A New Look at the Micronation/Microstate

Micronation/Microstate

With rapid growth in the renewable sector and development of offshore windfarms it must be easier than ever to build your own island.

Introduction - Why Micronations?

Sealand's history makes great reading, “wouldn't that be an interesting thing to do” many will probably say to themselves. But would you live there?

From some basic research the only people involved in micronation projects are pretty eccentric. There are plenty of examples of 'Emperor' this, 'King' that. Many of them dressed like Muammar Gaddafi, hopefully without sharing the same aspirations. The the driving factors behind most of the existing micronations are either: to avoid tax or as an ego boost.

Micronations draw in many libertarians who want to avoid contributing to society. They seem to be an ideal place for driven people to test out their own political visions. With a blank sheet of paper how would you run a country? Personally I'm drawn to Howard's Cities of To-morrow but that's for another post.

I wonder how many men out there have 'pass times', that spent endless hours in their man-caves/garages tinkering with engines, models, guns, woodwork etc. What if these skills were used to build and maintain a home, a safe haven for their families. (Think of all the fun pieces of gear to tinker with: rainwater filters, generators, plumbing, winches, boats as well as the actual structure itself. The added pressure of being stranded in the ocean may be a bonus to some.) In this regard there is an element of Frank Lloyed Wright'sBroadacres with it's back to basics frontier-esque, independent, working family unit approach.

I guess this post is one of those 'Hold my beer.' moments. I will try to put together the basics of a hypothetical micronation. This is a precursor to a mission statement.

The purpose of the venture is to:

• become the worlds first carbon negative country
• become a microstate (sovereign micronation)
• be as sustainable in consumables as possible
• attract permanent residents and create a positive and safe environment to live and work.
• Provide international aid at a function of GDP (perhaps 1%)
• develop a positive working relationship with surrounding authorities

Stretch Goals are always fun.

• Create a template for micronations to follow.
• Create a forum for micronations to work together. (For agglomeration economies among other benefits)

In the long run it would be interesting for the project to take the form of an application for planning permission in principle. Without microstate/nation status the choice of location may be much easier and still achieve the same goals. This relies on support from whatever authority has jurisdiction. Food for thought.

Where to go from here?

I have divided the project into three sections: sustainability, location and relations. A quick brain storm gave some points to research as well as some additional goals.

In later posts I will go into:

• Development Perspectives
• Legal Status
• Location
• Sustainability of Consumables
• Physical Structures

Dissertation – Such a Terrifying Word

My dissertation proposal is due tomorrow.

Our topic is anything within the scope of town planning, which is vast. There are so many topics that I find interesting or that I feel I can provide original research to. Personally I would love to write a dissertation which is worth spreading outside of the markers room, to publish something as a white paper and that provides influence, of any degree, within the built environment would be such a great feeling. My voice as a writer at this stage, I would imagine, comes without much merit. Perhaps the importance of quoting some of the 'big guns' in social science may give it more weight?

I have to produce a dissertation on mixed topics. To stick to a single topic would leave me constantly wanting to work on topics out with the questions remit. Ideally it would be a mix of the following:

• Politics and planning are so closely linked that a dissertation highlighting the connections would be fairly simple, yet the courses we have completed in the past have strayed away from this. The major exception is the battle between left wing and right wing approaches to planning. Is this what a traditional planner marking it would want to read or find worthy of a good grade.
• Urban utopias are fantastic from the likes of Ebenezer Howard and La Corbusier though they are as far connected to modern policy as possible. The growth in urban design is something which has not been applied to these utopias.
• An interesting theme which I think will have great resonance on whatever topic I choose came from our housing lecturer last week. Basically the failures of high rise construction was because it was a large solution to a large problem. Taken from a purely macro-economic perspective the justification for this approach seems infallible, though consequently failed. Hence a mix between macro-economic and micro-economic approaches to our built environment inequalities would cover the vast plethora of issues and problems a macro solution brings up.
• Polarization of income groups in an area, for me, is the death of the integrated community. I have a gut feeling that this polarization was planned in Livingston. Through the course of the dissertation I want to find out if this is true and then try to establish how urban design can be used to retrofit a community with more of a social mix.
• Local, regional and national policies are a hotbed of proposals and quantities of offices and houses that need produced. A perfect resource for incentives to push towards whichever side of development requested.
• The balance between economic, social and environmental issues is crucial in such a large project. Perhaps break the whole thing into 3 main chapters? I will need to consult the textbooks...
• The RTPI Assessment of Professional Competence is another factor in this, reading through it with a view to how I could improve it in future is probably a great habit to get into. Hopefully this will improve the quality of my writing overall. It should also make the actual APC in 3 years time that little bit easier.

Cutting all that down into a single well worded sentence is going to be a herculean task. At least I am not struggling to find things to write about. Whether my lecturers will simply scoff and disagree with my approach is a different matter. Removing the proverbial digit from ones aperture is the key!

Dale

The Onus is on Ourselves

Planning is a slippery profession - It is hard to define. This is a great trait though, it means planning can mould to provide the most up to date needs of the urban landscape, be it urban utopia or planning enforcement. Through all levels of government and in every stage of the process, planning has a role to play in delivering a sustainable, prosperous and fair society.

There is however a stigma attached to planning. Michael Heseltine, conservative peer, famously said in the 1980's that planners had thousands of jobs "locked up in their filing cabinets"(1). The onus is on ourselves to prove this wrong, to prove we make informed fair and decisive decisions.

Dale

1. CHEVIN, D. 2007. Smith Institute [online]. [Accessed 22/03/2012] Available from World Wide Web: <http://www.smith-institute.org.uk/file/PlanningfortheFuture.pdf>