Physical Campus
How can humanity sustainably use the planet’s resources without ruining vital ecosystems? How can we better manage pollution and waste? How can we enable more people to enjoy better lifestyles?
Owning a freestanding house on as large a lot as possible has become the dream for many, leading to inflated prices and housing shortages. It also leads to urban sprawl, creating suburbs that eat up farmland and the natural environment. These suburbs are car-dependent. This results in the pumping of million of harmful gases into the atmoosphere, with serious consequences for human health and the environment.
Single-family houses consume land, energy, water, and resources at too high a rate to be sustainable and scalable worldwide. Additionally, many suburbanites feel increasingly isolated and time-poor, facing constant demands of commuting to work1, driving children around, and maintaining oversized, inefficient homes and ornamental yards.
Using the NewVistas pattern, humans can live abundantly and sustainably in closer proximity, with more efficient use of technology, transportation, and agriculture and with better social and economic relationships.
By drastically reducing the role of the automobile and eliminating inefficient buildings and counter-productive sprawl in its many forms,2 the pattern shows us how to live in green, socially dynamic communities with attractive high-yield gardening instead of unproductive, unsustainable decorative landscaping.
While a NewVistas community is as densely populated as the world’s tenth-densest city, it is also extremely green because buildings occupy only 10% of land within community boundaries, with building rooftops containing gardens and/or greenhouses.
We call this pattern NewVistas because everyone can enjoy unobstructed green vistas from apartment windows and patios.
Household Modules
The basic building block of NewVistas is an apartment module for 1–6 people. Each module provides about 400 square feet of living space, including a bedroom, bathroom, workstation, kitchenette, and other amenities.
Apartment buildings are set upto deal with housing demand in desolate neighborhoods. They offer transformative opportunities for residents – each part of an apartment is modular – can be take apart or combined as needed. Each aspect of the building, from the foundation to the rooftop, is distinct, enabling the quick assembly and dismantling of buildings as needed.
Within an apartment, various spaces and modules can be separated as desired to create space, privacy, or varied needs. For instance, the family room can be extended to include the bed cave as circumstances allow, while the bath module can also be converted into a private study.
Like a motorhome, each household module will be equipped to handle its own utilities, including energy, water, and waste, such that each household module can function as part of a local grid or as an independent unit.
Backyard Gardens
The areas behind apartment buildings are managed by farmers as vegetable gardens, fishponds, rabbit and chicken coops, and so forth, with easy access to residents so they can immerse themselves in gardening and greenery whenever desired.
Patios and Breezeways
The front and back of an apartment building’s first floor has a patio. The front patio has a grove where participants can sit in quiet and serenity. The back patio is a playground, where other events such as a barbeque can also be held.
Directly in front of the apartment building, covered breezeways facilitate foot and small-vehicle traffic. These breezeways allow all residents to get anywhere in a community with no stairs or other obstacles and with protection from uncomfortable weather.
Village Squares
In front of the breezeways, village squares provide green areas where people can relax, interact, and use outdoor playgrounds and sports courts.
Public Multipurpose Buildings
Twenty-four multipurpose buildings are located in two of the community’s three central blocks. The third central block is the community storehouse, involving a stadium, opera houses, concert halls, and a farmers’ market.
Each multipurpose building has two large assembly halls, 24 smaller chambers, 120 one-person shower/toilet/changing rooms, and 12 elevators. Transforming technology allows a multipurpose building’s interior space to be quickly, automatically reconfigured around the clock, for uses such as:
- offices, workshops, and labs
- indoor sports and swimming
- social and cultural events, including theater, dance, and banquets
- education
- worship facilities
- hotel and hospital rooms
- public-servant offices
Additional Campus Elements
A community’s inner apartment blocks are surrounded on all four sides by easements that can become corridors for utilities, waterways, transportation beyond the community, and other functions.
Beyond each community’s inner blocks and easements are located 49 additional blocks for agriculture; livestock, poultry, and large pets; industry; and drilling for oil, gas, water, and minerals.
- See, for example, Amy Morin, “Want to Be Happier? Change Your Commute or Change Your Attitude,” Forbes, 7 Dec. 2014, www.forbes.com/sites/amymorin/2014/12/07/want-to-be-happier-change-your-commute-or-change-your-attitude/#dd31fd95a731[↩]
- “Sprawl costs the U.S. economy roughly $1 trillion a year: $600 billion in direct costs related to inefficient land usage and car dependency, and another $400 billion in indirect costs from traffic congestion, pollution, etc.” Richard Florida, “The New Suburban Crisis,” CityLab. See also, for example, James Howard Kunstler, “The Ghastly Tragedy of the Suburbs,” TED, and Alex Balashov, “Why Even Driving Through Suburbia Is Soul Crushing,” Quartz.[↩]