in whatsoever. I've always seen this as the greatest mistake, a wound reopened every time there is an effort to tap the energy of former participants. I would be shocked if more than a handful returned for Paolo's 90th birthday in these difficult times. The project has always reflected this sense that participants and of the public ought to give financial support solely because it's such a good idea, irrespective of their experience of dealing with people who would be deciding how to spend this money. How is that working?

What I felt then, I now know to be true: that being a lightning rod for the work shoppers [and stafffers?] unmet needs was a gift, a responsibility in a way, to be their advocate. They came with so much to give, priceless positive energy, future positions of influence in society, and an amazing spirit of openness and generosity. I do not believe for a moment that work shoppers could have built Arcosanti, but I do believe that former work shoppers could have done so. There will never be a sustainable compact town on that Mesa where everyone's needs are met until those work shoppers' unmet needs are addressed and acknowledged.

We're Surrounded

As Paolo's 90th birthday approaches, it is time to celebrate for those who participated in "the most important urban experiment in our lifetime" (particularly for me, who gave birth to that phrase that became the tagline for us since the Newsweek interview of 1976, though you will not find that in the authorized history)

Personally, it is a time to give myself empathy for the love I never found at Arcosanti, if only to recognize that Paolo's ability to choose the right partner was as decisive for him as any other manifestation of his genius. The recent Wright Guggenhiem show should be enough vindication for any of us. If America's greatest architectural visionary was "in love with the automobile", props to all of you who were able to see it's insanity, with special honors to my teacher, who early on repudiated his own teacher's dearest belief, on both aesthetic and evolutionary grounds. Amazingly, the nation has still no clue, in part due to our approach to challenging car culture. We are not alone. Every anti-car screed fails to give empathy to the needs satisfied by the car, Wright being the eloquent articulator of the mystique.

As we turn our hearts toward the pixie agent provacatuer who seduced us out into the basin and range province of North America in our youth, the first order of business, using the model of Compassionate Communication, is to recognize the unmet needs of workshoppers and staff throughout the years, that cry to be heard from every page of websites given to their expression, as they did from every conversation in my stay onsite and since.

Jesuita Fire

An empire of debt and growth unravels. Hilltop palaces explode in flames. I sit in my room in downtown Santa Barbara, enveloped in smoke as the helicopters roar through the night. I see in both instances, dominator culture's exemplars keep on thinking, "We're on top", and nature says, "No, you're not", to deaf ears. We're not fighting aborigines with oil rights whose dominator breeding policies treat girls as another herd species and multiply exponentially, making war the only means of stabilization, just to further one psuedo-tribe's vendetta, but to prop up a corpse. We're not fighting fire to protect the predatory superclass ego monuments and their retinues of immigrant tradesmen, servants, nanny's and gardeners, made possible by the same patriarchal religion raping girls as the Taliban. We're doing it to prop up the corpse of debt and growth suburbia. No one stops to ask why China is giving us the money that makes it possible. It must be their great love for Europeans.

Earth Day

Writing of the Irish Rising of 1916, the poet Yeats wrote a verse that has proved to be the epitaph of boomer efforts that began 40 years ago to prevent what has transpired: the loss of a planet and a civilization:

"We pieced our thoughts into philosophy
and tried to set the world under a rule,
Who were but weasels fighting in a hole."

Earth Day 2009 arrives in a boomlet of entrepreneurship and activist enthusiasm. Perhaps a little reflection on reality would be more useful. Since the first Earth Day, we have neither stopped the leviathan of debt and growth from desolating the world, nor put forward an inspiring alternative sufficient to compete with consumption and death.

