WHAT IT MEANS FOR 15-MINUTE CITIES TO DELIVER DYNAMIC CONVENIENCE FOR A
WELL-BALANCED LIFE
Developments that Center on Emotional Intelligence Achieve Their Highest and Best Use
VISION by Amit Egan Datwani IN COLLABORATION WITH Members of the GCO Collective
March 24th, 2022 - 4 minute read
QUICK TAKEAWAYS:
Global Consulting Organization uses its impact as a Project-Starting Firm to activate the true potential of 15-Minute Cities through the balance achieved at the intersection of For-Profit Pursuits and Humanitarian Virtues.
GCO launches Development Projects with a Unified Creative Vision that elevates Emotional Intelligence alongside Intellectual and Artificial Intelligence to create places of Dynamic Convenience.
2030 & Beyond marks a Watershed Moment in Real Estate when our Industry can choose to integrate human feeling, emotion, and connection to deliver a Well-Balanced Life through the Built Environment.
A cautionary tale may be an understatement for describing Winston Smith’s story.
His losing battle against immoral totalitarian forces that stripped individual identity and humanity to control society is a visceral, chilling experience so powerful that “1984” has returned to the bestseller list in recent years, almost three-quarters of a century removed from its debut.
George Orwell’s masterpiece has undoubtedly gained new traction today due to its prescient commentary on the dangers of authoritarian rule. But “1984” isn’t purely a political essay. The novel cautions as much about the rising threat of tracking technologies and surveillance-coerced uniformity as it does about those leaders or groups that might abuse such tools for their dictatorial aims.
“Today, our society is increasingly impacted by Orwellian-like devices: the cold calculation of artificial intelligence, the inexhaustible tracking of social media algorithms, and the often treacherous anonymity of the metaverse.”
These technologies and other pervasive, intangible influences at work in the digital era are thought to be hallmarks of the 15-Minute City concepts for the Future. But our push for turn-key convenience and immediate gratification risks our succumbing to lies and pretenses just as Winston did in the closing pages of “1984.”
To ensure 15-Minute Cities realize their true promise in 2030 & Beyond, Global Consulting Organization uses its impact as a Project-Starting Firm to launch Development Projects with a Unified Creative Vision that balances the Pursuit of Profits with Humanitarian Virtues to deliver Dynamic Convenience for a Well-Balanced Life.
Our vision for Dynamic Convenience in the Built Environment elevates Emotional Intelligence alongside the Intellectual and Artificial Intelligence favored today. For every corner smart store that offers a register-free checkout, we see a lush and vibrant greenscape providing a respite for reflection and environmental connection. For every alternative metaverse interaction, we see physical hubs where people can live in the moment together at a concert performance, work collaboratively and creatively in connection with their professional network, and play as teams on recreational sports fields.
“This is the well-balanced life of Dynamic Convenience: evolved Live-Work-Play neighborhoods, communities, and cities that integrate human feeling, emotion, and connection.”
Serving people’s physical and EMOTIONAL needs isn’t some high-minded ideal. It’s a best practice at The Ritz Carlton. The company’s WETCO approach* to building the customer experience in its properties makes it arguably the best known and most desirable hotel chain in the world. When Real Estate Development Projects deliver experiences that provide Warmth, Empathy, Teamwork, Conscientiousness, and Optimism, they will generate similar desirability and achieve their highest and best use by Enhancing the Human Experience, which is our common purpose at GCO.
2030 and Beyond marks a critical juncture in our human development, and therefore, a WATERSHED MOMENT for the Real Estate Industry. Will we choose FEELING over apathy? INSPIRATION over algorithms? EXPERIENCES over automation? Will we develop neighborhoods, communities, and cities that offer Dynamic Convenience for a Well-Balanced Life?
Orwell poses the challenge: “Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it.”
Will our Industry be the wiser? By leaving a legacy of the Dynamic Convenience in the Built Environment, WE CAN BE.
Cheers to 2030 & Beyond…
*WETCO is a concept of customer service consultant Micah Solomon.