Telosa - America's $400 Billion Dystopia

Imagine WWE, but it's the impoverished inhabitants of rural states fighting death battles for Telosan citizenship.
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Image attribution:
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[@unthinkabilities]

"we will create a 15 minute city that promotes active and sustainable modes of transportation" and *of course* the first thing they show are cars

[@jamalgibson8139]

No, no, not cars, "pods."

[@skeetsmcgrew3282]

Not just cars though, horrible, hedious pods that fly. FLY

[@jonny5alive123]

@@jamalgibson8139 Not just pods, flying pods!

[@BoredInNW6]

As soon as I saw the video title, I knew there would be pods

[@electric7487]

"AuToNoMoUs ElEcTrIc PoDs"

[@stinkywizzleteets4740]

A city built by a billionaire? Nothing could possibly go wrong with that.

[@bouncingshot]

Absolutely

[@toi_techno]

It's twinned with The Line in Saudi Arabia apparently.

[@Trombi01]

Bioshock: desert edition

[@beppo5470]

kind of how nightcity from cyberpunk was created.... suspicious

[@seniorcousin]

Tesla robots can drive people around in 25k tesla EVs. /s

[@jave2274]

"If your 15 minute cities mean, that the barrista has to commute 30 minutes for you walkable coffeshop, you dont live in a city, you live in a themepark" best quote ever

[@homyce]

As an architect who used to live in the Middle East and worked in one of the large real estate development companies in one of the Gulf states let me tell you what you have been told about how multi-billion dollar projects get presented to heads of states is spot on. I witnessed with my own eyes such presentations for projects with budgets in the billions approved without a single page of a feasibility study.

[@clray123]

The point is not for the project to be feasible, the point is for the money to flow to the right people. These are essentially mega-corruption projects, and obviously not the only ones the governments "fund" by stealing tax payers' money, or shall we say real capital represented by that money, which ends up under control of some government officials and their pals from the industry.

[@Turksawse]

Bros gonna get arrested by the Saudi or Egyptian Police if he speaks another word. Sadly how it works.

[@hkmorhsi]

Well, because its not about feasibility but how to sell a dumb idea at the highest prices to desperate governments: They know how dependent on exporting oil they are, they know how lacking they are in everything a stable country has except money. It's literally the perfect conditions for someone to sell them dreams of development, espscially to people that lack the brains to do so themselves. Thats why they insist on selling it using all the buzzwords they can think of.

[@evanchismark3092]

​@@Turksawse I hope they're still alive.

[@antonnurwald5700]

I hope for your sake that this is not your real name. 😂

[@sidharthcs2110]

It's amazing how they managed to avoid a tram system and instead went with pods hanging from above

[@thefrenchbastard1646]

you wouldn't want anything to take space away from our car overlords

[@aqua-bery]

@@thefrenchbastard1646 Can't wait to serve the lightning McQueen

[@ac1455]

@@thefrenchbastard1646 Especially when you’re rich. Without roads, how else could you parade around your lambos?

[@LAndrewsChannel]

@@ac1455 I really doubt these people even drive their cars. They just get chauffeured around in RRs or Bentleys.

[@thegoodboy4699]

every dumb cgy rpojekt needs some kind of cable or flying cars because we need some reason to justify the projekt :)

[@talos2384]

Having Commercial Flying cars is like allowing people to buy cruise missiles.

[@Fallkhar]

That's why americans are often fond of the idea

[@teslashark]

*buy kamikaze

[@nomms]

We should be able to buy cruise missiles. How else will I deal with people who violate the NAP?

[@omital-ittna1200]

I know what I'd do with a cruise missile 😏

[@woahblackbetty7691]

Imagine the insurance costs

[@HALBY400]

The root of the problem with these billionaire entrepreneurs is that they feel the need to start a NEW city, colony, or world to live on rather then fix what is already available. It all seems purely ego driven.

[@thryi]

As a Phoenix resident, I never thought this place could get any more dystopian, but here we are

[@MC---]

Don't be stupid. Adam is ignorant about Arizona and Phoenix water. He has no clue. We use the same amount of water as we did in the 1960s with millions more people. 76% of our water is used in agriculture. Farmers plant water intensive crops so they can keep access to the same amount of water next year. We should vote regulations to stop that practice. Phoenix and surrounding cities have a system to collect waste water, treat and reuse. Ever see those small lakes in communities? They are uses to filter grey water back into our underground water tables There is a reason why arizona only recently had to budget water. Its the idiots in California, Utah, Nevada who are struggling with water and couldn't come up with a plan that force the Feds hand. Having more grass, trees extra raises the moisture level in the ground. Which takes longer to heat up during the day. That equals cooler nights. It may sound counter intuitive but more people should have lawns and not xeroscaping. The city of Phoenix is planting more trees especially in under developed communities to help fight the heat island effect. Their goal is 25% coverage. Lived in Phoenix for 37 years. We can make changes to better Phoenix.

[@CortexNewsService]

I'm still wrapping my head around the 5 million population. Isn't that the population of Arizona now? With 1.4 million in Phoenix already?

[@thryi]

@@CortexNewsService something wild like that. I believe AZ and Phoenix in particular is in the top 5 fastest growing cities in the US right now. Already in the last 5 years our population has doubled and it's crazy how many out of state license plates I see on the road now.

[@AndrewSBailey88]

@@CortexNewsService phoenix metropolitan area (which is really what you would consider Phoenix) is 5 million people. There is no real difference between Phoenix, Scottsdale, Chandler, Tempe, Mesa, Glendale, Gilbert - just like different levels of niceness - but all part of the 40 mile radius that is Phoenix

[@johannverdugo9817]

Yeah as a Tuscon resident I like to call Phoenix a shittier version of LA (not that Tuscon is much better 💀)

[@overvoltagestudio]

I really don’t get how “the city that actively listens to you” doesn’t sound like a dystopian hellscape to some people

[@leeuwengames315]

if you try to listen to evreyone you end up listeining to no one

[@songbird7450]

Apart from the obvious surveillance issue, it sounds like some weird identity politics slogan. No matter from which angle you look at it, it's a big red flag.

[@senkopie5244]

Literally 1984

[@hiya2112]

It's because these simple minded twerps can only selfishly see the small improvements to daily tasks rather than the long term negatives. They aren't the type of people who play chess if you understand what I'm saying.

[@maxk5065]

yeah i mean they already do...

[@kundbalint4091]

I adore how they talk about "mixed used development", "5 minuta walks" and "15 minute city", like some futuristic, revolutionary idea that was never thought of before.

[@stevecarter8810]

Start with allowing people to open mom and pop stores in the single family home neighbourhoods

[@kevincrady2831]

They managed it in Uruk and Mohenjo-Daro, lol. If only these tech billionaires could build cities as well as literally the very first ones ever built. 😂

[@nvelsen1975]

@@stevecarter8810 Yeah, let's make goods distribution hideously inefficient and polluting by undoing everything we've gained from centralised retailing. After all what could be wrong about going back to the 1800's when your wife has to spend all day visiting 28 different tiny stores and workshops that each use their own mutually-ignoring logistics.

[@Ranstone]

@@nvelsen1975 You have won "Most ignorant, uneducated comment of the day". Your sticker is in the mail.

[@nvelsen1975]

@@Ranstone I'll add it to my collection called "Look at how much proper planning offends dumb ideologues", thanks. Maybe you can also scream that I'm literally Hitler? After all I......drive to work.

[@Akinto710]

I'm Danish, went to vacation on the USA westcoast on a roadtrip. Landed in Phoenix and it was the first time i've driven on a highway more than 3 lanes. There was like 9 lanes or something with exists on both the left and right and nobody kept to the right. It was utter chaos.

