DAY 32, THE JELLYBRIDGE ESTATE, book 4, building

|| days 32-31 || 28 February – 1 March || Jellybridge Estate ||  Most of the Jellybridge Estate woke to a veil of clouds so thin that the sun shone through. The air was mild, birds greeted the morning, and at the prospective site for the town,  a fox came out of the Young Forest and looked towards the lake, maybe a little wistfully. By this time Alice, Raiden, and the twenty-four heads of the Building Site Team had already been in a meeting for the best part of an hour. Earlier, when Alice arrived in the one-storey tower, a large rectangle room with windows on all sides, she was in for a welcome surprise. ‘Amahle, Kojo, Ualan!’ Alice exclaimed. ‘I’m happy to see you, but how come you’re here?’ Amahle smiled and bumped fists with Alice. ‘We couldn’t resist. The Building Site Team were looking for media people, and we applied, arguing that the South Africa Team, like other international teams, is preparing to join the campaigns anyway. We’re just early.’ Alice laughed and bumped fists with Kojo. ‘It’s so great to see you! And Ualan?’ ‘Got lucky, too,’ Ualan returned. ‘I said I’d do anything, even transport people with my wheelchair. I just wanted in. Next day, they offered me the job as coordinator for building material supplies. I accepted and brought some of my architecture students from Edinburgh.’ ‘Fantastic!’ Alice said, and then the team dived straight into their work. The tasks of the Building Site Team were to adjust the original plans for the town to the specifications of the prospective site, to prepare everything for the start of construction, to recruit workers, to find suppliers for materials, to get the necessary machinery, to prepare accommodations and build tent towers, to restore the train station, to schedule the building phase, to determine priorities for structures and buildings such as the circle roads and the first clinics, to develop safety protocols for people and for the site, now and for the building phase, to organise steady food supplies, to prepare potential power and water supplies, which included setting up solar panels and battery storages around Jellybridge House and at the train station, to set up radio towers, to plan the waste and waste water systems, to find local and regional cooperation partners, including farmers and craftspeople, to prepare the application process for future towners, including the Hub room for this, to find and train craftspeople, to be accessible for local and regional people. ‘And we’ll have campaigns, too,’ said Kojo (media). ‘But we don’t use fancy names for our campaigns. It’s all straight forward: Campaign one: neighbours, campaign two: regional farmers, campaign three: regional businesses, campaign four: material sourcing, campaign five: application process information, campaign six: environment, campaign seven: biodiversity.’ Later Megan, head of the Agriculture Team and liaison for regional and international farmers, said: ‘If we want all the roads we planned, we’ll have to cut into both forests, the Old Forest in the east and north and into the Young Forest in the south and west.’ ‘How?’ Alice asked. ‘We could work with roads in the tree tops, or halfway up, we could build some or all of our facility buildings on stilts, and we could use the underground. In some places, we have no choice but to replant trees. I’ve already contacted a team of replanting experts.’ ‘OK,’ Alice said. ‘Ethan, what’s your take?’ ‘I’d say we explore our underground options first,’ Ethan, head of the Town Planning Team, returned. ‘Then we’ll know what else we need above ground. Give me another week to compile that data.’ ‘OK.’ After discussing some other road issues, Ethan pointed to a large map on the blackboard behind him. ‘As you can see, I divided the estate into four main stripes, east to west. Stripe one in the south is farmland, mostly unused, some of it used for the horses. Stripe two: Jellybridge House with cottages, stables and barns. The area around the house is roughly a square mile and is surrounded by the Young Forest. There is a second large clearing, further above Jellybridge House. I suggest to use it for the sanctuary. It would be in a relatively remote place outside the town. Stripe three includes the site for the prospective town and has an extensive area in the west which we won’t develop. This western area includes the hill above the lake, the meadows and the Young Forest next to the hill. For our town, I suggest that we use the forests south and east as natural boarders while keeping a minimum distance of forty-six feet from its fringes. In the north the lake and parts of the Old Forest will serve as natural boarders, and in the west we will use the foot of the hill as marker. The site itself is divided into the east and the west side by the natural fold which runs from the Young Forest in the south to the Old Forest in the north. Our neurological clinics and rehabs will use much of the area near the top of the peanut-shaped lake, and the centre of our town as well as the large Common Garden will also be in the proximity of the lake. However, the north shore and the land