Version 1.0
originally written June 1980
but not published. until January 1999

Our most important assumption is that the industrial era is over, at least for the highly developed nations. What we are now experiencing is not the "Third' Industrial Revolution as it is sometimes called but manifestations of the post-industrial age. Just as production was the key to the industrial era, so it seems that communications in all its startling and seemingly infinite varieties and forms, will be the key to this new age, which futurist Robert Theobald has called, "The Communications Era." What Theobald is calling attention to, of course, is not a mere change of names, but rather a change of modes, mindsets, of basic social and economic systems. The shift exciting, revolution(r from the industrial to the post-industrial period will be as confusing and disturbing as was the shift from the pre-industrial into industrial society, two hundred years ago. This means, as Theobald points out, that just as agricultural and mercantile-commercial attitudes and theories did not work for the emerging industrial age, so like many of our concepts and methods that we inherited from the industrial past will not work in the Communications Era.

Not only must our modes of thought and methods of operation change to meet the challenges of the new era, but also so must our expectations. The first phase of the Communications Era, say the next 30 to 50 years, will no doubt see unprecedented technological developments, which certainly hold out great promises to better the lives of everyone on this globe. However, we would be wrong to anticipate that this period will repeat the unprecedented post-WWII growth. It certainly seems doubtful that America will experience the doubling of the GNP or at any rate the doubling of the leve1 of personal income that many economists were predicting as late as a few years ago. There are many reasons for this - the crippling burden of defense spending, the need to continue to write the environment into our cost accounting, the need for heavy investment in securing sound water policy, food production, adequate new energy resources, space and undersea exploration and the new telecommunications systems.

We face the rebuilding of our cities and the imperative to provide some sort of economic stability for the developing nations of the world. Behind all of these imperatives lies the magnitude of the historic corner the world turned in 1973, when, after two hundred years of declining or stable energy costs, the price of energy began to soar. When we recall that cheap energy was one of the prime ingredients in the whole spectacular march of industrialism, we soon should realize that, until we move to renewable energy resources, we are facing a period of real constraints. America will certainly not run out of energy. But the high price we will have to pay, regardless of what energy strategies we pursue, will make it difficult, if not impossible to maintain the kind of consumer society and economy which characterized the last phase of the industrial era.

This does not mean that the developed nations need anticipate a dismaying drop in the standard of living. Indeed, the new computer and telecommunications technology .can provide us with the sorts of opportunities which were only half formed drams dreams during the "great days" of the post-World War II boom. But we will have to make the cultural adjustments, under take considerable shifts in values, in order to appreciate our new opportunities to become consumers of communications based opportunities rather than a seemingly endless glut of material goods.

The extent to which we are able to maintain some high level of material comfort in the developed nations while providing the developing nations with means for economic advancement, it will be necessary for us to make the most efficient use of our economic potential. Many old methods, deal to the industrial era will no longer provide us with such efficiency. Indeed, the concept of the nation-state as the natural economic unit never has been all that efficient, as witnessed by western imperialism, direct and indirect and such transnational economic groupings as Comecom and the EEC. We need new international economic structures and institutions, which while being non-imperial and non-exploitative, can bring peoples from all over the globe into new patterns of economic cooperation.

Finally, while we anticipate that democracy and capitalism will continue to evolve, as they did throughout the industrial era, they continue to holdout significant promise for human development and freedom. Meanwhile, the economic theories that the communications era will demand have yet to appear. Now, we can only dimly perceive the implications of the promise of social and political decentralization which the era hold out to us, we feel that it is important that any new concepts for future development should be based on free people and free markets.

M.E.T.A. City, Metropolitan Electronic Trade Association, is a blue print for the future, a way of going beyond the present limitations of the Era of the nation state in order take full advantage of the potentialities of the Communications Era. Under the META concept, cities of different nations would form a trade association for advanced technologies and techniques. Linked by satellite telecommunications and powerful microcomputers. They would form a vast network of free trade areas exchanging goods and information, In most cases, these urban free trade areas would be the daughters of existing cities. New York would have its META New York. Tokyo its META Tokyo. Sidney its META Sidney, etc. The META cities would "belong' to the mother cities, indirectly governed, on a representative basis, by the META citizens, and the mother cities would benefit from the revenues of its META daughter. Businesses occupying space within a META city complex would have access to the huge international META data banks of information and would be able to move goods through the entire META system free from national duties. Citizens of the META cities could move freely within the entire system, following the demand for their talent and expertise.

