About Orchid City

Reinventing the future of living

"The world is looking for answers. Sustainability has become the most prevalent challenge in policy and business strategy. The time is ripe for visions that go beyond single-issue solutions, that address an essential change in the foundations of how we live, work, produce, play, and prosper.

The best way we can achieve this is if we combine the benefits of a multitude of solutions in a holistic blueprint of a new way of living. That is what this project is about. We developed a blueprint for a fully self-sustaining city, where all daily needs are met, including social, environmental, financial, and material. An open city, in full interaction with the rest of the world, yet that functions fundamentally differently.

An inspiring place that offers a large part of our world population a perspective on a healthy, exciting, livable future.”

- Tom Bosschaert, Director of Except.

An answer to the great challenge of our time

Orchid City is a design blueprint of a living environment that answers several of the most pressing global issues of our time. Orchid City doesn't try to solve problems. Instead, it asks the question: what would an ideal living environment be like? By doing so, it addresses the majority of the 17 United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs).

To name some highlights, Orchid City provides for its community:

All energy, year round, from renewables sources, saving over 140% of carbon footprint per person compared to average housing areas
All food, satisfying the full dietary needs of a healthy lifestyle, grown with regenerative agriculture
All daily services and program, including schools, workplaces, care, shops, culture, and entertainment. No need to use a car.
Climate-adaptive, regenerative ecosystems, health and biodiversity boosting landscape
Affordable housing, generation proof for seniors, starters, and students
Meaningful job creation, from production to offices, bio-based products, construction materials, textiles, and ceramics.

“Why not? Why not imagine how we could really live in this world? All of us? With the technology we have today, the desires most of us share, the wealth that nature offers us… how can we shape a real, great future for us to flourish?”

– Tom Bosschaert

REGENERATIVE NATURE & FOOD PRODUCTION

SELF-SUFFICIENT COMMUNITIES POWERED BY ECOSYSTEM SERVICES

Orchid City regenerates nature, and our relationship with the natural environment. It is entirely self sufficient in terms of food, energy, water, and waste processing, relying 100% on ecosystem services.

Self-sufficient in food, energy, waste & water. A person living in Orchid City not only lives entirely carbon-neutral for all essential services, it actually fixes 40% of carbon into the soil and nature.

Sustainable agriculture through agroforestry, permaculture, and aquaculture, with 100% of essential food needs met

Advanced organic greenhouses supply fresh fruit and vegetables all year round, with highly efficient and water-saving hydroponic systems

Constructed wetlands and helophyte filters as biodiverse purification systems, as 100% self sufficient decentralized waste water management

Biodiversity preservation and restoration, using landscape regeneration practices and industry

Circular nutrient cycles, recapturing phosphate, reducing or eliminating the need for fertilizers, while generating energy

“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference and you have to decide what kind of a difference you want to make.”
- Jane Goodall

rediscover your happiness & wellbeing

FIND THE LIFE YOU DESERVE TO LIVE

A rediscovered life, in and with nature. with a focus on wellbeing. A healthy life means more than just conscious living. It requires a healthy and happy community as much as the individual. Orchid City supports mental and physical health, with essential services and community programs, for all.

Mental and physical health programs

Public parks, sports, and outdoor activities

Entertainment and leisure

Research and business center

Educational institutions

Elderly care

Daycare facilities & schools

“The best way to predict the future, is to invent it.”
- Alan Kay

reconnecting people through generations

A VIBRANT AND DIVERSE COMMUNITY WHERE EVERYONE CAN STAY CONNECTED.

A rediscovered life, in and with nature, connected to the community, from the start of life to the very end, for all. Orchid City re-imagines living by creating a safe, unique, and exciting place to live and work, for now and for in the future. Together.

Trans-generational living

Community services and program

Safe, generation-proof homes

Commute by bike or public transport

Financial support for startups

Social housing

Workshop centers

“The Future depends on what you do today.”
- Mahatma Gandhi

Circular food

A complete healthy and balanced diet is catered for in Orchid City with agricultural systems right inside the neighborhood. These are professionally managed, voluntarily supported by the community, and offer organic, safe, and plentiful food year round.

To provide inhabitants with a complete and healthy diet, a large variety of food is produced. The cultivation methods and produce selection are adjusted to local culture and yearly variations.

Organic polyculture agriculture & agro forestry

Greenhouses

Silviocultures

Aquaculture

Professionally managed, year round

built on a scalable dynamic model

Orchid City can match in scale corresponding to the availability of space, the ambition of the partners, and the demand for sustainable developments. Orchid City proves its self-sufficiency in terms of staying resilient, autonomous, and harmonious, where it contributes tremendously to a sustainable society.