When I promised my teacher Paolo Soleri that I would build a sustainable compact town in central Arizona before my departure back in 1978, he told me, "you have no idea what you are up against", which was certianly true. But such excuses take us only so far. A preposterously complicated and meaningless global economy was built in the interval on the flimsiest of premises--so much so that historic low levels of mass education and thought control were needed to sell a discredited, obsolete system educated Britons has abandoned as untenable. In fact only a few benefited, as readers of Morris' Pax Britannia Trilogy will note. Environmentalism, like the peace movement, simply defined itself as the business nanny brand. Any inspired ambition to pick up the work of Classical or Renaissance culture long ago was forgotten. Today's alternative dystopias range from salvaging suburban tracts (David Holmgren) to survivalist grunge in a sailboat in toxic seas (Dmitri Orlov). The halcyon rebirth of hunter gathering in a wasteland is now a best case scenario. Such is the fate of movements defined as "against-", including my own, "against things": Arcosanti.

To return to Yeats' lament, on reflection what stopped us was nothing as daunting as finance or engineering. It was a seemingly mundane but incredibly powerful technology: semantics. Left brain language cannot produce Right brain results. Enter Marshall Rosenberg. Change the word "weasel" for the Compassionate Communication nown for left brain thinking, "jackal", and the truth becomes obvious. That it is also more difficult to build such a semantic remodel within ourselves than to develop a 10 story sustainable compact town is less obvious, but will become so on attempting it. I'm convinced, in the words of Yeats that inspired me in youth, that it is the "possible" of

"the soul takes upon itself the the task most difficult of those not impossible"

and will devote what remains of life to this endeavor, the prerequisite to the former.

Founding Statement

My blogs all begin with the premise that I am personally the main person responsible for the destruction of real wealth in the last 30 years and for the opportunity cost that entailed: denying a wonderful life to much of the human race and preserving much of our natural inheritance. Instead, immense suffering and irreversable damage have occured. I knew what to do to avoid that, and did not. My students, colleagues, and my teacher Paolo Soleri will understand this is so, though it may sound strange to others unfamiliar with the history. I promised my teacher and my community to manifest his design for the world's first sustainable compact town. This would have lead to the adoption of sustainable town building as the norm for the last 30 years, instead of collapse, out of pure competitive advantage over growth and debt. I was unable to do this for at least 3 reasons: I could not instill a sense of urgency, though this was indeed the only chance to "save mankind", just as I stated then, that would have compelled cooperation among the founders. I was ignorant of the tools of compassionate communication required to ask for what I needed others to do, and to compassionately meet the needs of my co-workers. It was more important, in the words of Marshall Rosenberg, for me to be right, than to make life wonderful. Lastly, I did not recognize the gifts of wisdom about the nature of capital investment offered to me by Richard and Nancy Gushman, Skip Sagar, Bill Graham, Desmond Miurhead, and others, blinded by ideological parochialism.
Sic transit gloria mundi. What a screwup! What to do now will be the focus of these ruminations.

I begin by giving us all empathy: we all did the best we could at the time to meet our needs based on our best current knowledge and judgement.

Fantasy Cities For an Uncertain Future

Originally published by Le Monde and linked below. This is the definitive overview of the field of Gulf government-sponsored mega new towns.

Fantasy Cities For an Uncertain Future

Oil money from the Gulf states is being invested in the creation of new cities – technological hubs, leisure paradises, ecological experiments – which are also attracting international speculation, saysAkram Belkaïd.

It is almost 50ºC in the shade and the scrubby coastline is rumpled by swirls of ochre sandstorms. Here, on a bank of the Gulf 30km east of Abu Dhabi, the new town of Masdar (Arabic for “source,” or “spring”) will be completed by 2016. “It won’t be the future capital of the United Arab Emirates, but it will become much more than that -- the world’s first wholly ecological city,” claimed the enthusiastic guide, pointing to other well-advanced developments around the site.

To the east, the UAE’s new international airport is emerging from the ground. To the north, an immense tourist complex being created on the island of Yas, includes a Formula One racing circuit. But except for a few earthmovers and an occasional languid surveyor, the six sq km of land, which will be the walled city of Masdar, gives little indication of what is to come.

