Copyright 2016 by Gary L. Pullman
With
few exceptions, American cities tended to establish themselves
slowly, over many years. Originally, they often clustered around
trading posts, forts, ferry crossings, trail heads, crossroads, or
mines. As business boomed, their populations swelled, and the
settlements expanded. Education and culture became increasingly
important, and schools, theaters, and other amenities appeared.
However,
this is not the case with a small group of settlements across the
globe. These towns were built by the United States, Mexico, China,
Australia, and ancient Egypt. Were they centers for top-secret
experiments or research? Homes to dissidents or outlaws? Evacuation
camps for use in time of war or in the event of a catastrophic
emergency?
The
answers to these questions are as surprising as the existence of the
government-built towns themselves.
10
Oak Ridge, Tennessee: Built to Build the Bomb
OakRidge, Tennessee, was built under a cloud of secrecy. Its purpose: to
assist in the The Manhattan Project's creation of the nation's first
atomic bomb. In 1942, the Army Corps of Engineers purchased 60,000
acres of farm land and constructed the town, which was intended to be
only “temporary.” Oak Ridge was home to “two
uranium-enrichment plants,” a “liquid thermal diffusion plant,”
and a “pilot plutonium production reactor.”
Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 1942
Pre-fab
housing, trailers, and dorms were envisioned as sufficient to house
the 13,000 personnel the town would employ, but, within a year, the
number of employees expanded by several thousand. Due to a lack of
funds, the town was made to conform to the surrounding terrain as
much as possible, and “kitchens faced the street to minimize the
length of plumbing and utility lines.” Since letters of the
alphabet designated the few types of housing designs, these homes
were known as “alphabet houses.”
Although
the Pentagon needed the bomb by 1945, a number of technical setbacks
threatened an already-tight schedule: leaking, misaligned vacuum
tanks; failed welds; malfunctioning circuits; shorted magnet coils;
and contaminated oil. However, these problems were solved,
and The Manhattan Project was a stupendous success.
9
Mercury, Nevada: Built to Test the Bomb
Located
five miles east of Interstate Highway 95 and 65 miles north of Las
Vegas, Nevada, Mercury is off-limits to the public. With good reason,
the military guards the town's only access: Mercury is located on the
Nevada Test Site, or the Nevada National Security Site, as it is now
called.
Mercury, Nevada
It
was here, in 1951, that the nation's first atomic tests were
conducted. To carry out these tests, the federal government needed
hundreds of personnel and a host of facilities to support them. As a
result, at a cost of $6.7 million, the Atomic Energy Commission built
the town and its “temporary quarters, utilities, warehouses, mess
halls, and administrative offices.”
Mercury
became a year-round test site during the 1960s, when the PlowshareProgram and the Nuclear Rocket Development Station were added to the
site. After an additional $15 million was spent in 1962 to expand
construction, 10,000 employees resided in Mercury. Communications,
health, medical, engineering, maintenance, repair, storage, dining,
leisure, and other facilities were added to accommodate the
additional residents, including an Olympic-size swimming pool, a
chapel, a bowling alley, a laundry, a library, a barber shop, a
service station, a bus service, a check-cashing service, and a
Western Union office. Residents also enjoyed a variety of
sports, including archery.
Today,
however, many of these facilities no longer exist or serve other
uses. Changes in Mercury's mission have reduced the number of
required employees and, therefore, the need for extended support.
8
Boulder City, Nevada: Built to Build a Dam
In
1930, U. S. Bureau of Reclamation surveyors and engineers descended
on the desert, 33 miles south of Las Vegas, Nevada, setting up
temporary survey camps. These camps attracted the attention of
down-and-out men who, hoping to secure work, swooped down on the
camps, with no more than the clothing on their backs and the hope of
attaining employment. Squatter camps sprang up overnight.
Boulder City, Nevada, 1930
To
house and keep watch on its workers, who had been hired to build the
Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, the Bureau decided to build a town
for them. Drinking, gambling, prostitution, and other vices were as
near away as Sin City, after all, and it was important to the
government to protect and control its employees, since sober workers
were not only safe, but also productive. Architect Saco Rink DeBoer
was hired to design the town, which was called Boulder City. As a result of its heritage, to this day, Boulder City prohibits
gambling.
7
Army's Mock City: Built for Wargaming
A
school. A mosque. A football stadium. An embassy. A bank. A
helicopter pad. A subway station. Bridges. These are possible targets
in the mock town built in 2004 by the United States Army on 300 acres
of Virginia soil for use in urban warfare training. Care was taken to
be as realistic as possible, down to the least details.
It
took two years to build the town and six years to develop it. Now,
the Army's Asymmetric Warfare Group uses it to train soldiers to
fight in an urban environment, which poses different challenges than
those encountered in natural terrain.
Army's Mock City
Among
other things, the mock town will allow soldiers to learn how to fight
“in a subterranean environment” and to “dismount a Humvee to
avoid an IED [improvised explosive device] strike.”
6
Woomera Village: Built to Test Weapons
Named
after an aboriginal spear-throwing device, Woomera Village,
established in 1947, provides housing for Royal Australian Air Force
(RAAF) personnel who perform secret work for the government, testing
weapons systems and unmanned aerial systems and launching rockets.
Until 2003, Woomera was also a detention center for refugees, who are
now held at the Baxter Detention Centre, near Port Augusta.
Woomera Range Complex
Part of the Woomera Range Complex, which is about the size of England, Woomera Village is located in the Australian outback in south-central Australia. Its original mission was to launch experimental British rockets during the Cold War.