[@kylegonewild]

Depending on how you go into Atlanta, Georgia there's a point where the interstate reaches like 12-16 lanes across. I think there's a place like that in one of that California cities as well. There's a handful of these mega highways in the US.

[@Akinto710]

@Jason Brody See the thing is any civilized city on the earth usually don't have highways going through the city at all, because that concept is insane. Doesn't have anything to do with population. The USA just has the worst transit infrastructure in the world in the big cities because they got fed pro-car propaganda the last 70 years.

[@MC---]

​​@@Akinto710 if Europe wasn't old as fuck with establishes cities they would have been car centric too. Nobody would build up if they had anywhere else to go.

[@Akinto710]

@@MC--- lol

[@alexhiatt3374]

​@@MC--- huh? all of America's car infrastructure was made in the last 100 years over existing well-established cities, just like in Europe.

[@Misksound]

It's gonna be so cool to visit the Telosa ruins in 2030!

[@yourteamsucks2136]

Just play any Fallout game.

[@ItsFourLokoFriday]

As a Phoenix resident of 14 years, I can confirm that this place is quite literally hell on earth. The entire reason I got into city planning is to be able to whine in a slightly less impotent manner

[@nunya172]

@@thotslayer9914 you offer simple costly solutions to complex problems

[@flubadubdubthegreat1272]

@@nunya172 that's such an eloquent way to put it hahahaha

[@Handle35667]

@@thotslayer9914 to where?

[@accountname9506]

@@thotslayer9914 'lol just leave your country' 'ok where?' 'think for yourself@!!!'

[@grissee]

@@Handle35667 most European country, such as Sweden or Denmark, the only downside is that you have to learn another language

[@tayzonday]

Not to mention, there are plenty of examples of more sustainable living with lower personal carbon footprints- like Tokyo. If an American Billionaire truly wanted to build that, it has been built elsewhere.

[@epic0koala]

Exactly! These aren't brand new, never before seen issues, and they dont require techno-wizardry to solve them, just effective planning and management with public support.

[@AWESOMO5]

Love your Music Tay

[@michaelkalus7802]

"This would never work here, we're different". Is the usual answer to that. I had this debate countless times about public transit where I live: "Yes, LRT etc. works [insert location], but we are different here. It has to be cars otherwise nobody could go anywhere.".

[@kesorangutan6170]

This guy can't stop being based for 5 seconds

[@ElectrostatiCrow]

Chocolate rain.

[@SadeN_0]

"Smoothbrain dictator plus construction project equals dumb shit" really is the chef's kiss of a tagline that Adam's channel blew up with. It should be on all the famous quote attributions sites sooner rather than later.

[@mildredmelusine6970]

I love how you explain why all of these ideas are not viable in the real world and you discuss the impacts like leaching doctors and teachers from the public system.

[@Littlevampiregirl100]

something about it icks me when doctors and teachers are talked about like they are a commodity, as if they are cattle that has to be transported around where they are "needed", not people like anyone else who have their own homes and lives...

[@blugaledoh2669]

@@Littlevampiregirl100 nonetheless still true

[@briancrawford8751]

@@Littlevampiregirl100 Humans are "capital" now. Haven't you heard?

[@brichess8227]

@@Littlevampiregirl100 thats how the hospitals talk about them too, they're "human capital"

[@murphy7801]

​@@Littlevampiregirl100 the American dream...why I moved to France. Least people stand up for there rights.

[@thecrazything95]

I noticed all the houses had glass roofs. Making them greenhouses. In a desert. "Why do I have to run the AC all the time?"

[@bramvanduijn8086]

It amazes and depresses me that people don't understand glass + sunlight = heat. I see it leading to predictable results in a lot of houses. There's even a legal construction requirement for X% of glass in a house. Which is absurd. You can work around it, but almost nobody questions it.

[@Iquey]

Definitely should have bright white roofs with curves and ridges to create passive drafts/winds.

[@tedkaczynskiamericanhero3916]

@Iquey They had it figured out a long time ago. Have a fan in the attic and a window opened downstairs. It's creates a constant breeze in the house keeping it cool.

[@sandpaper4483]

Well if the energy is clean ac doesn't make a difference...this is fake by the way it probably will never happen.

[@mrslinkydragon9910]

My greenhouse gets unbearably hot during the sumer here in the UK... can't imagine how hot it'll be in arizona

[@masterplusmargarita]

The fact that we're at a point where people are trying to build a city in the middle of the desert and someone has to step in to explain that it doesn't rain very often over there is equal parts hilarious and depressing.

[@Coromi1]

I think nobody has explained it to this billionaire yet.

[@esleynopemos3470]

Right? Like, they seem to be claiming they can use some magical technology to make water out of nothing, but if they could do that... why not just implement it in cities that already exist?

[@robertperschau5910]

I like how his solution to getting water is "capture and storage systems" Sir, capture from where? Maybe he will liquify the poor people to recycle their water like in Dune

[@johnroach9026]

@@robertperschau5910 At least in Dune the Fremen planned to terraform the planet with the water. In Desert Panem its just some rich fucker who ends up drinking you

[@nataliaborys1554]

@@robertperschau5910 Well the human body *is* majority water, so.

[@capsjukebox]

I can just imagine the promo video playing on a loop on a kiosk at the edge of a deserted ruin half submerged in sand

[@alexr.5389]

Elite projection, never heard of it before, but now I can't stop seeing it planned everywhere.

[@useodyseeorbitchute9450]

Yes, a new key term that I've just learned. I'm positively surprised about Adam daring to utter something so based.

[@pyromaniac709]

No wonder theyre so scared of A.I getting fed up with their bvllsh1t

[@pcnetworx1]

It's 1000% true

[@biggiec8224]

This reminds me of how Night city from Cyberpunk was founded. Some billionaire wanted to build a utopic city between San Francisco and Los Angeles, but in the end it turned into a dystopian nightmare.

[@isuckatusernames4297]

nah he was referencing his favorite youtuber adam something.

[@shinygoldenpotion1587]

The city in cyber 2077 is a techy sci fi version of Detroit

[@hwuilee]

@@shinygoldenpotion1587 he might be referring to the actual night city from the original book (necromancer) the game is based on. Scifi classic, highly recommend reading it Edit: neuromancer.

[@greg_mca]

Also the origin of Tabula Ra$a from Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits, except that city was founded explicitly by crime lords and libertarians and was set up in Utah to suck away tourist money from vegas

[@mathyoooo2]

@@hwuilee Neuromancer, not necromancer

[@madddd1]

If I had a nickel for every time an ultrawealthy person decides to finance a "futuristic megapolis" in the desert...

[@TankEngine75]

Reminds me of the futuristic city in Britmonkey's video on Insane Projects, except The city in Britmonkey's video is actually good

[@8ahau279]

Then you could decide to finance a "futuristic megapolis" in the desert too

[@thejuiceking2219]

and of course the ocean, can't forget the ocean

[@thedrunkenrebel]

you`d be richer than them lol

[@wesleymays1931]

...then you'd have enough to move into one of those absolute disasters of cities

[@nairbvel]

You have a good point. Why people insist on not even trying to make current cities livable instead of just "Let's start over, MY way, how *I* think it will be best, and in a way that takes even more money and resources away from those trying to fix what we already have but is broken."

[@EugeneOneguine]

These billionaires probably don't even know what's a city. They get across town in a helicopter and travel in jetplanes. They don't do their shopping, they don't have to commute to work, they buy hotels to stay in alone... Not that I criticize their choices, I would absolutely do the same if I was that rich. The real problem, imo, is that people can even get that rich in the first place. It's high time we moved on from excess capitalism, and perhaps even the system of money, since both have become so irrelevant to 99% of people's lives.