According to Foster and Partners, Masdar’s British master-planners, it will be “the world’s first community to be carbon neutral and zero waste, thanks to the use of solar and wind-power renewables and to strict recycling practices.” Electricity from a photovoltaic power station will supplement intelligent buildings that produce energy. No internal combustion engine vehicle will be allowed inside the high walls that will shelter Masdar from the desert and channel cooling sea breezes.

For a mere $22bn (total estimate), Masdar will have 50,000 inhabitants and over 1,000 businesses specialising in new technology and green energy. “Masdar residents will enjoy the world’s best quality of life in a town devoted to researching better means of protecting our environment,” promised Dr. Sultan Ahmad al-Jaber, who heads the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, the state body responsible for the project. Although environmental experts the world over love the idea of Masdar, which is also endorsed by the WWF, regional economists are less convinced of its relevance. (They are downright sceptical of leisure developments beyond reason and good taste, such as a proposed underwater clinic for cosmetic surgery.)

PR message

“Masdar has a powerful PR message,” the head of economic research at a leading Abu Dhabi bank conceded. “Constructing a town which uses just 25% of the energy and 40% of the water needed by an equivalent settlement in the West is a fine initiative. But the real question is whether it will be little more than a plaster stuck over the truth that the Gulf states are among the planet’s largest polluters.” Apart from hydrocarbon extraction, the region has important petrochemical and aluminium facilities, and huge sea-water desalination plants. Its consumer-oriented lifestyle means heavy annual increases in household waste. In 2005, the city of Dubai accounted for 120 million tonnes of waste, a figure expected to triple by 2014. The nightly ballet of rubbish removal in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha or Manama demonstrates just how far the Gulf states have to go in improving recycling.

“We would like to make Masdar an exemplar for others,” said a top Emirates official, refuting the idea that it is a stunt to promote Abu Dhabi’s ecological credentials compared with neighbouring states. “This town will set a new world standard in sustainable development. Because it is hard to improve things in the Gulf’s existing urban centres we must be absolutely sure that the region’s future towns are compatible with the fight against pollution and global warming.”

Masdar is just one among many new towns proposed for the Gulf. A forest of cranes seems to cover the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). According to a statistic frequently quoted in the international business press, the region accounts for a third of the world’s construction equipment. Beside tourist complexes, skyscrapers, multinational HQs and luxury hotels, the long list of construction projects includes at least 15 new towns. “This doesn’t include extensions to existing towns. A city like Dubai, which has tripled its land mass in 10 years, could legitimately be considered as a new town itself,” according to the architect Moussa Mabidi, who divides his time between the Maghreb and the Gulf.

The phenomenon of Gulf new towns is explained by what economists call the “Double D” factor, demography and diversity. The Gulf’s demand for housing grows by 20% annually, adding to a deficit currently assessed at half a million dwellings. This is a result of huge numbers of skilled expatriates being brought in to boost the local workforce. Because of the housing crisis and inflation, these migrant workers pay on average almost half their salary on lodging. Things could get even worse. “The Gulf’s new towns must be able to retain the expats who contribute to the region’s economic boom,” said Marios Maratheftis, an economist with Standard Chartered. “If they leave because they are unable to find housing, the Gulf’s ability to attract people will be hard hit.”

It’s not just an expat issue. From Bahrain to Kuwait the younger generation of locals also suffers from a housing shortage which, allied to problems finding employment, increases social tensions. “I’m not the only person who can’t wait to see these towns completed. People of my age just don’t have the means to buy homes similar to those built by our parents,” said Ali al-Wafi, a Bahraini taxi driver who hopes to save enough cash to move into one of the schemes planned for Durrat al-Bahrain. This new town of around 21 sq km will be created in the south of the island on 15 artificial crescent-shaped islands. It should be ready in 2015, an investment of $4bn.

’Economic cities’

As for the second D, construction of new towns, quite apart from creating many regionally-based civil engineering contractors, is developing the concept of economic diversity, particularly in Saudi Arabia, where seven such towns are being built over 450 sq km for a total investment of $500bn. These are far from being publicity or ecological marketing exercises; the kingdom is investing increased profits from its oil reserves in new “economic cities”, following the US concept of technology and complementary industry clusters.