beyond the lake will be wild land, partially wetland. The Jellybridge Estate has a lot larger than we’d need for our original plans. We can use the additional land to space out our design, add more gardens and town farms. Most intriguingly, we will have new opportunities to experiment with different levels of population density. The final stripe on this map covers the area north of the prospective town and includes the pocket of flat land surrounded by the Old Forest which we would use for the Gods Garden and for the Party Den. Near the fringe of the Old Forest, in the north/west, runs the river, and the Camping Garden could nestle between river, lake, and the edge of the Common Garden. Next to the lake is the wild land, I mentioned, and above it, at some distance from the hill, is another forest which partially belongs to the estate as well. Most of the estate’s neighbours are cautiously curious about our project. However, in the west, beyond the hill and beyond the Young Forest, the Jellybridge Estate boarders on the land of a hostile neighbour who frequently informs us that we have no permission to trespass on their land or to cross it to reach the coastland they own. This neighbour has threatened to file charges for every violation.’ The neighbour, Alice thought, shaking her head. How can a single person own coastland? And ‘How will we tell the towners that the direct road to the coast is closed to them?’ ‘We have three options,’ Anthony, head of Security for the building site, replied. ‘A) We build a fence. B) We challenge the courts on the right to roam. Or C) We let people trespass.’ A reckless sparkle appeared in Alice eyes. ‘We let them trespass until the owner is fed up with suing us?’ Anthony nodded. Amahle, co-head of the media team, put her head to one side. ‘I always lean towards revolution, and owning land is an invention that has caused more damage than benefits through the ages. But our neighbour is very rich, and they are very upset about the prospect of getting us as a neighbour. If we stir that fire, I fear it’s the kind of fire that can easily grow into a blaze. I’d say our project is too important to get sidetracked by a petty fight.’ Alice nodded thoughtfully. ‘Choose your fights?’ ‘Yes,’ Amahle said. The team continued to check topics off their list, and some time later, Xantha (volunteers coordination) concluded her report with: ‘The sheer number of volunteers who want to help building our town is overwhelming.’ Alice smiled broadly. ‘That’s great! The more people help the faster we can build and the more people will have a connection to our town.’ ‘We have to set a limit,’ Scott (head of the Ecology Team) cautioned. ‘There is only so much body waste a location can deal with, and we need food and water for everyone. I’d suggest we use a simulation to find a maximum, and then we stay some five to ten percent below this number to be on the safe side.’ ‘How will we decide whom to accept as a volunteer?’ Beatrice, head of the Admin Team, asked. ‘We go by first come first served for the skills we need,’ Marci, head of the workforce team, replied. ‘Same for volunteers. ’ Alice left the meeting early to have a word with Jimmy, the master of horses, who had lived and worked on the estate for decades. Together, Alice and Jimmy decided to increase the horse population and have built more wagons of different  sizes in preparation for the building phase but also for the future town. It was only ten when Alice, Colin (head of Admin & Society) and Beatrice (head of Admin) welcomed a group of twelve regional mayors to Jellybridge House. Over a cup of tea in the stripped-down library, Alice, Colin and Beatrice spoke about the advantages the town and the project businesses would have for the region. Later, when the visitors and hosts crossed the main hall again, a mayor remarked to Alice: ‘Your businesses are interesting. But your town? That might be a bit too crazy for us.’ Alice smiled a little and returned: ‘I always wonder what’s so crazy about the idea that life could be healthy for humans if they figured out how to do it.’ Another mayor asked: ‘Do you really think that brands will disappear once your dot.international is fully established?’ Alice shrugged. ‘I’m not a friend of brands. Their natural goal is to make everyone ask for the same, and goat us into conformity. On the designers’ side a lot of talent goes undiscovered because a few ideas dominate the markets. With dot. we empower, both a myriad of designers worldwide and the customers who get an incredible variety of choices and who can communicate what they want to wear. By dressing in clothes which suit the customers and which are durable, there is no need to constantly buy new clothes.’ Outside of Jellybridge House, five wagons, each drawn by two horses, were waiting for the guests. Several members of the Building Site Team joined the guests to take them on a tour of the grounds. A veil of clouds still covered the sky, the atmosphere was relaxed, and in each wagon more conversations took place as one wagon after the other entered the Young Forest. One mayor asked Beatrice (head of Admin): ‘Can a town work without religion?’ Beatrice smiled, shaking her head. ‘I have no idea, and I am curious about that myself. You see, our project focuses on universal issues: business environments and practises, living environments, demography, coexisting with nature. Personally, I think we can have a great town without religious practices. But if not, we’ll have the Gods Garden around the corner.’ When the wagons reached the prospective site for the town, Kim (head of Landscape Architecture), Ethan (head of Town Planning) and Jason (head of Architecture) stood up in their respective wagons and spoke about the plans for the town whenever the wagons stopped for a moment. Around the same time and in London, Isabel (head of campaigns) opened the Campaign Square on the Hub, and her team published the first events, workshops and challenges, people could sign up for. The invitation to the millionaires boot camp drew the immediate attention of the press and triggered rage on social media, many posting memes on the theme: EAT THE RICH. ‘That went well,’ John (business) remarked and added a post about the new transparency rooms on the Hub, one of them dedicated to the campaigns’ finances which stoked the fire further when people discovered that a ticket for the millionaires boot camp cost 7 million pounds. The project didn’t comment, pointing out that the TRUE POWER IS IN CREATION Campaign was in charge of the boot camp, and they weren’t officially open for business, yet. At noon, the Jellybridge party stopped at the lake for a picnic, and a mayor said to Alistair (head of the Economics & Business Team): ‘Yesterday, I read that powerful groups in the US, and also here in the UK, want the government to reverse regulations which protect the environment. And I thought, damn! The moment we impose laws, we force corporations to do something they don’t want to do. And that’s the problem right there: imposing laws is always less effective than convincing corporations and people that something is not only necessary but also in their best interest. Corporations will always try to outsmart any law or regulation, or fight them. That’s why I’m interested in your town experiment. Maybe it can convince people that a healthy relationship with the environment is in their best interest.’ Alistair nodded, stroking his beard. ‘That’s what I’ve been thinking. And others on our team. If we need a law for something, then that has my alarm bells ringing, telling me that something in the system is amiss. A beneficial economic, political or any other system doesn’t need to be upheld by laws other than the laws of physics and nature, and our convictions, our choices, our visions. In my opinion, if we find something that needs a law, then we should dig deeper and find out what makes this or that law necessary, and what can we adjust so that this or that law won’t be necessary any more.’ Simon (head of the Health & Care Team) sighed a little. ‘I agree. And I guess we’ll need to rethink very basic perceptions, like how do we view humans? Do we have to treat the human like an animal that needs to be drilled to fit into the world we humans invented? And that needs to be kept in check by laws so that the faulty systems can be kept in place?’ Simon shook his head and the friendly mayor nodded. ‘You know,’ Alistair said. ‘I hope we get a chance to build the town and find out what might be possible. And with that give people a chance to see what options we have.’ Another mayor who had been listening in, nodded and said: ‘It’s not effective to demand the protection of the environment. We need to want change. In order to want change, we need to grasp what is at stake.’ Simon smiled. ‘And what we have to gain when we get to know and embrace nature.’ Another mayor shook his head. ‘We can’t take away people’s freedom.’ ‘People want the freedom to destroy their habitat?’ the first mayor returned. ‘They don’t see it that way. They just do what’s always been done.’ ‘How do we get out of this?’ the second mayor asked. ‘By giving them something to want.’ ‘Like what?’ the first mayor challenged. ‘Sex, money, drugs, an enemy.’ ‘These are outdated narratives,’ Alistair  remarked. ‘They are. People hold on to outdated narratives because that’s what they know. That’s what they can handle.’ By half-past two the guests and the hosts were back in the library at Jellybridge House, and several mayors got news about the first project campaign, LONGEVITY, which had launched at three minutes to noon with a spectacle in Hyde Park, celebrating life and everything it can be, with music, dancing, playing, debating, creating, exploring, thinking, cooking, challenging, breathing, learning, fighting, laughing, storytelling, walking, trading, nurturing, building, chilling, planting and more. At Jellybridge, the mayors commented on the event when they looked up from their phones. In one conversation, a mayor mentioned the lack of affordable housing in the UK, and Olivia (head of the Building Site Team) returned: ‘That’s a subject I tend to get upset about, and my upset starts right with the term housing. In my opinion housing sees the human as something that needs to be stored away whereas in our town, we want to find out what makes a community and how to build it, how to design it. As a designer, I want to create homes, communities, not boxes.’ ‘But we need to house more people.’ ‘The one thing we need, is to rethink community life and to get away from assuming that all a human needs is a roof above their head.’ ‘Community? But how?’ another mayor asked. Jason (head of the Architecture Team) took a cookie from the tray and returned: ‘Why does anyone move anywhere?’ Another mayor put down her cup of tea. ‘Because the pay is better in the new place?’ Jason nodded. ‘How can you establish a community when people aren’t interested in the location, in the neighbours, only in the pay of a new job?’ ‘Then what would you do?’ Olivia shrugged. ‘Build a town experiment and find out what makes a vibrant, thriving, trusting, supportive community?’ Several mayors smiled and one said: ‘Your Campaign Square on the Hub is pretty impressive. Would you say that it makes sense to have a digital town square for each town?’ Raiden (town simulation) nodded. ‘It might be a good idea.’ ‘An exclusive place for towners?’ another mayor asked. ‘Or for people who want to visit,’ the first mayor returned. Alice frowned. ‘Tourists. Hm. I actually prefer the idea of a digital town square where towners can just happen to each other, and where they discuss local issues, but in an informal way. Or maybe just to find out who is going where this night so they can meet in person.’ Later, another mayor brought up her concerns about ultra processed foods. ‘My assistant mentioned that your Longevity campaign picked up the issue?’ Megan (head of the Agriculture Team) nodded. ‘Ultra processed food is not just potentially unhealthy, it also wastes a lot of resources for materials, production, packaging, transports, sales. That’s a lot of fuss for products that have little to no use, except to fill shops and make a few people money. If we let go of ultra processed foods, we could dismantle thousands of factories, with which we would considerably reduce pollution, power consumption, health costs and more.’ ‘Hm. But what would  happen to the workers?’ Megan snorted. ‘You’re not saying that we should keep harming ourselves and our habitat so that we can continue to do fun jobs along conveyor belts? Which reminds me,  we would reduce the number of dull factory jobs if we ate more whole foods again.’ ‘Another point for longevity,’ another mayor remarked. ‘Yes!’ At four the mayors were invited to the basement of Jellybridge House where the Programming Team had set up their central offices. Raiden and Daria showed the mayors the new town simulation and ran some scenarios. Later, one of the mayors said: ‘You propose to use less energy in your town. How?’ ‘By being thorough,’ Alice returned and Raiden said: ‘We take a look at every item which needs power and ask: Do we really need this? Do we need illuminated buildings or billboards. Do we need blinking restaurant names? Do we need monitors at train stations when everyone uses their phones to check train times these days? If we find that we don’t need a powered item, we use less more sustainable solutions.’ Daria nodded. ‘And if we come across something, like a fridge or a computer, we think we need, then we ask, how can we make them more energy efficient, or whether it would be possible not to use them as often as we do now.’ ‘Hm,’ the mayor said and another asked: ‘Have you considered cooperations for energy supplies?’ ‘Not yet,’ Raiden returned. ‘Our simulation suggest that we might produce a power surplus which we’d be happy to make available to our neighbours, at town prices.’ ‘What are town prices?’ ‘Our prices will vary, I’m afraid, depending on which price model we test.’ Several mayor shook their heads, and one said: ‘So, if we did business with you, there’d be no certainty, and we’d become part of your experiments?’ ‘To some extent, yes. We’d inform you upfront of any changes or new ideas, and in some cases we’d offer compensations. But we’d also hope that you’d explore with us whenever a subject might be relevant for your town.’ Later, at the early dinner, another mayor asked Alice: ‘Which political system will you use in your town?’ ‘We’re not really thinking about politics at the moment,’ Alice returned. ‘We’re interested in what humans and nature need to thrive, and once we know that, we might be able to develop a political system or maybe more a kind of a governance system.’ The mayor looked thoughtful. ‘Are you saying it doesn’t make sense to create a political system before you know the results of your experiments?’ Alice shrugged. ‘It’s too early to say. But, in my opinion, when it comes to politics, there’s too much corruption, manipulation, populism and procrastination involved, and too little pragmatism, too little rationality and too little actually getting things done. Especially in our time where we urgently need to rethink how we do business globally, which resources we can and can’t use and all the rest of it. We need decisive action in favour of a future, in favour of restoring our planet, in favour of communities, in favour of new economic systems, not endless debates, compromises and lobbying. I don’t see any benefit in destroying more of our planet, in letting more people get sick, in covering more of our planet in rubbish products only because some clever people managed to manipulate yet another vote. There must be another way. We need another way. And we need it fast. Will we find it in our town? Will we find it in time? I don’t know. But I’m certain that going to the roots of our problems is necessary to tackle the mess we are in, and we need  to do so in a way that actually makes a difference, ends suffering and restores the planet.’ Some fifty minutes later, Alice and the mayors joined a special Q & A session in the ballroom. There were more guests from the region and many members of the Building Site Team. A young, local politician said to Alice: ‘We need law and order. A strong hand keeping our community safe. A strong hand that guarantees no one takes advantage of us.’ Alice raised an eyebrow. ‘You make it sound as if humans are naturally criminal and selfish bastards. I doubt that. From what I’ve seen, people are happiest when they can be useful and helpful. Creating and supporting fills us with pride. Well, tricking the government does that, too. But that only indicates that politics gets a few things wrong. It shouldn’t be fun or satisfying to trick governments.’ One of the mayors grimaced. ‘Are you saying, it’s our fault that people trick the government?’ ‘That’s a speculation I hope to explore in our town experiment. See, if I believe that a system is unjust, why would I support it? Or worse: if I believe a system cheats on me, what better way to retaliate than tricking it in return?’ Meanwhile, Betsy and her staff cleaned the dishes in the kitchen, and Leo (coordination) found her to thank her and her team for the superb dinner. Betsy smiled a little nervously and said: ‘We might not be able to do this every time. I mean there are bound to be more people next Friday for the daylong Q & A.’ Leo nodded. ‘We can restrict the number of people—’ Betsy interrupted, shaking her head vehemently. ‘Absolutely not! You need the people to come here. And they need to know that you’re not hiding but that you’re listening and that what you say makes sense. I’m just saying, we’ll have to offer simpler food: two or three good soups, good bread, apples. Simple like, nourishing. People will understand. But you can’t tell anyone, they can’t come!’ ‘How can I help?’ Leo said with a gentle smile. ‘Well, maybe you could tell people what to expect. I could give you the details. I just hate to disappoint people. But if they knew upfront …’ It was just past eleven that night when Alice walked with the mayors to the front door and one of them remarked: ‘This was an extraordinary day. Thank you.’ Another mayor said: ‘You have a very vivid imagination. I’ll give you that. And maybe you even have a point. But a point will not get you your town.’ Outside of the front door, a third mayor remarked: ‘You sure know how to be a host. And you have a gift for visualisation. I wish this was a situation where any of us could say, let’s just do it. It sounds great when you conjure up your ideas, and when your visions take shape in our minds. But once we step back into the chilly night, we wonder whether any of it could actually happen.’ The last mayor to leave said: ‘I  feel ashamed that I want to support your project just to annoy London. But maybe my pettiness will help you nonetheless.’ Not much later, Alice called Rohana in London for an update. ‘An update? After your perfect day by the lake?’ Rohana teased. Alice chuckled. ‘There were loads of mayors there, too.’ ‘That doesn’t count. You had a day at the lake and probably plenty of excellent food.’ Alice laughed. ‘You know, I think we owe much of today’s success to Betsy’s cooking and her amazing team.’ ‘Like I said, you were feasting while we kept toiling throughout the day.’ Alice chuckled. ‘So what are the news?’ ‘Great actually. The Longevity Campaign had a tremendously successful first day, with a lot of people catching on and saying: “Yeah, you’re right, every aspect of life, society, business practices contributes to our health (and the lack of it,) and that largely determines how long we’ll live. And yes, no one has a right to keep us from finding out which conditions provide the best chances for a long and fulfilling life.” There were quite a few who pointed out that coming together and working together has much greater health benefits than competition and outsmarting each other. And the balanced tech angle also worked wonders with over a million people signing up to a twelve days mornings-off-screen challenge, starting tomorrow.’ ‘Wow. That’s great. What’s next for the Longevity Team?’ ‘Tomorrow they take a live coverage team on a tour in London to interview professionals. Their first stop is a London waterworks, next a hospital, then a housing estate where they also host an all day event with music, sports and foods, then a secondary school, an artists centre, an anti-discrimination NGO, and a End Loneliness group.’ 

© Charlie Alice Raya, book 4, building, 2025