[@InfernosReaper]

@@EugeneOneguine I criticize their choices, because I would have picked some long abandoned chunk of land in the US South(like Alabama, Louisiana, or that unspecified landmass in between) for my vanity project city and I would be bringing in *actual jobs* besides aristocrat and "the workers who maintain the city" There are multiple cities that basically exist for the elites with a small bit of living space carved out for the workers who maintain it. One is called Hilton Head Island. It's in South Carolina.

[@EugeneOneguine]

@@InfernosReaper When I said "I don't criticize" I wasn't talking about these lunatic dictators/billionaires featured in Adam's videos hahaha. I meant the kind of things I mentioned : going across town in a helicopter, getting your groceries/house cleaning/bills done by someone else, buying entire mountains just to live in peace, etc...

[@InfernosReaper]

@@EugeneOneguine Fair, but even *that* seems kinda seems like a waste of money and sometimes even time to me. At most, I'd fly business class on my transoceanic flight to vacation at one of my various middle class homes in countries where my US citizenship allows me to visit without a visa, such as Japan and Italy. I'd even be nice and rent out most of each house so it's not vacant, except when I arrive and put those people in a half-way alright hotel for the duration of my stay, using some of the rent money they gave me. I'm a man of kindness and practicality, I suppose.

[@useodyseeorbitchute9450]

To be fair, building a viable city in middle of desert seems still more likely to success than suggesting building something viable in the middle of Detroit. At least in the middle of some scorching desert you don't have to pay extra for bullet-proof glass.

[@a_ch5080]

This reminds me of one episode on the Australia urban planner satire show Utopia where the boss of the Australian department (National Planning Authority) wasn't able to get actual work done because his higher ups were obsessed with the animation of the project instead. They spent more time making the cgi look good, making all these details to impress his higher ups and property developers. In the end the real actual change he wanted which was to make the building accessible for the disabled despite repeated emphasis on this being the most important thing never got built but hey at least the plethora of buzzwords and cool cgi was achieved.

[@nonameidea7374]

That moment when Adam can't solve this horrific project with trains

[@RFalhar]

Well. Mass transit like trams and metros would be part of improving any kind of city. Or futuristic megacity.

[@bluishblob9463]

what if we live in trains, problem solved.

[@Vroomi3]

@@bluishblob9463snowpiercer

[@G0RSHK0V]

To avoid living in a desert city just buy a train ticket to another non-desert city. Problem solved!

[@PovidisII]

@@bluishblob9463 Well, sort of... Because Trains are usually used for transportation purpose rather than Private purpose. Trains uses Rails, And they usually goes in 1 single direction, which means you can't go left or right like cars. Also, When allowing people to buy trains for private purposes, the train transportation veins might be crippled or even causes accidents.

[@Burred11]

Can you imagine the kind of deathray level sunspots those hourglass shaped skyscrapers would cause?

[@wikipiiimp9420]

Eco friendly fryer c:

[@JonMartinYXD]

Someone check if Rafael Viñoly is attached to this project.

[@appalachiabrauchfrau]

that's where you put the food carts, no electricity needed to roast ur weenies, man.

[@StuffandThings_]

Hey, that's a bonus! Gotta fry a worker or two to show 'em who's boss, right?

[@wymarsane7305]

But hey, ecofriendly BBQ spots!

[@Otaku2803]

I once had a 10 hour layover in Phoenix and decided to go check out the city. Never have I ever returned to the airport so fast!

[@pigger1010]

I like how these people think "everything you need in walkable distance" is some kind of dream. Have they been to europe?

[@Toby-hz9be]

I‘m a german civil engineering student specializing in sustainable building and I just laughed my a** off - thanks, much needed

[@nurglecultist2521]

As an energy engineer, I can say - it's hilarious. They trying to get energy from the windmills. Not from the nuclear reactor, windmills. Why would city need stable source of energy?

[@referencefool6525]

A city for 400B / 5mio = 80.000$ / person. 👺🥟Has a bad tofu-smell.

[@mihael64]

@@nurglecultist2521 what

[@N0P3D0U7]

​@@mihael64 most liked an angry norweigian.

[@mihael64]

@@N0P3D0U7 oh

[@trevormacintosh3939]

I think the main thing I've learned from watching this channel is that the real innovations of the future are a lot less glamorous than we naturally expect.

[@Kryojenix]

You should check out RMTransit. Real transport innovations still do look fairly neat and glamorous, just not as wildly sci-fi as CGI.

[@penderyn8794]

In what world is this a real innovation of the future......ffs

[@hagelslag9312]

@@penderyn8794 I think what they mean it's presented as such, but reality is there's nothing new or special to any of it. It looks innovative on the surface for those who aren't aware of what is realistically possible and see this and think 'oh fancy'. Millions of people fall for it.

[@chillaxe9603]

I think the main thing I get from this channel is; if you work at home, your job is literally as pointless as this city. Keep riding your bike cos what other exercise do you get?!

[@garlicxi]

He actually tells the actual truth about these wild ass ideas and how shit they are.

[@hedgeclipper418]

This video could equally be about Calgary, Canada. Also 333 days of sunshine per year, and a sprawl of neverending single family homes interrupted by a small cluster of skyscrapers owned by oil companies

[@devilkitty6725]

Also, the out-of-touch rich people who run everything, who never walk the city. They drive into downtown from their acreages, park in underground parking, up to their office towers, walk the plus 15s...they never actually touch sidewalks with their thousand dollar shoes. I've never lived in a place as pedestrian unfriendly as this boring hell hole. Where it's currently -23C.

[@deeznoots6241]

At least Calgary isn’t quite as hot as Phoenix

[@mrvwbug4423]

@@devilkitty6725 I can understand something being a bit more car centric in a frozen hellscape like Calgary is for 9 months of the year. To really have a livable 15min city in that climate you'd need to build underground like Montreal does.

[@useazebra]

Water rights are an even bigger problem than infrastructure costs. In the Southwest, we know how to pipe in water, but rights to all water are over claimed. There aren't any sources of water to claim or pipe in.

[@Beenbag1996]

I love how the first pod labelled ‚quad rotor‘ actually has six propellers. That’s what you get when you let your flying pods be designed by an architecture firm …

[@brostrod]

it isn't a shitty futuristic project without PODS amirite

[@pimgeon_]

probably better sounding than the "sex rotor"

[@KasabianFan44]

@@pimgeon_ Can always call it the “hex rotor”

[@HeIsAnAli]

@@pimgeon_ Horny Helo?

[@dudurmanek]

First think i had learned at the faculty of architecture was that architects are very bad in mathematics:-)))

[@Forklift_Enthusiast12]

Finally some Phoenix representation! I'm honored to have someone from another part of the world complain about my city too

[@JayForsure]

lool

[@d3rk488]

I remember going on a cross country trip on my motorcycle from Los Angeles to El Paso during the summer. I passed through Phoenix and maaaaan, it felt like a blow dryer turned to the max blowing on my entire body for hours. Thankfully I am pretty acclimatized to hot environments, otherwise I may have died lol.

[@Jx_-]

That engie in your pfp will be you in 3-4 months

[@JayForsure]

@@Jx_- lmao true

[@Orinslayer]

@@Jx_- more like 1.

[@Nunyah94]

Do you think you’d ever make a video saying what a perfect city is like? Or how you would design a city if you could design one from the ground up, or if you redeveloped Detroit how would you do it? I’d be super interested to see that, I love your videos. Thanks 🙏🏾

[@azanyahyisrael101]

This needs more attention , we have to come up with better ideas and ideations as to what actually works

[@Nunyah94]

@@littlestbroccoli oooh thank you! I’ll check it out

[@OperatorMax1993]

​@@littlestbroccoli oooh interesting

[@KnzoVortex]

@@OperatorMax1993 ^ thought I might as well"ping" you as well, it's really good stuff

[@OperatorMax1993]

@@KnzoVortex lol thanks

[@LewdestLiz]

The main themes I see is, "Instead of simply fixing current conditions, let's rebuild in some remote area to the detriment of people who cannot afford entry where we can remake the society there to our purpose only." Basically, "Look at all those problems. Instead of dealing with them, lets run away from them into a little safe zone where those issues will never happen."