Construction of King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), started in December 2005, and should be completed by 2016. Much more imposing than Masdar or Durrat al-Bahrain, KAEC will stretch over 168 sq km and will cost $27bn; it is on the Red Sea coast, not far from Jeddah, and will include a container port, an aluminium foundry, a passenger terminal to handle 500,000 pilgrims en route for Mecca, and several thousand complexes to house two million people. “This town is at the heart of the Saudi approach to new economic cities,” claimed a spokesman for the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), in charge of new town development. “It will ensure the Jeddah region’s industrial future while offering housing options for Saudis.” Other new cities are focused on the knowledge economy, including Knowledge Economic City, planned close to Medina, which the Saudi authorities see as the regional equivalent of Silicone Valley.

This ambitious programme for Saudi Arabian economic cities does not convince all commentators. Many economists, including those locally based, wonder whether factories and facilities may end up like white elephant projects in the Third World. “The gamble involves a level of industrialisation so far unknown in the country,” said an executive of the Saudi British Bank (Sabb). “These future towns will only succeed if they trade globally, which in turn implies the need for foreign companies to invest. That is far from a given, even if the current economic climate is good.” Among the obstacles is the problem of employment nationality. “It’s a paradox,” said the Sabb executive. “The new towns ought to bring 1.3 million new jobs to the Saudis, but foreign companies remain unconvinced about local abilities and are pressing for Asian labour to be allowed in. There’s a risk of repeating the current economic model involving a heavy dependence on overseas workers, while young Saudis face serious unemployment.”

Several Saudi experts fear that KAEC’s success would come at the expense of Jeddah, the economic driver of western Saudi Arabia. “The two cities could be in competition, particularly over their port activities,” claimed Omar al-Badsi, a shipping agent. ’s hope that business doesn’t move across from one to the other because Jeddah residents probably couldn’t afford to live in the new town.”

Environmental impact

There is another issue: environmental impact -- not just air pollution caused by new Saudi industry but also the discharge of huge volumes of rubble into the Gulf. From Abu Dhabi to Dubai, Bahrain and Qatar, new towns and expanded urban areas are being created on land reclaimed from the ocean, sucked up from the seabed by machines which destroy flora and fauna. “The weak standing of civil society and the low calibre of environmental watchdog organisations in the region means that little is being done to prevent the extensive use of the seabed to create construction land,” said a Bahraini academic.

Doug Watkinson is in charge of developing Bahrain Bay, a new city project north of Manama with a budget of almost $3bn. He took evident pleasure in inspecting the site traversed by big trucks. Almost the whole of the two sq km has been extracted from the seabed, but he dismissed any idea that land reclamation harms the environment. “Our techniques, developed mainly in Singapore and Hong Kong, involve only a small residue of waste. We work very comfortably in the relatively shallow Gulf waters.”

Officially these projects are aimed at nationals, but in reality many target overseas investors with their promise of luxury homes. New legislation means that foreigners can now buy property throughout the region, which makes many locals wary. “If you believe the brochures and all the hype,” said Moussa Labidi, “these new towns will be centred on leisure-related luxury. The problem is that the Gulf’s middle classes are unlikely to have the buying power to live in them, unless they throw themselves into even more debt.” In June, the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates issued a warning about the effect of speculation on household debt, advising regional banks to limit property loans. The warning caused talk of an impending crash.

“Building a new town is not simply a question of erecting the walls and waiting for a buyer, probably a rich foreigner,” said Salah HA Miri, architect and chief executive of the Blue City, a new town project in Oman, where the first phase will be ready in 2011. “We must also work to ensure that locals are not culturally alienated. Today’s profusion of steel and glass is doing nothing to help. The new towns of the Gulf say a great deal about the way in which the Gulf countries are changing.”

Akram Belkaïd is an author and freelance journalist.

© 2008 Le Monde diplomatique