Imagine this: You live someplace where you leave your car on the perimeter of the community and you walk or bike everywhere within it. In fact, because your neighborhood is linked to public transportation, you might not even need to own a car. Sounds like an urban environment, but this is something quite different. It’s pastoral, with wetlands that attract migrating birds, canals that store rainwater, fields and orchards right onsite grow food for you and the other residents. Food waste will turn into fish feed for on-site aquaculture. Houses won’t have driveways, but they will collect and filter water. But that’s not all. Your neighborhood includes leading-edge technology that stores energy and processes waste.

It’s a farming community and a “high-tech eco-village” all in one. Sustainability, self-sufficiency, and convenience. The “ReGen Village” will uphold five core principles: energy positive homes, door-step high-yield organic food production, mixed renewable energy and storage, water and waste recycling, and empowerment of local communities. 

According to their website, 10 billion people will live on Earth by 2050 and the size of the “aspiring class” will double to 4 billion. As a result, there will be an urgent need for regenerative housing and community development, and an enormous demand on high-yield organic food production. Cities are indeed becoming more expensive and more crowded, and water, food, and land are already becoming harder and harder to supply. The solution?  Re-Gen Villages: “Desirable off-grid capable neighborhoods comprised of power positive homes, renewable energy, water management, and waste-to-resource systems that are based upon on-going resiliency research – for thriving families and reduced burdens on local and national governments.”

You won’t find a ReGen Village anywhere in the U.S. just yet. The community is the brainchild of developers in Amsterdam and that’s where the first village is being built. The driving force is what they call a “hollowing out” of cities and the need worldwide for more homes that are reasonably priced and that offer a good quality of life. The 50-acre neighborhood finally received government approval after months of battling local regulations on a piece of land that was previously under water but was reclaimed in the 1960s. In total, there will be about 200 homes, including tiny houses, row homes and larger villas; ranging dramatically in price, from $220,000 to $940,000.

One of the other innovative features of a ReGen Village is that residents will be encouraged to volunteer their expertise to teach classes; an account of their hours will be kept by a blockchain type of system; and they’ll receive discounts on their HOA fees.

The local food-growing aspect can also be found in “agrihoods” – the name given to communities organized around a working farm. Those are springing up around the US – from Asheville, North Carolina, to Oakland, California.  You can learn more about them in this article on trulia.com.