[@kaisersickle154]

I live in Arizona and visit Phoenix quite often. The environment around the city is so beautiful, it's an absolute shame the city itself is basically a masterclass in how not to design cities and manage heat.

[@axrpad1228]

Omg, I've been saying this for a long time, only place I like is the ASU area.

[@brandonsanchez7465]

Living here, yes, I wholeheartedly agree that the city is designed terribly, and it will be difficult to fix a lot of mistakes.

[@notaword1136]

I was born and raised in Phoenix, and I despise nearly every part of how It's developed. The only pedestrian friendly touch I've noticed is that some traffic signals will change almost immediately if you press the walk button. If course, you then have to sprint across 6 lanes before you get to the other side.

[@cheeselord8153]

@@notaword1136 I really really like the maricopa lightrail line, it’s insanely based

[@notaword1136]

@@cheeselord8153 I do enjoy the light rail, it just doesn't have enough coverage or specifically, locations to go to on it

[@audibleseekz]

I cannot wait for the Netflix docu-series on this project, which is basically exploring the idea of "what if Fyre Festival was a city?"

[@rickh6963]

And the lies about Telosa are just as transparent. Did you hear the guy in the white shirt at time 1:20 talk about generating water through efficiency, recycling and technology.... WHAT ... Can someone explain that ... efficiency and recycling are good after you have the water but do NOT "generate" water. And if technology could "generate" water then southern California would be the garden spot of the world .... but sadly, the truth evades them.

[@victoralexandervinkenes9193]

Too soon

[@matthewcoveney4380]

But... but you can buy a wrist band to pay for groceries ahead of time. Buy it now though before we laid one foundation

[@stabbysmurf]

This plan also neglects the fundamental economic force that brings people to a region, employment. We have plenty of small US cities that are declining just because manufacturing has left the region, and a billionaire who wants a Utopia can just pick a nice one and simply bring jobs there. Then guide the city through its growth and recovery.

[@catswork]

Telosa is what I'd imagine a real life Night City to be

[@ProfPsycDad]

I love how Adam is slowly becoming a rational and Stressed dad...pulling his hair out trying to explain to his INSUFFURABLE 14 year old teenager why the stupid thing he wants to do is stupid, dangerous, and he just wants to love him BUT YOU JUST DONT GET IT DAD....

[@honkhonk8009]

Im convinced these projects are just money laundering schemes.

[@creativelibertiesweretaken3366]

In all honesty, I think most 14 year olds are probably smarter than these billionaires

[@thomaskositzki9424]

@@creativelibertiesweretaken3366 Maybe not smarter because they played the system extremely well to get rich... But certainly more self-reflected and wise.

[@stylesrj]

"But dad! I want a multibillion dollar sustainable city!" "Go to your room son and think about what you're proposing!" "You never let me do what I want! I hate you!" "Yeah well, go upstairs and play with your trains! You might actually learn something!"

[@StuffandThings_]

@@thomaskositzki9424 "Smart" has many definitions. Yes, they're incredibly good at conning the entire world out of disgusting sums of money. But that's about where it ends. Marketing and conning genius combined with overall stupidity is a dangerous combination.

[@laurenconrad1799]

As a native New Yorker who hates heat and loves both public transit and old-timey architecture, seeing Adam roast Phoenix is giving me life. 😆

[@therealspeedwagon1451]

You joke but New York today is probably the city with the actual best public transportation infrastructure. And I’ve had teachers tell me that taking the bus in Houston is great. I don’t even want to go *on* a twelve lane freeway, whether I’m driving or not.

[@walther2492]

@@therealspeedwagon1451 "You joke but New York today is probably the city with the actual best public transportation infrastructure" - You should add "in the US". Just to avoid some possible confusion.

[@therealspeedwagon1451]

@@walther2492 that’s what I meant. Sorry I forgot to add that

[@laurenconrad1799]

@@therealspeedwagon1451 Just to be clear, I completely agree with you. That’s why I love it. Lol. And yes, we may not have it as good as Londoners or Tokyo residents, but we have the best public transit in the US, hands down. Haha

[@therealspeedwagon1451]

@@laurenconrad1799 even then those aren’t as great as somewhere like the Netherlands where cars are basically nonexistent. I just wish everyone would learn something from the Dutch, including how you reclaim land from the ocean

[@ericjero3562]

I'm a US architect with 28 years experience. This is what we have been referring to over the last decade or two as a "paper project". Everyone with any kind of tech knowledge knows that it will never get built, and the client is a nimrod with a power fantasy for building something and too much money. AM/FM very much applies here. They just want to see the FM. However it would be foolish of any of us to turn down this commission considering the fees involved. Long ago most of us realized that it is not our job to try to dissuade a smooth-brain client from pursuing his (it's almost always a guy) dreams of becoming a modern pharaoh and putting his greatness on display for the world. Frank Lloyd Wright himself only had less than 50% of his designed projects built, so the rest of us just fall in line behind him. Love your videos btw. Your take on Musk is like a cold drink of water in a desert of idiocy. PS I always enjoy watching young people (anyone under 35) who have never earned a wage with a shovel, can't change a tire, and have their food and toys delivered to their homes, talk about designing entire cities. Good luck with that.

[@nikkibee187]

There's also this phenomenon of new luxury towns popping up along the coasts in the US built specifically for boomers "to retire to". There are only gated community McMansions that the average person can no longer afford, and no affordable housing. The older homes nearer to the beach end up being on the market for a million or more, even though they absolutely are not worth that and if the place were to flood (more and more likely thanks to the climate change issues we are actively ignoring), the new owner would be absolutely f*cked. But yeah, they have a problem in that they don't have any infrastructure workers. The people who would be working in such an area at all the new restaurants, spas, and shopping centers that boomers love cannot afford to live there. They cannot afford to commute there either to work for minimum wage, because we have no national/interregional public transport option. What's even worse is many of these places do not even have any doctors within an hour of them, or they have so few that it's impossible for people to get in for appointments in a reasonable amount of time and get preventative care, so mild to moderate issues end up escalating to emergencies. But that's not just a problem of this kind of development, that's a general problem everywhere in the US.

[@Mordasz89]

It's cool how they don't mention the working class needed for any city to function like plumbers, city workers, mechanics etc.

[@Oldbmwr100rs]

When people speak of diversity, they don't want that kind. Those people actually EXPECT to be paid, and they're looked at as less of a human than the illegals who cook, clean and take care of children by the elites planning this.

[@mememan2344]

It's the common denominator for all these great plans. Dubai using slave labor is a good example.

[@DonHavjuan]

Your plumbers are working class? Ours make as much as our average doctor.

[@ItsAsparageese]

@@DonHavjuan "working class" is a cultural term as much as an economic one depending on the conversation, I think. As someone who's been in healthcare for a while, has a bad habit of dating engineers, and has lots of friends in skilled trades, tbh the wealthiest most stable people in my peer group are plumbers and carpenters lol, but they still very much identify as working class whereas the engineers and doctors I know have a lot of classist elitism hammered into them (especially by their schools) and have to actively work on not turning into insufferable snobs -- at least, those of them who can even find work. Us USians have serious tribalism issues 😆

[@Valecto]

don't worry, they will live in the new city next to Telosa but for the working class: Hell-osa

[@cyrilio]

‘Not Just Bikes’ perfectly shows how to make actually good public transport. Highly recommend the KZbin channel.

