Flannery is the perfect city, on the outskirts of San Francisco. Is it a secret project of the greats of Silicon Valley? Or is it “a chance to create a new community”?
To start building Flannery, the perfect city, fifty thousand acres of agricultural land were acquired in Solano County, California, ninety kilometers from San Francisco. Eight hundred million dollars have been allocated for this purpose.
The company Flannery Associates imagines that the perfect city will be a new urban center. There will be tens of thousands of new homes with a vintage flavor. But there will also be orchards, with over a million new trees and ten thousand acres of new parks and open spaces. Flannery, the perfect city, will be self-sufficient in energy. The production of energy will come from renewable sources.
An “ancient” image
The perfect (and self-sufficient) city starts from scratch. But the ambition is much bigger. They want to put innovation at the service of the entire project, starting from the design and construction methods. They are even thinking about new forms of territorial governance. It is the dream of creating a truly sustainable and human-scale city with a traditional and ancient appearance. A need for costs to be affordable, given the unaffordable prices in the Bay Area today.
A fantasy becomes reality
Flannery was born from an intuition of Jan Sramek. The thirty-six-year-old former Goldman Sachs trader has translated into reality a fantasy, dreamed up in 2017 by Michael Moritz, the billionaire investor and former partner of Sequoia Capital. Jan managed to convince with his project big names such as Chris Dixon and Marc Andreessen, investors of the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz; Patrick and John Collison, brothers who co-founded payments company Stripe; Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn; the entrepreneurs Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross; and even Steve Jobs’ ex-wife, Laurene Powell, founder of Emerson Collective.
The criticisms
However, the plans have sparked criticism especially from current Solano County residents for the discretion surrounding Flannery Associates’ acquisition of the farmland. Which even attracted the attention of the FBI.
This buying activity, which started in 2018, offered sellers 4 or 5 times the current price. Moreover, the arid and unbuildable agricultural areas, had on average low market values. In five years the company acquired 52 thousand acres (210 km²), becoming the largest landowner in the county.
Return to the past?
According to California Forever newspaper, the city’s goal is to create walkable neighborhoods that will be powered by clean energy. It plans to have a reliable public transport network and create thousands of jobs. The aesthetic expression is reminiscent of a 19th century city with houses of various sizes close to shops, schools and open spaces.
Our team is working closely with the community and will continue to meet with local leaders to create a shared vision for the future of Solano County
The design team states: “Our team is working closely with the community and will continue to meet with local leaders to create a shared vision for the future of Solano County.” The project makes use of experts, such as the communication agency AKQA, the engineering company Carlson, Barbee & Gibson and the architectural firm SITELAB Urban Studio.
Uncertain outcomes
The project’s outcomes remain uncertain despite Flannery’s claims that they want to ensure residents have access to good-paying jobs, affordable housing, clean energy, sustainable infrastructure, open space and a healthy environment. The company also engaged county residents to offer suggestions on the future name of the new city.
Changing the intended use of land will not be easy. Currently it is agricultural land. There is only one road connection, a motorway that is always very busy. Furthermore, the area is arid, subject to periodic droughts and at risk of fires.
However, what is striking is the return to the past, to an ancient concept of urban planning, perhaps also due to this object of criticism. Yet the inhabitants seem to like that project. Is there a conflict between the mentality of the designer and that of the resident? This isn’t just a billionaire whim. But the idea of redesign a lifestyle in a more “soft” and human-scale could be its success.
To learn more: the Flannery Associates website Solano County
You may be interested in: Dezeen Awards China 2023
