According to Cointelegraph, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed an innovative blueprint for a city that integrates the principles of democracy, capitalism, and decentralization. His ideas were shared in response to a post on Farcaster, his preferred social media platform.
The discussion centered around the concept of 'for-profit cities,' which conjures images of corporate-run municipalities like 'Walmartopia' or 'Teslaville.' However, Buterin's vision treats city governance as an extension of enterprise while maintaining public welfare. Addressing whether cities should be profit-driven or serve the public good, Buterin advocated for a hybrid approach. He emphasized the need for public infrastructure to function effectively for all income levels and for cities to contribute positively to the nation and the world. He also highlighted humanitarian values, rejecting solutions to homelessness that merely relocate individuals to other cities.
In Buterin's ideal city, citizens would gain greater access to assets that provide governance privileges, while landowners would experience a reduction in their stakes and an increase in taxes. He argued that this model would better align incentives with the overall success of the city. Specifically, land value taxes would give governments the best incentives to improve local public goods, which in turn affect land value. Meanwhile, the full value of any developments on the land would remain with the local owner, who has the most influence over those developments.
Buterin's proposal resembles a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) model, combined with taxation and profit incentives. This approach aims to socialize the democratic process while preserving a capitalist framework.