[@berryberry8290]

true, his channel is what taught me why city planning is so important

[@K0S3K]

they are actually cooperating on some stuff already

[@arunthebuffoon4554]

@@K0S3K Collab?! Oml

[@potallegta]

I bet most of Adam Something subscribers also subscribe to him as well

[@arunthebuffoon4554]

@@potallegta yeah, I found Adam something through njb anyways

[@ethanoverwatch407]

Billionares trying to play life like the sims, while the average person lives paycheck to paycheck. Gotta love that.

[@goodsirbear-7579]

They have visions of man-made objects, baby!

[@bunberrier]

Its not a city, not a plan, not a utopia, not a dystopia. Its a sales pitch for venture capital.

[@xhosagibran370]

Narrator: Telosa will be the city that loves you, actively listens to you… City planner: puts it in a desert.

[@youmukonpaku3168]

I think the narrator was trying to sell us a panopticon.

[@boredindiangirl6983]

@@youmukonpaku3168 That was also my first thought. They somehow managed to achieve the weirdest phrasing possible.

[@BAGELMENSK]

"I think telosa is stupid" Telosa: So anyways...

[@MrDmitriRavenoff]

Hey Telosa, it's hot. Let me air condition the street for you.

[@ADreamingTraveler]

They still haven't figured out where they're putting it yet but I could 100% see them putting it in the desert because it's so much cheaper

[@salzwassersamunddiesoljank5573]

I love that Adam looked at Detroit on Google Maps and basically had the same thought as I did. You could basically fit another city the size of Detroit within its city limits without having to tear down a single building. There is so much open space and potential for sustainable development there that you kind of wonder why there is not more political will and financial backing to do so.

[@timothystamm3200]

Because the car companies based there don't want it and the Republicans and conservative and even moderate Democrats who still have too much sway think it's a failed city of N-words that can't succeed. This is despite the local government trying to get rid of these empty areas in an attempt to cheapen them for development. If they were really smart they would be advertising those sectors for rezoning and sustainable masterplan development a la a Soviet city with some Amsterdam mixed in.

[@Ranstone]

Because Detroit is socially ill, and is falling apart. They can't sustain what they have socially, let alone theories about carbon footprints.

[@murraymadness4674]

From what I've found looking into buying property in detroit is a) crime there is off the charts..only the desperate poor are left to live there, everyone else moved away, everyone has guns and shoots each other for no reason. b) detroit has very high property taxes c) the weather despite global warming is pretty bad

[@meganegan5992]

@@murraymadness4674 Eh, that feels like it's mostly propaganda by people who don't like the idea of poor people existing. It's up there, sure, but there's no reason to act like it's the Purge over there.

[@faustinpippin9208]

@@murraymadness4674 b) but no one lives there so the gov doesnt get much from these high taxes anyway, the rich guy could easily -bribe- lobby them make donations to lower the taxes in exchange for building the super dense new city that would provide a lot of tax money to the gov and also get rid of crime a) when he starts bulding there after buying out everything the police would start patroling the streets and send the criminals to jail

[@michaelwells529]

Man basically saw someone play Bioshock and thought, "Hey, that's a great idea! Imma do that!"

[@barrettwbenton]

Basically, this is a ground-based Elysium, something that someone who read *Atlas Shrugged* at a too-impressionable age would dream up.

[@Stardust-kh3jm]

If there's anything I've learned watching Adam's channel is that billionaires are not gonna solve the world's problems.

[@kx7500]

Nah, they are the result of the worlds problems. Capitalism HAS to be abolished.

[@Stardust-kh3jm]

@@kx7500 True dat.

[@Frommerman]

They could extremely briefly solve hunger in extremely localized regions in the vicinity of their physical location.

[@sumetautapa2879]

They are the product of the world's problem.

[@sbonfiglioli]

@Frommerman they absolutely could, but they won't

[@cody_codes]

As a former Phoenix resident, it always feels cathartic to hear others say that the city is a testament to the ignorance of man. It was truly the moss depressing and artificial place that I have ever lived. They have quite the history of blindly spreading out of state developers as well, so I am not surprised in the slightest that this ignorant and short-sighted concept is coming to the desert. Absolute madness. Thank you so much for the informative video!

[@skeetsmcgrew3282]

One of my favorite lines from King of the Hill was them visiting Pheonix and Bobby stepping outside and yelling "Oh my gawd it's like walking on the sun!!!"

[@Hawk7886]

My favorite thing about Phoenix was seeing it in my rear view mirror.

[@Mrsoldier847]

It you REALLY want to talk about a city to man's arrogance, it's not Phoenix you should be talking about, it's Las Vegas. Las Vegas' only water source us lake Mead, who's shoreline has been receding at 50 feet per year, up to 200 feet in some years. Dispite this, Las Vegas has more single family homes, golf courses, swimming pools, and urban sprawl than Phoenix. To add insult to injury, Las Vegas has more open air water works than any other city, even Dubai, and Lake Mead supplies not just Las Vegas, but California, New Mexico and Arizona, and as of this reply, the California intake flow #2 is open air, IE it can no longer pump water because it is no longer below the water line. Phoenix is bad, Las Vegas is the true monument to mankind's arrogance.

[@frafraplanner9277]

@@Mrsoldier847technically all megacities in the interior of the American Southwest are testaments to man's arrogance (which the only megacities are Las Vegas and Phoenix so

[@Mrsoldier847]

@@frafraplanner9277 I would honestly say Las Vegas is worse, Phoenix has at least implemented water quotas for gold courses and non public recreational areas, that are flat out them turning the tap off, rather than just imposing a fine. The richer golf courses have instead just elected to truck in water reserves from out of area, but even then they are fined/taxed on that water usage. Las Vegas is only imposing a fine for excess water usage, something the Casinos are more than willing to pay if it allows them to continue to be flashy. The last plan I saw, so please not this is the only one I know of, there may be others, to save Lake Mead was to build a water pipeline from the Great Lakes, which as of right now are actually above water tables due to an excess of rain and snow, to not replace the Colorado River as a water source, but supplement it. Last I recall the official reason the project fell through was the states that bordered the Great Lakes wanted the "dry" states to pay for the entire construction, which they didn't want to do, along with California making a push with their desalination plants, which as of right now, only 3(soon 2) of 12 are operational, the other 9 being shut down due to environmental reasons. No other reasonable plan has been purposed since. (California purposed flying and trucking in water using water tenders and firefighter water tanker planes at the height of the California droughts.)

[@chaosknight9131]

"We're going to create efficient buildings" Concept art shows LITERAL MONOLITHS in the city center

[@Lemurai]

Lol my brother is an architect & he was confronted in a meeting about an idea just like this, he walked out😂 I love how direct and straight forward with people he is. Some call him an ass hole but I call him An honest man.

[@mihael64]

Tbh, to refuse an offer and potentially lots of money just cause you know the idea is stupid is kind of a gigachad move

[@bramvanduijn8086]

Is your brother Dutch? If not he should move here and be around like-minded people.

[@bangkokstallion]

Then they all started slowly clapping

[@dirkmaes3786]

​@@mihael64 He probably wasn't going to get paid in the first place. Those projects are always trying to get young relatively unknown architecture firms to submit proposals for free - playing on their dreams that if they win those contests it might get their name out and lead to a real project that'll make them millionaires. So he'd be one of 20 architects competing - and the only chance to "win" is to grabs the mega-rich-guy's attention; it's probably going to have to be something ridiculous that has no chance of ever becoming a reality and then the cycle of bullshit repeats.

