The short form...
If you already know you want to live in a Village, then click Enrol: Expressions of Interest and also Contact us if there is more you want to say. However, if you want to learn more, read on...
All of this is for you...
It's your home, your plaza and your village. Our job is to help you get there. When we say "us" we are referring to the Village Forum who works on your behalf. We have an arms length relationship with the organisation that will actually build your village, the Village Organising Company or VOC.
How do we do it?
First, please understand that the process to be used is not dictatorial. Sometimes people ask if the Village Organising Company (VOC) will allow this or that, as if it is their place. We need to reset that expectation from the beginning. The village that will emerge from the planning process is based on the people who show up. It's your village. Our job is to organise you and the VOC's job is to work with you and to organise the process to get it built. When someone in either the Village Forum or the VOC says "no", it is either because it is about conflicting ideas between founding villagers, and someone has to make the call, or because the patterns don't fit... for example, in order to avoid design by fire truck, the buildings must be fireproof... so we say no to most wooden structures.
The VOC sets up a framework of patterns that will work, and ones that clearly will not... for example, if you want a 1/4 acre section with a detached home, obviously this is not for you. But decisions about the look and feel of your plaza and your neighbourhood is yours collectively made with your neighbours. Our job is to seek is harmony (but not conformity) in order to assure the village works.
It's about Plazas
The VillageTown will not be built as a grid. Grids, beloved of surveyors and highway engineers, have little to do with a human-scaled, delightful environment. Instead, the VillageTown will have multiple plazas, each of which becomes the heart of a village neighbourhood of about 200 homes and 50 workplaces (on average). In a 10,000 population village with about 2½ people per home, this means 4,000 homes and 20 neighbourhood plazas. Plus, of course, the central village plaza that serves as the heart of the whole village.
So your first, and probably biggest decision is "Which village?"
To help with this, click the 21 villages page, where we list a few of the ideas.. 19 different categories at last count. Have a look at that web page to get a better sense of the variety that is possible. If you don't find what you are looking for, click the Contact button and propose your own ideas... which leads us into the next layer of involvement
Call a village into being
Some people will emerge (you may be one of them) who wish to "call" a village into being. This would be a person passionate about the idea with the skills to enrol others in the same vision. For example, we have a fellow from Germany who wishes to call into being a German village... German immigrants who will have their plaza and neighbourhood reflect the archetypes of their ancestry. Already the dialogue as to what that means is proving to be a fascinating discussion - not stereotypical, but going to the heart of ones being and character. Those "village/plaza coordinators" may be identified by us, but they work with the VOC. We make sure they work properly.
The steps to getting there
We begin by enrolling you. This is done by clicking the Enrol button and providing some basic information. At this point there is no commitment, other than sincerity. In this you identify what country, what region and if you are working with a coordinator, as described in the above paragraph, their name. As we identify a region, we create a subsidiary web site accessed by the left side menu bar that provides progress information. In the early stages, we then recruit people who may be interested in living in that VillageTown. This is called an expression of interest, and there is no obligation, other than we ask you to be sincere.
At one point, that VillageTown gains momentum, and we expect a relationship will have been developed between the potential future villagers and the VOC and their 20± village coordinators. It then moves to a level of commitment. You will be asked by the VOC to identify what size and type home / workplace you require and to provide evidence (probably a mortgage qualification report) of ability to buy. After due diligence, the VOC will ask you to provide a deposit, and you will then become involved with the Dynamic Engagement process. This will enable the master plan to be developed from which the VOC will secure zoning changes, subdivision and all other permits to begin construction. Finally, during the construction phase, it is expected that bridge financing (construction loans) will be provided by a preferred lender who will provide mortgage financing for most homes and workplaces. We expect this preferred lender to be made up of a consortium of pension funds and insurance companies that look for long-term stable investments.
Our role in support of you
The Village Forum does not build the villages, it represents you. As this process evolves, we expect the Forum to represent many potential buyers. By assuring the buyers have their own collective organisation, their wisdom does not get overwhelmed by the experts. This is based on good research. For example, consider the work of James Surowiecki, 2004, in The wisdom of crowds - Why the many are smarter than the few. He observes that groups get it right more often than experts provided four conditions are met:
- true diversity of opinions
- independence of opinion (so there is no correlation between them)
- decentralisation of experience
- suitable mechanisms of aggregation.
The VOC provides the suitable mechanisms of aggregation - in other words, a place and way to work together. It brings together people who have diverse views, but concentrates their attention on a common task - to build a village.
While we would be delighted if everyone shows up, we acknowledge that some people are not interested - preferring to rely on experts, and others are unable to take the time or travel the distance to get to the planning process. For this, we see the internet as the solution, or to use the latest buzzword, telepresence. Using a product like Second Life, we expect the VOC will emulate what is happening in the room, on-line in a two way conversation.
Buy the Book
If you want to learn more, may we recommend you buy a copy of the book. The content of the softbound and special edition hardbound are the same, and the prices vary by your location:
Hardbound (this is a limited edition of 1,500 numbered, signed first edition copies that ship from New Zealand)- New Zealand residents: NZ$71 incl. domestic post (direct deposit to ASB Bank)
- Australian residents: AU$90 incl. international post (direct deposit to Commonwealth Bank)
- North American residents: US$110 incl. international post (direct deposit to Bank of America)
- Rest of world: Same as North America, (MasterCard, Visa or AMEX charged in NZ dollars)
To purchase the hardbound please send an email to info (at) villageforum (dot) com and we will reply with details regarding payment
Softbound
- Barnes and Noble in the USA - US$64.00
- Amazon in the USA - US$64.00
- Blackwell in the UK - £32.00
- JPC in Europe (web site is in German, book is in English) - last price checked was €40,32
