In recent times, more and more interest is gathering around the subject of nomadic working, the concept that people can work from anywhere, armed with a laptop and a mobile phone, and a comfy place to sit.
A nomad, according to one dictionary, is “a member of a people who have no fixed residence but move from place to place usually seasonally and within a well-defined territory”, such as the Bedouin tribes who roam the Sinai desert.
The N55 Mobile House
Finally, nomadic living has reached our modern times, with the invention of the N55 walking house, apparently enabling you to “escape floods or unruly neighbours”.
With all the creature comforts you need, at an affordable price, and powered in an eco-friendly fashion, it truly puts a new meaning to finding a parking space.
The creators even note you can create a “walking village” by adding units together:
The Walking Village
Interestingly, they also attempt to challenge the assumption that land ownership is the optimum way of life.
“It is a habitual conception that ownership of land is acceptable. Most societies are characterized by the convention of ownership. But if we claim the ownership of land, we also say that we have more right to parts of the surface of the earth, than other persons have.”
American economist Henry George said much the same thing in 1879:
“The ownership of the land on which and from which a man must live, is virtually the ownership of the man himself, and in acknowledging the right of some individuals to the exclusive use and enjoyment of the earth, we condemn other individuals to slavery as fully as completely as though we had formally made them chattels”.
It is difficult to change such an inbuilt cultural paradigm, however, especially one that forms the foundations of wealth and prosperity. One wonders how this will change unless without the kind of catastrophe predicted by many scientists if sea levels rise significantly due to global warming? With significantly less land available that was previously “owned”, what happens to the people who previously lived in now flooded areas? Where does everyone live, and who owns what land?
Perhaps many will have no options but to take up nomadic living and move slowly around the available land.
But if not, one Dutch pioneer has another option: the floating eco-home. With most of the land suitable for conventional building already taken, this solution allows homes to be built on flood land.
The Lilypad
Personally, I think the solution will more take the form proposed by Frits Schoute of Ecoboat: the concept of the floating eco-city. A place to live is defined by more than a house: there is the question of local amenities or services such as schools, access to means of transport, and the building of a sense of community. But, also, if tides do rise, the question of protection from the elements becomes more serious than individual houses can provide. I can imagine floating eco-domes, similar to those imagined by Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut, where communities are created and governed, that are self sustaining and self sufficient, where people can live, work and socialise, containing schools and hospitals, pubs and cinemas, shops and workspaces.
Early stages would presumably be small, and would likely have a close dependence on its territorial neighbour for judicial laws, economic support, defence and jobs.
But larger versions could, presumably, act as nations unto themselves. If you are floating in international waters, and presumably could roam around, who do you pay your taxes to?
Monoco?
So if you had the chance to create a new nation, how would you do it? What systems and structures would you borrow from other countries, and what would you reinvent? Which professions would you need to make society function? How big would you make it?
One thing is certain: if the worst predictions are true, we may need a lot of floating eco-cities.
As Callebaut notes:
“if the first [sea rise] meter is not very funny with more than 50 million of people affected in the developing countries, the situation is worse with the second one. Countries like Vietnam, Egypt, Bangladesh, Guyana or Bahamas will see their most inhabited places swamped at each flood and their most fertile fields devastated by the invasion of salt water damaging the local ecosystems. New York, Bombay, Calcutta, Hô Chi Minh City, Shanghai, Miami, Lagos, Abidjan, Djakarta, Alexandria… not less that 250 million of climatic refugees and 9% of the GDP are threatened if we not build protections related to such a threat.”
This article has been republished from Tom Weaver’s original blog.
RSS Feed
Recent comments