[@clray123]

@@dirkmaes3786 That's how it works, these projects are not intended to spend the billionaire's money, they are intended to spend other fools' money (and effort) and make the billionaire richer in the process. Which our "smooth brained" KZbin host here does not seem to fully grasp.

[@Vienna3080]

They really looked at Night City from Cyberpunk and said “Yes this is what we need”

[@AldanFerrox]

Night City is at least on the coast. And has a good public transport system.

[@maychan26]

Mio Chan !

[@yaroslavromanyuk5669]

@@AldanFerrox So, "Like Night City, but somehow more dystopian"

[@FireOccator]

I would have preferred Mirror's Edge.

[@caddilacjones2397]

That's awful I'd be terrified to see my neighbor on a motorcycle in a T pose.

[@Oooze3424]

what I've learned from this channel is that all the solutions already exist, the people in charge just don't like them.

[@sauceman8217]

Sleep in the pod. Drive the pod. Work in the pod. Eat the pods. Live in the pod.

[@ron-paulsartre]

whenever I feel bad about forgetting to turn the water off while I'm brushing my teeth, I remember all the millions of suburban homes with lawns, thousands of golf courses and sports stadiums in this country that need constant watering. really puts my own usage in my apartment in perspective.

[@marcocappelli2236]

I remember, when I was a child, hearing about the amount of water wasted from leaky faucets around the world, and of course about the water while you brush your teeth. Now I know that's miniscule compared to all the other ways in which we needlessly spend drinking water.

[@Fractured_Unity]

Don’t let other people’s mistakes justify your own. Be better and just turn off the faucet. Why would you need it running? Is it really that hard to be conscious about how much water you use?

[@stuvius]

Why the fuck would you leave the water running?

[@haruhirogrimgar6047]

People, they aren't saying they brush their teeth, rinse off their toothbrush and then leave the water running over night or while they are at work. They (probably) mean they rinse their toothbrush, put the toothpaste on and leave the faucet running for the 15-30 seconds while they are brushing their teeth before rinsing said toothbrush off and turning the water off. An extra half minute (at most) of water use from a faucet than otherwise necessary. And how worthlessly tiny that is compared to if we banned the ability to waste water on preserving grass that wouldn't otherwise exist in said area/climate. I also feel bad when I wash my hands and leave the water running while I rub soap on my hands for like 10-15 seconds but that is a drop in the bucket compared to when I eat a single hamburger or any of the golf courses watering grass in southern Arizona.

[@ron-paulsartre]

@@haruhirogrimgar6047 yeah, I just meant leaving it running _while_ I'm brushing my teeth. like, during that minute or so between when I start and when I finish. I thought that was obvious. but yeah that was exactly my point, how insignificantly little it is compared to how much water it takes to water all the lawns in my town.

[@crosseyedcat1183]

I like how you mention that pumped hydro is the most efficient form of storage and point out the need for reservoirs... a concept that *would* solve the energy storage problem but also ironically would not even be feasible in a desert given all the evaporation that would happen. I also find it hillarious that they opted for wind turbines in a city that gets sun 330 days a year.

[@AVI-lh6rm]

the entire time they were talking about using windmills, solar panels and other junk for power, i could almost grab my phone and scream at the video: "NUCLEAR!!! USE F**ING NUCLEAR!!" lmao

[@_SpamMe]

@@AVI-lh6rm Nuclear needs a ton of water too; probably an issue in a desert.

[@aleck1279]

the best part was putting the wind turbines directly in front and behind one another, showing they have absolutely no clue how wind energy works

[@JellyAntz]

@@_SpamMeat least nuclear will work in the places where cities *should* be built like Detroit 2.0

[@crosseyedcat1183]

@@_SpamMe Older water cooled reactors need it to prevent meltdowns; however, I imagine a "city of the future" wouldn't use reactor tech from the 60s-70s. But you are correct. A modern nuclear reactor would be an excellent solution for the baseload required by the grid.

[@phaikia13]

If you ever see a pod in a marketing campaign for a new mode of transport, run... run away fast.

[@planetjacker763]

man your videos make me think about things regarding city planning I've never thought of

[@romanovec]

My problems with this video: - No commie blocks - Adam not explaining how transforming tenosa into train would solve everything

[@justinreid2947]

This is because not even a proper rail network could fix abominations like Telosa or Phoenix. Because putting a city of over a million people in a desert that is quite literally running out of water due to climate change and water overuse is beyond a stupid idea and like the meme says "a monument to man's arrogance". The only reason Phoenix exists even now is because of the air-conditioner, and the fact that you have golf courses and laws in a place that gets over 115 F is further proof of how artificial and dumb places like Phoenix are. Also for Telosa you can't put a fake Solarpunk-esque city in said desert without still overusing water no matter how "ecological" or "futuristic" it looks.

[@TheAmericanCatholic]

Detriot had 200mi (320km) if intercity tram back in the 1900s and a other couple hundred miles outside the city hat were buried under the asphalt. Instead of building a stupid desert city you can rebuild Detroits trams and use the massive fresh water lakes for water while building mixed use development and buying up cheap land.

[@gabriell.4440]

It was implied when he started talking about the pods.

[@harpunonosy1232]

Commie blocks are šhíť and they contradict the idea of a 15-minute city.

[@RhelrahneTheIdiot]

@@justinreid2947 Not even ISS tier water recycling and purification can fix this shitshow, which considering that tech is so powerful it can render even literal piss drinkable is saying something.

[@JOEY-xj4ds]

In The Hunger Games the capitol is in the Rockies. It has access to water, a large hydroelectric damn, natural resources, is defensible to invasion and has a functioning train and metro system. That feeling when a YA book author has a better understanding of urban planning than billionaires and kings…

[@RamdomView]

As explained by that consultant, the super rich have a warped view of life trending to megalomania or thinking their way of life can be extrapolated for everyone. I guess that the author of HG lives in a decently planned city.

[@dx3217]

@@RamdomView I mean to be fair to the author and the movie makers the idea was to make a roman esk capital for the elites but they were poor so big monuments and ideas for a futuristic post apoc society were ahead. which they did but everything else around it not that much i mean you can look at the foundations of panen the nation and realise that the entire thing is build of paper mache.

[@gaylewashburn1137]

What water in the Rockies?

[@Andyatl2002]

@@gaylewashburn1137, all the lakes nearby for starters

[@pigpuke]

Except the author of THG buys into the "global flood from global warming" nonsense; even if all the ice melted and the water volume expanded per kg due to heat expansion of a warmer ocean, we'd lose about 100m of coast line globally, not thousands of kms and kms deep. The ocean rise would be about 3m high moving inland an average of 100m. That's it. _If_ it happened, so far there is no evidence it is. Remember, in the 1970's the same people were running around yelling that we were in for a Global Ice Age and that we'd all have to move to tropical regions because anything outside the tropics would be a frozen wasteland. And why are we back to using paper straws? What happened to all the rain forests of the 80's the necessitated going from paper bags to plastic ones to save the planet? It's all a grift for idiots.

[@Sapphonouveau]

Watching this after your Dubai video, I have to say I am really here for your unapologetic opening statements. Love it when an essayist makes their stance clear from the get go!

[@gabiausten8774]

The city that ACTIVELY listens to me??? THAT SOUND LIKE A NIGHTMARE!!!

[@00thpj]

Hey Adam - I'd be interested to see a video where you tell us what a non-Ozymandian planned city would look like. Let's say you found yourself with a Telosa / Sisi City budget to make a place for people to live. What does it look like when Adam gets to play real-life Cities Skylines? How would it differ in the US, Central Europe, East Africa, wherever? Also, what stands out to you as the most successful planned city you know about? I remember watching something ages ago about how the transit system in Brasilia is actually really effective. Don't know if that's still accurate though. I will caveat that I do appreciate the fundamental issues with planned cities like this, namely that you'd be far better off eg. spending that money on fixing Cairo than starting afresh.