The
town's Heritage and Visitor Information Centre features videos and
exhibitions about the area's history; its Missile Park displays
rockets, aircraft, and other weapons; and Baker Observatory allows
visitors to stargaze through a computer-controlled telescope.
5
The Sustainable City of Santiago el Pinar, Chiapas, Mexico: Built to
Better Lives
In Mexico, the state of Chiapas constructed over 100 homes so impoverished children could live better lives. The Sustainable Cityof Santiago el Pinar was the first of four such “model towns” intended to be built. It provided a factory as a workplace and “modern conveniences, better schools,” and health care. Mexico's president, Felipe Calderon, dedicated the town when it opened on March 29, 2011.
The Sustainable City
of Santiago el Pinar
Unfortunately,
the town did not survive beyond the third anniversary of its
construction. Family and culture were more important to the children
and their families, some contend, than the opportunities the new town
offered. Others suggest that the gas needed for the houses' stoves
was too expensive and that the houses themselves were too small.
Since
the city took possession of the town from the state, the two have
disagreed about who is responsible for paying the bills, causing some
residents to lose electricity or other utilities. Worse yet, an
architect who has studied the town contends that the houses may notsurvive more than 20 years at most, due to the region's high humidity
and the houses' construction. However, the Mexican government has not
given up on its dream to better the lives of its poor citizens. All
that is needed, officials say, is a more diversified economy than a
factory could provide, community involvement, and a better vision for
the future.
4
Tianducheng, China: Built for the Future
There's a replica of the Eiffel
Tower at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, but who knew there is
also a replica of this celebrated structure in China? The original
landmark, on the Champ de Mars, has also inspired a 354-foot-tall
copy in Tianducheng, in China's Zhejiang Province. There are also
copies of the Arc de Triomphe, European villas, and the fountains in
the Palace of Versailles' fabulous gardens. Once the third phase of
construction is finished, “a country club, a school, and a
hospital” will be added.
Tianducheng, China
The
19-square-mile town can house as many as 100,000 residents, but, five
years after its initial construction, it had a population of only
2,000.
China
has only begun to Westernize by building towns featuring European
landmarks and artifacts. Thames Town includes Georgian and Victorian
homes, complete with terraces, and Italian and German towns are being
built as well. East may be east, and west may be west, but
it seems, in China's newest towns, at least, the twain surely have
met.
3
Chinese-built Towns in Angola: Built to House the Homeless
In
addition to Tianducheng, Thames Town, and other settlements, China
is also building several towns in Angola in order to house the
African nation's homeless. The expansion of both population and
urbanization have created a problem for Angola's long-neglected
cities. Homes are in short supply. To solve this problem, Angola and
China have formed a partnership to build new towns surrounding
established communities.
Nova Cidade de Kilamba
Using
funds obtained from oil-backed loans, Chinese financial institutions
have already financed the construction of Nova Cidade de Kilamba
(Kilamba's New City), 30 miles from Angola's capital, Luanda, and
many others continue to be built. A few challenges have
been encountered. Angolans are not necessarily sold on living
vertically, in the government-built towns' high-rise buildings;
housing costs were set too high to be affordable to many Angolans;
sales procedures are complex; and infrastructure and basic public
services are in short supply.
If
such difficulties can be overcome and the program is successful, it
may be extended to other areas of Africa in which homes are
unavailable to the many people who need places to live.
2
Mock City: Built to Test Self-Driving Cars
A
state, rather than a federal government, is building the 32-acre mock city near Ann Harbor, Michigan. Financed by Michigan State
University, the local government, and automobile manufacturers, the
model town, as yet nameless, is being built to test “connected”
(“network-linked”) self-driving cars.
In
addition to automakers, “telecommunications, freight companies, big
data management, traffic control, suppliers, insurance, [and] smart
parking” businesses are likely to have a stake in the outcome of
the research. The self-driven cars may also have environmental and
health and safety benefits, “cutting down on traffic, pollution,
and collisions,” which is why state and local governments are
willing to pony up taxpayers' dollars to help fund the experiment.
1
Akhenaten. Egypt: Built as an Ancient Nation's Capital (Complete with
an “HOA”)
Most
ancient cities developed more by happenstance than by design, but the
ancient Egyptian town named for the pharaoh who built it, Akhenaten,
was unusual in being a planned community. In planning what would
become the nation's capital city, its designers intentionally
included public spaces, complete with trees and gardens, with
residential areas running northeast and southwest of the central
government buildings. Although much of Akhenaten was without walls,
the temples, the palace—itself a miniature village—and the
administrative offices were protected by such structures. Broad
avenues, “suitable for processions,” connected the temple at the
town's center with the rest of the community, and the temple's walls
could provide protection to royals and city residents alike in the
event of an attack.
Layout of ancient Akhenaten, Egypt
Akhenaten's
residents were governed by a homeowners' association of sorts: they
were not free to do as they pleased with their own property; rather,
they had to take into consideration the “rights and wishes” of
their neighbors, compromising with them when necessary, as the
“Contract between Taheb, daughter of Padineferhotep, and Pamerakh,
son of Djehutiirdi” makes clear. After stipulating what would be
done in constructing a house and how it would affect the neighbor,
one builder states, “If I do not
act according to what has been said above, then I shall pay you 5
pieces of silver . . . If you hinder my building, then I will act
according to what has been said above . . . .”
Ancient
Egypt gave the world many fine traditions; unfortunately, for some,
the HOA may not be one of them. (Thanks, Akhenaten!)
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