Silicon Valley tech billionaires will build a city in California that will have no government
Tech billionaires intend to build a new city near San Francisco, tentatively titled California Forever, which will have no local government.
Gizmodo writes about it.
Instead, the developers plan to keep the new urban center as an unincorporated area and leave the management to the Solano County government, which already controls the region. Gabriel Metcalfe, head of planning at California Forever, said that there would be no local government to regulate activities within the city.
According to the plan, the city will have a close relationship with the county to provide police, fire, and other public services. They will also work together on economic development projects.
I expect us to be very close partners.
Gabriel Metcalfe
Cities without local authorities have long existed in the United States
The case of California Forever is not unprecedented, as there are many unincorporated territories throughout the United States. Most of them are small and poor communities, but there are a number of metropolitan areas that rely on the county government for regulation.
However, questions remain about how this project will function. In particular, there are fears that the district may not be able to regulate the entire process of city development.
It is also unclear how Solano’s resources will be redistributed as the community grows. This is especially true for the police and firefighters.
Metcalfe also noted that residents of the new city and county will not have the right to vote on the new community. In his opinion, the only democratic control is the very terms of the initiative for the next 40 years, which must be approved in a referendum in November 2024.
He also emphasized that after the vote, an agreement will be signed between the district’s supervisory board and the developer. This agreement will be voluntary and the parties will be able to agree on anything they deem necessary.
What is known about California Forever
California Forever is an American corporation that has proposed a city-building project of the same name in northern California. It is planned to be built in the east of Solano County in the San Francisco Bay Area.
According to the plans submitted to the county authorities in early 2024, the city will occupy an area of 18.6 thousand square meters. acres (75 km2) and is designed for 50 thousand people. residents. Developers have promised to create 15 thousand jobs. jobs, to repair the nearest highways, to allocate at least 4 thousand acres (16 thousand m2) for parks and use clean energy sources.
The main investors in the project were Silicon Valley billionaires.