[@xfox360]

Actually a great idea, I want this video now too!

[@smith5796]

I would watch That.

[@2010AZ]

Yeah we need the Adam Something City Skylines let's play

[@ybokors8524]

a good start is to look at amsterdam, it is as good as it it going to get.

[@joaquimbarbosa896]

Great idea

[@Wrathful_Scythe]

Kudos to showing the architectual genius of the Groverhouse livingroom.

[@WG55]

I never thought I would see that meme resurface!

[@Speederzzz]

NOT THE GROVERHOUSE

[@tessiepinkman]

First video of yours I've seen, subscribed *instantly* - this is exactly what I've missed in my "Subscription feed". Intelligent, humoristic and completely accurate critique of the problems of today. How I have missed your channel before is a mystery, but now that I've found you I'll start with binging some of your earlier videos, and then I'll never miss another one again! Peace and loads of love from this Swede in Norway!

[@LaceandSteelchannel]

"Smoothbrain dictator plus constrction project + dumb shit" I laughed at that so hard I almost cried. Brilliant!

[@Shicksalblume]

If only we had Fremen wind traps from Frank Herbert's Dune, then maybe this could work. Sadly, like stilsuits, they remain stubbornly fictional. Hopefully this city follows suit and remains fictional.

[@michac3796]

That way of living could be made possible, even with our technologies today. But would you really like to life in the middle of nowhere?

[@Cyann33andaThird]

@Don't Read My Profile Picture ok

[@marcusaaronliaogo9158]

Its kind of funny musk rat quoted a brian herbert book once.

[@wormwoodbecomedelphinus4131]

No they don't. We do in fact have the tech for moisture farming. The issue is that they're not economically viable. Water is not expensive enough to justify the usage of moisture farms in fucking deserts where they'd mostly just collect the moisture evaporated off of people (and their things (like fucking swimming pools and lawns)) and whatever faint whisps of humidity that the wind brings in. No, once the aquifers in these drought areas finally bottom out, these morons are going to be siphoning from the great lakes. The great lakes haven't been falling because their usage has been local - the sprays of fountains increase the humidity, which in turn go into the clouds that feed the lakes. Wastewater, once sufficiently treated, can go back into the lakes. It's a more or less sustainable system. But once those water parasites in places like Arizona and California run out, they're not going to turn to salt water desalination (that is, turning salt water to fresh water) or moisture farming. They're going to go with the cheapest methods. There's going to be tankers and pipelines, siphoning the lakes and other aquifers. And because the usage of water is no longer local, there's no more guarantee that such usage of lake water will be sustainable anymore - the great lakes may begin to fall as water is shipped off to the far ends of the fucking continent and beyond in industrial quantities.

[@anzarm.a8547]

Stillsuits aren't fictional, achieving 99 percent recycling of water in just that small area 20000 years in the future would be one of the simplest things to do

[@chloewebb5526]

As someone who grew up with a love of my home, Detroit, it kills me to see the "renewal projects" that actually get funding to "fix" parts of the city... Gentrification is always the order of the day and it always ends in unaffordable housing for those of us who live there already, and a place where people with money are afraid to live because its "too close to the bad neighborhood". So it inevitably flops and goes abandoned. We have so many empty lots of concrete and grass everywhere...

[@heckzotica]

Same thing happened in Seattle.

[@bayersbluebayoubioweapon8477]

Hello fellow Detroiter! What, you don’t like District Detroit? That last sentence was sarcasm, I loathe that public housing has yet to materialize from that project.

[@XH13]

@@bayersbluebayoubioweapon8477 At least, the program is not named Delta City

[@bayersbluebayoubioweapon8477]

@@XH13 that would be better

[@TheLasombra077]

Can’t complain about empty lots then bemoan attempts to revitalize. If the local community can’t do it, others will try. Or would you have these places wallow in poverty?

[@Warmaka]

Dubai been real quiet since this video dropped.

[@mtbikesam68]

American citizen here. As long as we continue to serve the almighty dollar, instead of people, you will have a never ending source of material for these videos. In every case, the root of the problem is money. "How can we help poor people? It's not profitable!" "Mass transit? We can't hurt Ford, Dodge, GM, etc.!" "I want to golf 300 days of the year. Here's a shitload of money, ruin some ecosystems, dam the rivers and make sure no dirty poors use my sprinkler water!" The American Dream committed suicide decades ago but it's still being chased.

[@sophie3352]

Big respect to that consultant, potentially putting his life on the line so people know just how dumb this all is

[@JG-zu5wc]

I don’t think anything that consultant said was new. These dumb projects come to life for ego and PR. Usually by ppl with lots of money and Zero relevant knowledge or education.

[@nitehawk86]

I assume that Adam translated this from Bullshitese.

[@setlerking]

The good thing about building mega projects in the desert is that the land is at rock bottom prices, the bad thing is that there’s a reason it’s at rock bottom prices

[@vylbird8014]

With proper planning, you could build a sustainable city in the desert... but no-one would want to fund it or live there. "So that's my house? It's a bit small. Where's the garage." "You won't need one." "And my lawn?" "Lawns are illegal. You have an unused land area which you may use to cultivate environment-appropriate plants, or for additional out-buildings in future. Or you can put a car there, if you must."

[@honkhonk8009]

Nah. The bad thing is the price isnt even at rock bottom price, its inflated asf. The good thing is that its close to population centers so it can actually grow, but its unsustainable in that regard anyways.

[@22ishetgetal]

It's Night City from Cyberpunk! Literally the same concept, billionaire built desert city supposed to be a paradise but actually a dystopian hellscape...

[@ArchlordZer0]

Watching these videos only reaffirm my opinion that billionaires/oligarchs shouldn't exist.

[@classiclife7204]

Now if Telosa was one big line, it would totally work

[@yds6268]

With mirror walls

[@unclekanethetiberiummain1994]

@@yds6268 Fuck it, why not make it curved as well so that it can focus light into surrounding area.

[@regulate.artificer_g23.mdctlsk]

It should also have the world's tallest flag pole

[@NoahGooder]

I was actually say this was the amarican version of the line before watching the video completely.

[@davidpachecogarcia]

As a retired architect who specialized in visualization, selling an idea is def more important than thinking about reality. These rich clients don’t go to architecture firms because they really want their input or knowledge on creating built environments, they just want their vision of it and strong arm the design teams because they have the money. It keeps the architecture industry in business at least. Lol. The architecture industry is such a dumpster fire that I’ve always wanted to make videos about but it’s such a headache and there’s a reason why I retired from that industry. American downtowns are a train wreck. We need more residential spaces and services to help keep people downtown and less reliant on a car. An overhaul of public transportation would be nice but it’s such an uphill battle.

[@Frommerman]

You really need to make those videos. There are, as far as I know, zero big channels on urban design run by people with actual experience in the field.

[@senatuspopulusqueromanus2082]

make them.

[@NoahGooder]

please make those videos

[@MrDavibu]

@@Frommerman What about CityPlannerPlays ? He has atleast over 400k suscribers.

[@BuLBuLDirtJumper]

Just team up with an existing channel! I am sure they would love your inputs :)

[@int2201]

As someone who has lived in phoenix my entire life, I am very confused why anybody sane would want to move here.

[@jeistarGames]

the flying human death trap at the end of the cg dystopia video really killed it

[@nicholaswoollhead6830]

Seeing that it is BIG (Bjarke Engels Group) "designing" the transportation system makes the most sense in the world. Here in Denmark BIG went from being these really impressive up-and-comers with new ideas for huge projects, to being a complete joke. They are currently also involved in "designing" the transportation for NEOM of all things. I put "designing" in quotations because they mostly just seem to make CGI representations and sell those for a few million a piece. Their presence and value-proposition is mostly just the name recognition they have internationally.