Technology and wealth could move more freely within the META system, from developed to developing nations, not on a basis of international charity, but rather along the line of supply and demand. A true global system of interchange would emerge on a more equitable basis than human history has ever seen.

The elements of the META City system are the relatively free movement of information, goods, technology and key personnel through out the global network. In order to understand more clearly how this would work, let us look at each of these elements more closely.

Information: Access to information is the key to the Communications Era and also the key to the META city system. Each META city would become the source of basic data - on resource needs, on goods, on money, on people. Part of this data would come from the computerized cash registers scattered throughout the mother city, which would feed into a central computer the results of the daily shifting of goods in retail and wholesale trade. This inventory status, surpluses and shortages, would tell other cities within the system what a particular city had to sell and what it needed to buy at any given moment.

Manufacturers, whose offices and sometimes their factories, are located within the META city would also feed their inventory status into their city's central data bank, making it instantly known throughout the system what raw materials were needed, and what manufactured goods were ready for shipment.

In this way, raw materials, parts and finished goods would quickly and easily find their optimum markets, regardless of where those markets were in the globe.

Equally important, other kinds of information would also be fed into the META city data banks - technological innovations, climatic data, shifts in consumer tastes, demographic movements, job opportunities, all of the information, short-term and long-term, which is required to make intelligent economic decisions.

Therefore, the first thing to realize about the META city concept, is that it would effectively constitute a enormous data bank, available to each member city, and to all firms, within the system.

Goods: The gathering and processing of raw materials, the manufacturing of goods and the marketing of them is the essence of trade. We have already seen how the informational aspect of the META city system could greatly facilitate international trade. Trade would also be facilitated, however, through the free-trade nature of the MEYTA City system.

Each META city would constitute a free trade zone. Once something entered the META City system, at any geographic point, in any condition, unprocessed raw material, assembled market-ready finished good--. It would not be subject to duties or taxes until it left the system at any geographic point. It would be possible, in other words, to bring raw materials into the system process them, turn them into finished products and transport them to the META cities nearest the market areas without paying any levies until they were dispursed to markets outside of the free trade zones.

This free movement of materials and goods throughout the META City System would mean a considerable cost reduction to manufacturers and consumers alike. The global free trade status would be more efficient, since there would be no duties to avoid. This efficiency would be augmented, of course, through access to the META City System data banks which would direct the movement of materials and goods when and where they were needed.

Governments, local or national, would not be deprived of revenue, since they would levy their taxes once goods left the free trade zones located within their jurisdiction. However, instead of the price of a product reflecting the accumulated duties and taxes, which its various components had picked up in their movements across international borders, it would bear only the taxes levied within the country of sale. Thus only when a product is consumed would the burden of taxation be imposed, since until then it has been non-productive. The reduction in cost carry forward would result in a much lower capital requirement for trade.

Technology: The entire META City concept depends upon each member city and all member firms having access to the highest level of technology. There would be no colonies within the META system, each part would have equal access to technology and revenue.

The META City itself would represent a highly complex technological system, with its advanced communications, highly mechanized cargo shifting capabilities, and unique designs for work and living.

Moreover, the very nature of the free and rapid exchange of information would mean that an innovation, introduced into one city or firm within the system, would soon be available to all those who could make use of it. Since all members of the system would need to function at the highest level of possible efficiency for the system as a whole to benefit, there could be no point for one part of the system to withhold advances from the rest, even if it would be possible.

As a city exists within a county, the META city would exist within a city, but with a major difference. Nations, states and counties are divisions of land and natural resources, the natural environment, while a city is the product of the built environment, the result of human technology. The META city is a special district within the city, dependent upon the existing density and economic strength of the parent city for its vitality.

