And maybe the best part of all of this is that these smart cities aren't the cause of the great investing opportunities I see, nor are they even required. But they do accelerate the timeline!
So let me tell you about just one of these cities.
The U.S. billionaire I've been talking about is Marc Lore, best known as past president of Walmart's ecommerce operations and owner of the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves. And now... Lore is dedicating much of his life to building a city named Telosa. The name is derived from an ancient Greek word meaning "higher purpose," and you'll see why.
Here's the general idea behind Lore's plans. This is a simplified version using round numbers:
It starts with buying inexpensive land. Lore uses the example of buying 200,000 acres of desert land in Nevada for about half a billion dollars. Then, "if that land that turns into a city of 5 million people," he told a conference I attended in Austin, Tex., "that land would be worth 500 billion to 1 trillion dollars."
If that money were in a foundation, it could produce $50 billion a year for investing into social services the community needs. That would give the city's residents "the best of both worlds," with world-class services rivaling those anywhere, and all with a low tax rate.
But that's just how the city will get going. "If we're going to build this," Lore says, "let's make it the most sustainable city in the world." The incredible technologies being developed today can make the city sustainable and operate on 100% renewable energy, to have zero waste, use 90% less water, and emphasize fully autonomous cars to make it safer and quieter. This magical metropolis will be designed so that every worker will have a 15-minute or less commute!
Plans range from the near-term -- like underground garbage disposal -- to the long term -- like electric jets and helicopters.
But what about the investing opportunities?
It turns out that these "new models for society," and even "governments without taxation," are doing things so differently that they could greatly accelerate a new era of technology -- and again, one that could spread to almost every urban area in the world.
So please be ready for my second email to you, which should land in your inbox tomorrow.
In it, I will explain exactly how I think all this will happen, and I'll tell you which companies you might consider investing in if you find this opportunity intrigues you.
P.S.
I urge you not to write this off as unlikely to happen. Remember I mentioned similar "cities of the future" being built? One is by billionaire Bill Gates, who's been buying up land near Phoenix. Saudi Arabia is planning a 100-mile long linear "belt city" powered by renewable energy. Other projects are underway in Malaysia, China, Japan, Senegal, and dozens of other places.
The trickle-down effect into "normal" cities could be tremendous!
