Why a Billionaire is Building a $400BN City in the US Desert

We spoke to US billionaire Marc Lore about his plans to build Telosa.

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[jameslarkin]

It’s gonna end up another abandoned project due to unexpected costs and delays

[johnvillamont]

Ah yes, that's definitely what the SW United States needs, another city in the desert. It's not like the region is struggling with water scarcity or anything like that.

[Iain]

What a nightmare, a city with no water in the middle of a desert.

[g.s.]

I grew up on a ranch in Arizona and still live here. We had a saying, "The desert is where billionaire’s dreams come to die!"

[ionnanskilliorus]

One of the worst places in the US for drought, how are they going to supply millions with enough water?

[ryanjohnson]

I laughed so hard when he said a city of sustainability… in one of the most arid and water depleted environments in the world. 😂

[damianm-nordhorn]

Would make more sense to revitalize a city in the more habitable rust belt.
.. or revitalize or build a new one somewhere in between Chicago Minneapolis and St Louis.

[empirestate]

Cities should be located along major waterways, or at least in strategic locations with good access to natural resources. Instead of building a new gridded city in the desert, why not upzone Chicago or Detroit and revitalize those areas? Would be a lot more practical, and the location is so much better.

[tarampoleiros]

Fun fact telos (τέλος) in Greek means the end. Maybe in ancient Greek means higher purpose as you said but in modern Greek language is just the end.

[Samuel_J]

Nice visual concept, but it's insane.
Just like the Line, this staggering amount of money could be used across so many other cities to upgrade districts/boroughs/blocks, public transit, utilities and services. The only benefit of building a brand new city is you don't have existing infrastructure and its problems.
It's just silly.

[harrymaciolek]

Nothing like a 15 minute walk to the store in 120 degree heat.

[ZBGregory]

For a city in the middle of the desert to be WALKABLE they will need to create shaded paths and natural cooling areas.
For shaded pathways it might be a good idea to engineer areas with retractable shade so they can be retracted for the fair weather winter months and be be fully out for the summer months.

Powerless airconditioners can be built easily, areas that are surrounded in stone and do not see daylight ever and are several feet underground to make use of the cooler temperature below the surface level. These could possibly serve a dual purpose as summer walkways and winter water canals for water collection.

Water resevoirs could be built with a greenhouse around them that will collect the cleaner evaporated water leaving behind sediment.
It's doable but they don't see to include successful ideas to combat heat and water.

[kraphtymac]

Referring to any land as “worthless land” tells me exactly what I need to know about just how much they care about sustainability.

[zenec_]

Rich people trying to play the SIMS but in real life, while knowing nothing about how to build cities... and when all of this money could be use to make already existing cities a better place to live..

[-Sam-S]

I live in Phoenix, and I’ll tell you now that this won’t work. They underestimate the monsoon and the lack of water. Dust storms all summer, and little rainfall in the winter will be a death sentence. We need to get rid of all these grass lawns and golf courses first before thinking about another major city in the desert

[nathanstrain]

"There is no shortage of water in the desert but exactly the right amount, a perfect ratio of water to rock, water to sand, insuring that wide free open, generous spacing among plants and animals, homes and towns and cities, which makes the arid West so different from any other part of the nation. There is no lack of water here unless you try to establish a city where no city should be.” –Edward Abbey

[adrian_hook]

These projects just seem like unbridled megalomania. Imagine the good these billionaires could do if they were to infuse all this capital into existing cities. There's so many communities that could be completely transformed with a tiny fraction of this money.

[JoshuaBones-qpkt]

"Billionaire Marc Lore", "Billionaire Marc Lore", "Billionaire Marc Lore". Has that guy officially changed his name to include "Billionaire" or something? We get it. He's rich.

[SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

Another international environmental project is Forest City in Malaysia. But despite it being marketed as an energy efficient green city that incorporates the local environment, it's really far from it. The development has actually led to irreversible environmental damage to the Johor wetlands due to reclamation...reclamation that happened WITHOUT the environmental assessment required. Plus after the reclamation happened, a nearby fishing village said there were reduced catches. The project wasn't targeted towards the local Malaysians but rather middle-class Chinese citizens looking to park their wealth abroad.

And if that's not the tip of the iceberg, it is located in an Environmentally Sensitive Area Rank 1 Area (meaning no development should occur unless it's low-impact nature tourism, education, or research)...the irony that just writes itself. The project is now a ghost town.

[eliriederer]

With $400B you can build a city in the desert and hope someone moves there or completely pay off the debt of an entire country with 182 options to choose from including Indonesia, Saudia Arabia, Ireland, New Zealand, Egypt, etc.