Tax and fee revenue from the META City will flow into the parent after the district's obligations are met. These revenues would supplement the city's general revenue and reward their investment in the META City.

The benefits which a META establishment would bring to the parent city would not be limited to revenue (which would not flow Into the city's treasury to any great extent until the development and building costs had been paid off). A city would create its META partner primarily to provide greatly increased vitality for its metropolitan region and the META citizens living within it. Goods entering and leaving the system through the city's retailers, wholesalers, producers, manufacturers and shippers would have a multiplier effect upon the city's economy.

In addition to such commercial transactions, the advantage, which the city would have being able to tap Into the META date bank through the daughter facilities would be considerable. This Information could be made available to citizens at fees, which would not be prohibitive but could provide the city with an additional revenue source, The advantages to the citizens is obvious. Even those business and organizations which did not have offices within the META facility, and where therefore not members of the System, could purchase high quality information on an as-needed basis, to help in marketing and production decisions.

Daily Transaction Data: At the heart of the META system's data bank would be the daily cash record of inventory movements, through wholesale and retail transactions within the parent cities belonging to the system. This data would come from individual computerized cash registers throughout the city, which would feed their data into a central computer within the META City.

In addition to supply this data, the DTD system would also enable the city to tabulate the sales tax, recorded at each cash register in the city and, through electronic banking, greatly improve Its cash flow procedures. Business people would at least be freed from the paper work connected with sales taxes.

Electronic banking would be the basis for all monetary exchanges within the META system, bills would be paid and loans would be advanced via computer. Indeed, the day to day workings within the system would rely on electronic credits -rather than on money as we think or it today. Payments would be instantaneous (although deferred payments could be negotiated), easing problems of "cash flow" for producers and those in services.

Through the use of the vast META data bank, producers, shippers and wholesaler-importers would have both an accurate view of the market and up to the minute knowledge of where products or transportation units were anywhere in the system. This information coupled with instantaneous electronic payments would make bookkeeping easier and company planning much safer and more accurate.

Employment: Employees of the META system would be META citizens or in this sense the META system represents one international entity, with scattered bits and pieces linked over space by transportation and communications. META citizens would thus move freely within the system as leisure time activities, business demands or employment opportunities dictate or allow. Of course the META passport would only be valid within META zones within the system, although it is hoped that they would be recognized as by nation states as a basis for issuing tourist or student visas outside of the free trade zones.

Free movement of META citizens would represent one of the perquisites for META employees, it would not only offer opportunities for travel but also for a wide variety of career opportunities and experiences. This would be especially valuable to citizens of developing nations.

This free migration would also ensure that the talent pool within the META system would be utilized in the most efficient manner. Skilled workers and managers need not be bunched in one place, competing for limited opportunities, while much needed positions remain empty or understaffed elsewhere.

While it is too soon to predict whether or not a META language would evolve, intensive language-training sessions as well as translating facilities for in-house and personal, portable computers would ease existing language barriers.

The META data bank will be available to businesses, which are not members of the system through the mother municipality (which owns the META City) for a reasonable fee.

Finally, the experience, knowledge and Income gained from employment within the system will be of great value to those individuals who choose to leave the META City in order to go into business for themselves, or to establish META villages.

Government: Both the internal government of the META City and the relation between city and META city should be organized, as much as possible, an a democratic basis. One possible governmental structure would consist of a META City Board of governors, with a chairman, who would see to the day-to-day running of the META City. The majority of the Board's members would be elected by the voters of the mother city. The rest, plus the chairperson, would be elected by the META citizens, The board itself would operate under the limitations of a charter (the document that would originally found the META city) which will have been approved, by special referendum, by the voters of the mother city. A coordinating council, made up of members of the META City Board of Governors and members of the council of the mother city, would handle relations between city and META city. Members of the Board of governors would serve terms as long as those of members of the city council but elections for each body would be held at the different times, generally at about the middle of the other's term. Elections for Chairman of the Board of Governors would also take place at offsetting times of the mayoral elections in the mother city. The length of term would be the same as for the mayor. META Citizens would also elect a person to represent their interests before the city council of the Mother city.

