The Hastings Project

 

This was my view for 13 years. Overlooking the infamous Downtown East Side. 
It was here that I invested every dime I had in the equity of my home into learning the art and practice of ecosystem design and orchestration. Looking out over the skies of the DTES, one thing was clear:
We all had skin in this game. 

Ecosystem orchestration can be thought of as a strategic principle for solving complex problems--aka the "wicked problems"-- that confound all other market based, government based, advocate based agencies. 
Ecosystem orchestration can solve complexity that no other pre-existing institution can.  

I spent an inordinate amount of time sitting on my deck asking how to use the power of ecosystems to transform this neighbourhood, including all current residents. 
This is tantalising as it is daunting.  

The pay-off will be spectacular however. 

We're going to turn this neighbourhood from one of the most destitute in North America to one of the most "wealthiest" in the world. Including every single current resident. 

We are going to turn this neighbourhood into the premiere lifestyle destination for the world's brightest people representing a staggering diversity of knowledge and ability, businesses and governance, citizens and consumers. 
A neighbourhood that will unto itself, shape the destiny of our economic future. 
A neighbourhood that will become the best investment the world can make today. 

If you are like me, and wondering how the hell we're going to pull this off, that is the mother of all questions.
Why do we need to pull this off, and how do we pull this off. 

To answer the why and how, we need to first examine all our assumptions of where we at now, how we got here and, most importantly, what are the threats and opportunities that the world and its technology present to cities today. 

This is Strategy 101. 
Strategy, however, is vastly different in the age of networks.
Power is vastly different in the age of networks. 
Everything we've thought about as to how the economy and businesses operate and interact with their customers is vastly different in the age of networks. 

How we work, how with think in organisational scale, from creation to execution is vastly different in the age of networks. 

To get the utmost in productivity from networks, we need vastly different organisational structures and designs, and vastly different places and spaces of work. 

The good news is this is all perfectly natural to all of us. The bad news is we have to re-cultivate this productive nature we all share.
You see, all the habits that we developed to excel in the industrial economy are now killing us in terms of productivity in the age of networks. 

Likewise, the concepts of scales and "economies of scale" are vastly different in networks, as is risk, capital, currency, reputation, power and exploration to exploitation. 

"It takes a Village to Design a Village"

The Hastings Project is the future of work, it is the future of organisation, it is the future of our economic philosophy and how we see ourselves as a society and a civilisation. It is the future of investment and cultivation. 

It is is the future of how we move through the spaces of creativity, developing and building, of business, of service and of governance. 
By seeing ourselves as strategic ecosystems, we see how we really move through these essential economic spaces in a continuously moving network of interdependencies. We see the concept of productivity and wealth differently in these ecosystems and the spaces and places they occupy.

By understanding the nature of these interdependencies of city life, along with the science of human productivity, we can move from the stagnation that plagues economies the world over now, to one where we experience a productivity leap of 10Xs or more at the civic level. 

The International VillagE (TIVE) is where the world will meet in Vancouver to learn and develop these new habits of strategy, design, development, service, creativity and governance to evolve communities and neighbourhoods, malls and  office spaces into the ecological world of the future. A world that is sustainable and adaptable to our inevitable changing climate and environment. 

A world where the health and well being of every citizen on the planet is the prima facie of economic vitality. 

The International VillagE in Vancouver, Canada is where thousands of the world's best businesses, the world's best creatives, builders and developers, services and governance along with citizens and consumers will come to live, learn collaborate to reshape our economic future. 
Our objectives are no less than to create the conditions for unprecedented prosperity and sustainability for billions of people worldwide.  

By focusing the world's best talent on solving one of the world's most intractable and complex neighbourhoods, we learn how to work together across the five essential "spheres" to create a future that is inviting to all. 

Are You Up For The Challenge?

If you are, then let's get to work. We have No Time To Lose.