The Urban Village Project: A Vision for Liveable, Sustainable, and Affordable Homes
As the modern capitalistic system was taking shape, its countries were tightening entry rules. Migrant workers - unwanted guests, actually - therefore, were underpaid compared to locals. This, in turn, triggered unemployment rates and placed an additional burden on the state.
In the digital era, a new type of employment has become common, i.e. remote jobs. Advocates of this concept - ‘digital nomads’ - are mobile like never before; they can both move internally and across borders. They are most welcome in various countries since they are wealthy and well-educated, they don’t compete with the locals for their jobs; also they can help in growing the economy of the countries they reside in per time. By 2022, 46 countries implemented the regulatory frameworks aimed at attracting digital nomads.
Digital nomads are pioneers of a new, ‘informational’ society. As it develops, a major paradigm shift in consumption habits becomes obvious. We’ve already witnessed the increased interest in the ‘sharing economy. Car-sharing, streaming services, co-working, and co-living platforms became routine over the short term. At the end of the day, the sharing economy comes with a fundamental message for a modern person of the digital era:
You don’t need to own something to use it
With eased migration restrictions and increased usage of sharing economy instruments, digital nomads can comfortably reside wherever they want.
Comfort starts with a living space
Modern architects are focused on creating designs for comfortable living spaces. For instance, IKEA, Studio10, and EFFECT architectural bureau are working on The Urban Village project. With the fusion of modernist ideas about future living space, we can reconsider the way people own and use real estate in a digital society.
For instance, a digital nomad might be interested in spending their youth in New York with its working opportunities, adulthood in Copenhagen with its developed public services ecosystem, and then he/she would be able to retire in peaceful Zurich. Also, during his/her lifetime, he/she might be interested in traveling to a seacoast near Porto or to the marvelous city of Tokyo.
This lifestyle radically changes the way we perceive the concept of ownership: now it becomes a burden, not an opportunity while a housing rental becomes a sensible choice. Rental becomes a flexible and relevant way to enjoy a high standard of living at a reduced cost. But there’s a plethora of rental opportunities in every country, let alone Airbnb. So, what’s next?
Unlike the owner, renters can’t utilize real estate as an asset. Real estate ownership is a ‘safe haven’ for many; landlords are ‘sustainable’ in this world while their tenants are ‘unsustainable’. Here is a critical trade-off: owning real estate results in limited mobility, but increased sustainability and vice versa: as they don’t possess their own real estate, digital nomads are ‘unsustainable’ in this world.
Real estate tokenization is the way to address this issue
Real estate tokenization system allows users to rent objects from a decentralized autonomous organization or DAO instead of buying it. With every rental payment, the tenant receives governance tokens. It works not unlike a loyalty program with cashback bonuses. Token holders can have a say in crucial referendums. The more tokens a user holds, the larger his/her voting power is. This power allows him/her to adjust rental rates, a most sensitive input for tenants.
In turn, to build new real estate for rental, a DAO needs investments. They can be raised through share tokens backed by real estate. Holders of share tokens can’t take part in voting, but they are able to convert their tokens into cryptocurrency in order to receive back their funds as well as the share in DAO revenue proportionally to their investments.
Revenue is a key motivator for investors to take part in such a DAO; they are interested in high rates (bigger rates = larger revenues). This feature unlocks the opportunities for market operations between tokenholders as investors and lenders can exchange share tokens and governance tokens with each other.
Investors will be interested in maximum revenue; this will motivate them to exchange share tokens for governance ones in order to adjust rental rates. As such, there will be a catalyst for the demand for governance tokens and share tokens supply. In turn, tenants will be motivated to evolve into the ‘owners’ of real estate through purchasing share tokens; it will catalyze the demand for them and affect the supply of governance tokens.
Therefore, the equilibrium between these groups will make rental rates fair and democratic.
Bottom line
Tokenization of private property is a technical basis for the mobility and sustainability of a person in a digital world.
The evolution of the existing concepts should lead to the emergence of a new service of real estate rental. This service is set to allow its users to create a living space in every country of presence.
Should you be interested in re-location, please, specify this fact in the application: the exact copy of your existing living space will be waiting for you. Pay only for the services you actually use. Don’t need a coffee maker? Delete it in the configurator and reduce your monthly payment. Get your governance tokens as cashback for using the service and adjust your future rental rate.
Also, you can exchange your governance tokens for share tokens and start owning real estate in various countries. Further articles will cover the features of the service and its tokenomical details.
We would appreciate any sort of feedback from those interested in observing the service, backing its efforts with their skills as well as from all enthusiasts: please reach us by e-mail: [email protected] and in the comments.