A META Village would consist of a small free trade or bonding area and a communications center, linked to the System's data bank. In most cases this would facilitate the business of a few local manufacturers, extractors of certain kinds of raw materials, or producers of certain kinds of agricultural items in demand in national and international trade. Farmer cooperatives would benefit greatly from membership in the system.

Through providing better access to markets and materials, membership in the system would greatly aid the economic life of the mother town lower priced goods could be ordered through the system to the benefit of town consumers, Electronic education and training of the highest quality would be available through the META system to towns people, as would employment experience within the system.

It is anticipated that META villages would often be organized and staffed by individuals who had worked in META cities and were returning home to apply their considerable skills and knowledge for the benefit of the community.

There are three basic functions that could occur within a META City :

Administration --which would include all of the information gathering and processing facilities, plus offices for the META City and for member business, and perhaps display rooms for available products.
Production -- it can be expected that at least some production will take place within a META City at the outset, and eventually quite a lot will occur within the free trade zone.

Storage and Transportation depots - One of the prime functions of the free trade aspect of the META city will be the holding and shipping of goods prior to their exit into the taxable economies.

Ideally, perhaps, all of these functions would be take place within one META site, that is, a city would build a single META city encompassing all three functions. However, the age, size and geographical situation of a city may place severe limitations on the site. In many cases it would not be desirable to locate the META site in the center of city because of the congestion which transportation of goods in and out of the city would create unless new rail lines could be built to facilitate.

Where available, port-side locations would be the best, combining rail and sea links, and perhaps, even new types of cargo aircraft (such as advanced dirigible designs) which could be accommodated by cargo islands built out over the water.

Inland cities would have to take the transportation problems under careful consideration, since the purpose of the MBTA city is to provide opportunity for the improvement of urban life, not to increase the levels of congestion, noise and r>ollution.

It may be that in some areas, META locations will be split, with transportation facilities, and perhaps production located on or near existing rail or air ports with administration housed in more accessible and attractive parts of the metropolitan complex.

THE EXPANDING META CITY: Cities are dynamic institutions. Unless destroyed by man-made or natural disasters or by-passed in the ever-changing economic and social developments, cities tend to grow. In many parts of the world, the term "city" is useful only for arbitrary administrative purposes, as metropolitan expansion unites old cities with surrounding villages and mushrooming suburbs.

There is no reason to assume or anticipate that a META city, once established, would not reveal these historical urban tendencies to outgrow its natural boundaries. Thus, the location of the META daughter should be done with its eventual growth in mind. In most cases, growth would occur at the "expense" of the mother city. In fact, if the concept of the META city is sound, the daughter will eventually absorb more and more of the founding mother. The META city will become the city.

This dynamics of the META city will spring from the addition of a fourth function -- residence. As the administrative and economic life of the META City grows, those who work in it will become more desirous to live there as well. This tendency would seem to go against the grain of a century of experience in industrial cities, as first the middle class and then much of the working class fled the factory sites and office blocks for the suburbs. Why would this historical tendency reverse itself in the META city?

What make s our cities such an unattractive hodgepodge today? Contemporary cities, like All cities in the past are functionally two dimensional. People, goods and services all compete for the same horizontal space as they find their ways in and out of the cities. Subways (too expensive for the future) provide slight alleviation. For the most part all of our transfer of people and things takes place on street level. Subsurface service lines for utilities do not really alter the situation, since access to them is usually through the street, resulting in great inconvenience to the public. Skyscrapers and high-rise structures allow people urban space in which to work and live but access to them is from the same crowded streets via the same crowded freeways.

In order to take full advantage of the efficiencies that the communications Era META City provides, we will have to build a true multi-level urban environment. This can be accomplished using a "connected layer" zoning requirement.

1. Ground or warehouse Level: The ground level will provide entrance for goods from all types of transport and container. A standard can be defined that encourages the use of international META pallet-containers, which can be carried on conveyors to storage facilities or entrance elevators for processing in the production facilities. Apart from forklift type vehicles, there will be little need for trucks to enter the META City.

1.5 Mezzanine or utility level: This will be given over to massive service tubes that will carry water, sewers and utility lines. Being above ground, they will be accessed with ease for repairs and modifications.