[@angeldeviltears]

very interesting, I am thinking how is this even legal or allowed rather. either way they’re marketing geniuses

[@olegbobrovskiy3244]

I suppose if you’re willing to sell your morals for a lot of money, they are doing great

[@davidpachecogarcia]

As designers you can design anything. The caveat being that you need the experts like engineers and other people already involved in something like transportation guiding the design. At least they’re (BIG) making money by pumping these CGI shots out considering the architecture industry is terrible at making money period.

[@DeFiSiYT]

Ah, I thought I recognised the name BIG from the Netflix Abstract series. That's a shame he's become a joke, seemed like a cool guy doing good stuff! (Although somewhat predictable after a while... lots of roof gardens!) Let's hope the billionaires decide to go to space instead... and stay there.

[@12time12]

His WTC tower 1 design, ughhh. It’s sacred ground to us and he makes a bloody staircase. Truly hope when construction starts Silverman doesn’t go with it.

[@hexayin]

The Midwest is the ideal place to build a truly great city in the US. We have swaths of flat empty land, rich local farmland, tons of water bodies, practically no dry season, beautiful nature, the list goes on. I would say the major drawbacks would likely be floods, tornadoes, and that both our summers and winters tend to be brutal, but nowhere nearly as bad as Southwestern summers.

[@bookmanjeb7238]

So many Rust Belt cities with entire neighborhoods in disrepair or abandoned. Gary, Indiana comes to mind. They are just concrete wastelands without a purpose at the moment.

[@elyenidacevedo1995]

I agree I hope a new city is built there.

[@philipm3173]

Shhhh don't let them ruin it

[@basedoz5745]

Former midwesterner here. I’ll take Arizona summers over Minnesota winters every time. That’s why outside of the California cities the top relocations to Arizona are from midwestern states. The reason this should happen in the southwest is water. Even current suburban developments save water when they replace farmland. This would be even better. The southwest should never have been an agriculture hub for the world.

[@penderyn8794]

It's amazing what you can do with stolen Native American land. USA is basically an English colony trying to be 'native' lol

[@oldwarsnake1947]

I really like the editing in this video. It was spot on.

[@wieldylattice3015]

I’m not even an engineer and those renders still make me mad

[@keemokaamo559]

I love how you don't fall into the trap of looking for criticism in every thing and bring up actual ideas that could work, not just dunk on bad ideas.

[@AndrewJeffersonCotter]

Buying lots of land in Detroit wouldn't end well for developers. No I will not elaborate.

[@randomcommenterheredontmin4390]

@@AndrewJeffersonCotter It's Detroit. I'm not American and yet I know that doesn't even need elaboration...

[@Milkyway899]

Such a huge country with lush green places yet they are running towards desert.

[@connormclernon26]

No NIMBYs in the desert

[@GrinMonister]

@@Spectrum_Wireless I think he's talking more about how they're flocking to deserts and then using a ton of water to make them green.

[@P_64P]

It is human nature to stare mother earth in the eyes and defy all logic and nature

[@jamalgibson8139]

@John S I agree. I'm not a huge fan of this video, or all the dunking on Dubai simply on the basis of "lmao desert." Yes, it gets less rain than, say, Seattle, but there's still plenty of water to be used, and some people really do enjoy the dry, sunny climate. There are plenty of reasons to mock these kinds of projects, such as the overuse of urbanist buzzwords, but mocking people who like to live in arid climates ain't it.

[@umarkamali2249]

@@GrinMonister almost like having millions of people living in the desert is a terrible idea. Why move to the desert if you are going to make it your average American city anyway?

[@createa.googleaccount713]

Brilliant! Bravo! EXCELLENT Video! What's Most Impressive is that You're using You're Brain & You Have Balls!!! A Rare Combination, thank you for sharing 🙏

[@xEricGNx]

The CEO probably played Cities Skyline in a desert template. Played a little bit and be like "oh yeah, this will work". I won't even be surprise if he is going to make an infinite power supply using poop.

[@Art42209]

The moment i heard "generate water" i took a step back

[@spencerricketts8025]

Infinite water source block, duh

[@skeetsmcgrew3282]

You've gotta be dumb, and I mean really dumb, to think the phrase "generate water" makes ANY sense. We have to take all these billionaires out one way or another, they are going to kill us all

[@BuildItnow]

Hear me out, we clear out walmarts entire stock of dehumidifiers, sure the water is a little toxic but that's the cost of innovation!

[@AWESOMO5]

Lemme open up the console commands sv_generatewater_100000000L^2

[@gur262]

@@BuildItnow there's electric dehumidifiers, problem being that most of the desert 🏜️ just isn't humid ever. Some areas are, close to the sea. There's some weird bug collecting water through condensation

[@jonc4403]

So, as I was watching this, I had the thought "Hey, there's all this vacant land outside downtown Detroit where there's plenty of water" - and then I realized you had the same thought. Also, having lived in Phoenix about 30 years ago, you were very kind to it. It's a suburban hellscape. Although I will say that the bit where I was living was actually not bad for transportation, I could walk or bike to almost anything I needed. But everything else was horrific, the heat, the lawn sprinklers you could use to set your watch, the cotton being grown just south of town. Yeah, cotton being grown in the desert, how incredibly sustainable. I have heard the light rail is nice, I haven't been back since they put that in.

[@sdrc92126]

If it's so bad,why do so many people move there?

[@jonc4403]

@@sdrc92126 Stupidity and lack of options. I was there for grad school. I left immediately when that was done. Some don't have a choice, their job forces them there. United Air Lines has a hub there, Intel has chip factories, lots of major corporations have offices and factories there. Water was cheap when the Colorado River had more of it that could be diverted there, and electricity was cheap from the Hoover dam, coal plants, and nuclear. And then there are the "snowbirds" - rich retired people from states like Minnesota who only live there during the winter and go back north for the summer. Summer temperatures are unbearable, frequently getting to 110 and occasionally going over 120, but rarely go below freezing in the winter, some people like that. All the pollution in the air does make for pretty sunsets, so there's that I guess.

[@jonathanbowers8964]

Even if you wanted to build a new 5 million person city to avoid the hellscape that is zoning councils and Nimbys, you would be better off building something in Northern Michigan that has easy access to the water availability of the Great Lakes. I could think of six or seven great sites that would be viable options for such a project.

[@OnionChoppingNinja]

I guess most folk who know a thing or two about American cities come up with that idea. Need a place to try " strong town" idea's? why not Detroit? It would certainly be the irony of the millennium; the place responsible for America's car dependency would be the test bed for America to adopt methods to end that dependency.

[@danieldaniels7571]

I love living in Phoenix

[@SamusV4]

As someone who lives right next to Phoenix, this validated me so much on a deep level. (Engineering student here)

[@FirstLast-cg2nk]

This is basically Andrew Ryan trying to build Rapture in the desert, minus the Objectivist posturing.

[@pvalpha]

The end of the presentation is exactly what you expect when you hear desert, city, millions of people... shiny presentations that have all the value of an NFT in a world without electricity.

[@PandamaticBreakcore]

I'm increasingly convinced that there are exactly 0 billionaires who deserve their money

[@cybergothika6906]

This Telosa city is like playing Sim City 4 and placing all the nice expensive stuff and sexy everything, and only pressing the "go button" after hours pasting the land with it.

[@diamondbluebird3715]

The city I designed in grade 9 for a geography project is better thought out than Telosa

[@mattfoulgerBC]

It’s like this vapourware city proposal was tailored specifically for an Adam Something takedown. It really ticks all the boxes 😂

[@spankeyfish]

it puts the 'sus' in sustainable