Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently discussed two key issues that need to be addressed for his “popup city” concept to succeed: governance and membership. He shared these insights during the Network State Conference 2024 held in Singapore on September 22.
Buterin’s Network States concept is to unite online communities to create physical communities with legal sovereignty. This idea was tested during the Zuzalu event, where 200 people from the Ethereum community, including crypto donors, biotech start-ups, scientists, and researchers, met in Montenegro from March to May 2023. The idea behind Zuzalu was to work together on shared tasks, primarily for people’s longevity.
Future of Popup Cities Promising, But Governance Needs Focus, Buterin Says
Buterin said people enjoyed eating well, taking cold plunges, and practicing yoga. He stressed the role of people in making sure that the community was healthy and sustainable. However, he stated that the subsequent activities after capturing Zuzalu were uncertain, especially regarding the political system.
Buterin added that these network states could make their laws to better cater to their people’s needs and not put too many restrictions that can hold back development. However, he noted that the experiment in Zuzalu did not reveal how such governance structures could be implemented.
He further explained that popup cities are a unique form of thinking that can take the form of science fiction. However, he cautioned against tribalism, which often results in a zero-sum mindset, something we have seen in current social media platforms. He called for constructive interaction between the network states.
In his conclusion, Buterin states that pop-up cities remain promising in the future, but the questions of governance and membership must be addressed. He stresses that there are many varied goals and urges people to think about how they might work together and progress.
The concept of network states, first developed by Balaji Srinivasan and later expanded upon by Buterin in 2022, tries to reconcile individualism with communitarianism, positioning itself as an update of libertarianism.