2. Production Level: On this level we will find the production facilities Only light, non-polluting manufacturing and 1ight industrial enterprises will be suitable for most META City complexes, built within the existing old cities. In third-world locations, it might be feasible to build a "new town" from scratch in which sufficient room to locate certain types of heavy industry within one area of the META City.

Materials can be moved with elevators from the receiving/loading bays on the ground floor to the production level. The finished products would be returned to ground level for export, thus containing the movement of large containers to that level only.

3. Office or Retail Level: This level would be given over to administrative functions. Since these functions require less floor space, there will be ample opportunity to provide some open spaces and decorative features for the benefit of the workers.

4. The Entertainment or Plaza Level: With limited noise and no pollution from heavy industry and no fumes from cars and trucks, the top level, open to the sky, would be reserved for living, shopping and recreation for the META Citizens -- those who work within the META City. Life on this level would be pleasant, with vehicles and goods could provide opportunities for relaxation and enjoyment. Since people would live above their work, the time consuming commuting to the job would disappear. People would have more free time and a less stressful environment. People could move about without having to compete Careful use of building design and landscaping

Roof top tennis and handball courts and swimming pools would provide some outdoor recreation, which could be pursued year round even in the harshest climates under retractable roofs which would enclose the META city recreation areas.

Conventional entertainment such as concerts and shows would be augmented by the latest developments in satellite electronic entertainment and computer simulated games.

Telecommunications would also provide the best in educational facilities for all generations.

Thus the META city would see a geographical reunification of the various aspects of human life work living and play. For many people, life in the META city will be Infinitely more attractive than life outside in the old urban structures. Living in such a unified, self-contained environment will also provide numbers of human beings with the experiences that will be needed as space colonies begin to develop and grow during the next century.

An added attraction to living within the META City will be that life within a free trade zone will be cheaper. The efficient design of the city will reduce energy costs. The wealth that the city will generate will keep housing costs down and luxury goods will be more accessible.

It should be anticipated then, that with the emergence of the META design, more and more people will want to live as well as work within the META city. Over time, the META City will expand, incorporating more and more of the mother city.

At this point, however, there are several caveats that must be expressed. First of all, the META City should not be conceived as being capable of sustaining unlimited expansion. There will be optimal sizes, which will manifest themselves, beyond which the social and economic life of the META would suffer.

Secondly, the META city must resist the temptation to recruiting menial workers for low-paying jobs from the surrounding municipality who would not be able to live within the META city. This would create an undesirable class division between META Citizens and "outsiders," repeating some social and demographic patterns, which have plagued traditional cities. It might also establish some undesirable commuting housing patterns in unnecessary traffic into and out of the city and surrounded the METS City by below-standard housing for an underclass serving it

Finally, the META city must not be a closed economic system. It must be seen to contribute to the economic, social and cultural life of the surrounding municipality.

Moreover, there will be many people who will prefer to live in more traditional urban, suburban and rural environments. They would find the comfortable life within the META city too restrictive.

Significantly, most of the obstacles are political, and social, rather than technological. First of all, the establishment of a META City system will involve international treaties between participating nations, with some national constitutional redefinition of national sovereignty being required in some nations. Getting such treaties passed will be a formidable task. There are precedents, however. Free trade zones already exist in many countries. Also membership in the European Common Market required constitutional changes by participating countries because of EEC infringements on traditional concepts of sovereignty. Nevertheless, ardent nationalists in many countries may supply considerable initial opposition to the plan.

Looking at the city level, there are obviously many problems involved in getting cities to acquire the land, invest in the physical installations and provide the sort  of inter-urban electronic network which the system will require. While there are ample precedents in municipal ownership of utilities and port facilities and air ports, we can expect considerable resistance to such developments as acquiring a large block of land via eminent domain, massive city investment and the need to link the city-wide cash registers to a central computer. On the one hand, the possible devolution of power from the federal to the local level, a natural if not inevitable development of the Communications Era, may clear away some obstacles, current distrust of government and the apparent growing economic fundamentalism in same quarters will make it initially difficult to gain wide support for the plan.

