The Legacy of Zuzalu: One Year Later 🌇

Can the ephemeral city experiment inspired by Vitalik live on?

One year ago this week, our very own
TrustlessState shared details about his experience living with some of crypto’s brightest minds in the ephemeral city called Zuzalu.

You can read David's full breakdown of his experience below:

👉 http://bankless.cc/David_Z...

This popup city housed over 200 people from diverse regions and fields for two months. David conducted a number of interviews with fellow attendees during this time on topics spanning zero-knowledge proofs, longevity and biotech, network states, and public goods. You can check out those conversations below.

👉 http://bankless.cc/ZuzaluC...

Inspired and initiated by VitalikButerin, Zuzalu blended structure and spontaneity to construct a successful experiment, but almost immediately after the ephemeral city dispersed, attendees wondered how they could keep the fire of Zuzalu alive and continue to offer places for the ethos of Ethereum to connect with disparate emerging technologies.

Let’s take a look at what they’ve been up to since 👇

🏡 The Rise of Zu-Villages
The success of Zuzalu sparked interest in continuing the concept of crypto pop-up cities called Zu-villages.

Earlier this year, a gitcoin grants program offered 250 ETH in funding for creating Zu-villages and Zu-related technology. The round ran from Jan. 15 to Feb. 15, providing funding for 32 events like JoinEdgeCity, Esmerelda and ZuBerlinCity, which are currently running or have just finished, and 28 tools like ZupassProject and MuseMatrix_, a DeSci research institute.

Many of these tie into Zuzalu City, a community hub for Zu-villages and related software, including a calendar of pop-up cities like the few we've highlighted below:

Edge Esmeralda

The ongoing Edge Esmeralda is a month-long popup village focused on incubating novel technologies and new ways of living, aiming to build a foundation for a permanent new town, Esmeralda, around Healdsburg, CA. With $217K in funding from the Zuzalu grants round, Esmeralda put together a series of events centered around human organization, robotics, artificial intelligence, real-world crypto applications, and health and longevity.

The rise of Zu-villages illustrates the enduring impact of Zuzalu, with these pop-up cities continuing to foster collaboration, technological advancement, and a decentralized way of living across the globe.

These pop-up villages demonstrate a model where individuals can co-live, co-work, and co-create, blurring the lines between professional collaboration and communal living to create atmospheres aligned with personal sovereignty and collective problem-solving. The transient nature of these communities allows for flexibility and adaptability, where new ideas can be tested and refined in real time.

It highlights a future where governance is more fluid, technology enhances participants' health, and community building is a continuous, evolving process.

By providing spaces for like-minded individuals to come together, Zuzalu and its successors create fertile ground for social experimentation and technological innovation. They embody the spirit of decentralized, autonomous living, further reflecting the broader societal trends towards alternative lifestyles in the digital age. Overall, the legacy of Zuzalu lies in its ability to inspire and enact a vision of a forward-thinking world, where dynamic, transient communities can thrive and innovate, and tech and health exist in harmony.

Written by davewardonline