South-west of Madrid, a wasteland is about to transform from nothing into a living laboratory for the future of cities: Elysium City promises to be a grand experiment in sustainable urbanism, with a careful eye on the risks of similar projects ( like Neom in Saudi Arabia).
Elysium City: A New Model of Sustainable Urbanism or Another Neom?
Elysium City was not born as a sustainability idea. Originally, the project (find the details here) was designed to create a sort of European Las Vegas: a luxurious entertainment center with hotels, casinos and theme parks. Then the pandemic arrived, and everything changed.
Francisco Nuchera, the developer behind “Eurovegas”, understood that the post-pandemic world would need something more meaningful and symbolic. And he called an important signature.
Gensler's Vision
Carlos Cubillos, the design director and principal at the Gensler architecture firm, received the call that would change the fate of the project. The new “vision” included a city center, a marina, a sports center and a research center.
Elysium City has reached hypertrophic dimensions (1174 hectares, or if you prefer 2900 acres) and a cost that is no less: around 20 billion euros. However, the project has its fascinating aspects: first of all, the commitment to sustainability. Three mega photovoltaic systems will provide energy to the city (day and night, with or without sun thanks to adequate storage systems), and all internal vehicles will be electric. Yes, you understood correctly, no internal combustion engines. Furthermore, a wastewater treatment center will contribute to the irrigation of green areas.
A sign of continuity with the “successful” cities of the past is the location of Elysium City near the García Sola basin. Cities often arose near water sources. What if water was the secret to creating a thriving community?
Lessons from Neom
Elysium City appears to have learned from the criticism leveled at Neom. While the Saudi city has been accused of not being in tune with its surroundings, Elysium promises to work with nature, not against of it. Approximately 30-40% of the site will remain completely intact, a non-negligible detail.
But can such a city, built from scratch and from scratch, really be designed to have a sense of community? Cities like Bogota, Singapore or Naples have grown “organically”, sometimes over millennia, and their inhabitants have developed a sense of belonging over time. Elysium City is an experiment in this sense: can a sense of community be “engineered”? From the answer we will have one of the keys to understanding the progress of a possible future trend, that of "company cities".
Elysium City, the project roadmap
Construction will begin (did you have any doubts?) from the most profitable district: entertainment. From there, sports and educational facilities will follow, then health and wellness tourism, and finally large-scale residential areas. In other words, it will still feel like "Eurovegas" before it feels like Elysium.
Will it be able to avoid Neom's mistakes and become a model of sustainability and community? Only time will tell, but one thing is certain: later Xiongan in China, doge e Woven in Japan, telosa in the USA, our eyes are now also on this bold Spanish experiment. Hey.