Current deep tensions and distrust which exists between developed and underdeveloped nations (not to mention those existing between the Communist and noncommunist blocs) will not be easily overcome. The relative economic strength of some key developed nations may tempt them to stay out of the system in its early period, thereby threatening to weaken its impact.

There are of course tremendous areas of uncertainty. Although certain developments can be anticipated for the early decades of the META system, there is no way that we can confidently predict what the long term impact of its operation could be. If it is successful, as we believe it can be, then there could be enormous economic realignments within national regions, and significant changes in the status of the nation states themselves.

Finally, there are the many problems in design and in theory, which will have to be worked out before we can take the final steps towards making the META system a reality.

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The first question that must be faced, then, ir concerns taking the first steps towards the eventually realization of the META City goal. By breaking down these steps the process of developing the META City idea into phases, we can suggest how these first steps might be taken.

Phase I: We propose the immediate establishment of the International META City Association. The purpose of this association would be primarily educational, utilizing newsletters, magazines, pamphlets, books, media presentations and traveling speakers to promote the META City concept.

The Association would also establish a network of interested individuals and organizations. These would not only propagate the basic concepts, but also coordinate the ideas and activities of various groups interested in such things as new energy resources, communications technology, space colonies, building design, and systems theory, in order to create a synergistic effort centering on the META City Concept.

Phase II: If the educational efforts are successful, within a few years we should be able to move to phase II, the raising of funds for the initial establishment of the Municipal Electronic Trade Association. At this point the M.E.T.A. would consist of two division

1.The Educational / Informational Division which would expand its efforts to propagate the META concept, especially in developing nations.
2. The Research and Design Division which would provide the theoretical, technological and design basis for the implementation of the first META Cities.

During this Phase the META would establish two additional entities.

1. An Independent Foundation which would provide support for those individual or organizations seeking to pursue communications lifestyles.

2. The META Telecommunications Corporation, a profit making body, which would establish the first telecommunications lines linking interested cities, thereby providing practical experience for the eventual META City system. While a part of this endeavor would be experimental, it should also be able to offer, for a fee, important services to business interests. The success of the Communications corporation would be the first proof of the potential effectiveness of the META Concept.

Phase III: Which would be reached when the critical designs for communications, transportation and urban systems had been accomplished, At this point the META would add a third division, an implementation division. This group would lobby business, civic and governmental organizations and politicians in preparation for the final moves which would culminate in the international treaties and the establishment of the first META Cities.

Phase IV: The forth phase could be reached before end of the century would involve reorganization of the META with participating cities as the dominant members.

There are several reasons for this. The opportunity that the META system will afford to individuals should be open to as many types of people as possible. Moreover, as a communications-era system, it will employ far fewer people than would an industrial- era system of similar scope and complexity. It will be necessary to keep people moving through the system so as to give as many talented individuals as possible an opportunity to work within it.

Also, keeping a steady flow of people into and out of the system should help prevent it from degenerating into a closed bureaucracy and should help keep it open to fresh ideas and enthusiasms.

In addition, it should be anticipated that, in keeping with communications-era attitudes, fewer people will want to spend decades working within a single institution. After working for a time in the META system, many individuals will want to avail themselves of the new lifestyles that will be emerging in the next century. They will want either a greater diversity of living experience or they will want to settle down in one place, providing themselves and their families with a more rooted existence.

Those leaving the system should benefit society in various ways. If they choose or need to continue to lead a lifestyle which requires continued earned income, they may seek to apply the knowledge and experience gained from within the META system to entrepreneurial activities of their own. Some may seek to establish META villages or other institutions that can interface with the META system.

Hopefully, others will find that their savings and retirement income from the META system will prove sufficient for their material needs, allowing them to leave the work- for income system entirely, devoting themselves to creative leisure activities and voluntary involvement in their society. The kinds of knowledge and experience gained from working within the META system could have a significant impact when applied to social problems by former META Citizens in this volunteer capacity.

Some individuals may wish to reenter the META system for limited periods, bringing with them their new awareness and insights gained on the "outside."

© Copyright 1980 - 2006 Dane Michael Arr and William H.A. Williams