Proposal for policy on Territorial Expansion

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Diderot Mirabeau
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Proposal for policy on Territorial Expansion

Post by Diderot Mirabeau »

Hey fellow Simpletons

I've made a very rough draft trying to outline a framework for what could be our position on territorial expansion. If you could look through it and possibly enrich/clarify/correct/simplify it I'd much appreciate it.

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Territorial expansion has become one of the CDS' defining features. When done properly it brings together the best aspects of the CDS - citizen involvement, creative artisanship, team efforts and holistically oriented governance.

The defining characteristic of successful CDS territorial expansion is thus not the pace at which it happens: Other communities have grown faster than us.

CDS territorial expansion is qualitatively significant. It involves a great deal of planning, citizen involvement and enthusiasm to even get off the ground. But when it does the results are at the forefront of what you can experience in SL.

The Simplicity Party believes that the best way to perform territorial expansion is to continue the process that has proven itself two times now - most recently with the addition of Colonia Nova to the republic.

At the same time we believe however that the process can be improved somewhat in three areas:

[b:1v86e9v3]1. Honouring and rewarding participating artisans[/b:1v86e9v3]

Whereas builders participating in the Colonia Nova effort have had the option to be compensated for their efforts or to be satisfied with the learning experience and the opportunity to put work on a private sim under their belt we believe we can do more. Specifically:

- Honour builders by reserving a specific part of a new sim to commemoration of their efforts be it a shrine, street name(s), stars in the pavement, a triumphal arch or similar.

- Offer participating non-citizen builders wanting to be part of the community they created but unable to finance it themselves a stipend to enable them to participate in the community they helped create.

[b:1v86e9v3]2. Introducing innovative co-financing of new sims[/b:1v86e9v3]

People's desire to contribute to the financing of our new sim efforts on an investment basis have been overwhelming and impressive and proved to me more than adequate for the financing of the Colonia Nova sim. However, if we are to continue to be bold, daring and innovative with regard to our expansion it is necessary that we also consider alternative options for financing sims that may not have as commercially viable. We should therefore be open to considering establishing new sims as part of a joint venture with interested parties, who wish to benefit from the publicity, resources and government apparatus of our community while being able to bring something unique to the new sim. Principally, there would be nothing wrong in partnering up with established land barons or content providers as long as the new sim is
(a) Territorially connected to the CDS
(b) Under the full political, legislative and judicial sovereignty of the CDS
(c) and that all residents of the new sim become citizens of the CDS

Partnering with third parties in the areas of content ahead of sim expansion may also bring about a greater certainty of commercial activity and thus of traffic to the new sim instead of the approach so far where we have more or less let it be up to individual merchants to realise the benefits of setting up shop in the sim after the fact of its establishment and planning.

Additionally, we should not be afraid to try out concepts that break the mold of the typical "urban concentration within a particular theme" template that we have applied so far. Void sims offering large areas of natural beauty and recreative value may well prove to be an attractive additional asset to our community within financial reach if coupled with the establishment on each sim of one luxury residence and there is no better moment than now to colonise the periphery of our existing sims before the neighbouring sims start to encroach upon us by way of their natural expansion.

[b:1v86e9v3]3. Placing a greater emphasis on the community aspects of new sim zoning[/b:1v86e9v3]

The Colonia Nova sim was originally planned with as little as 10% publicly owned spaces but has apparently reached break even at as low as 50% occupancy rate. Since the CDS was always about being a community and since public areas are one of the ways in which a community can be actively facilitated in world it is our belief that we can allow ourselves to plan with a higher proportion of publicly owned areas in future sim expansion. Especially if these areas contribute to an innovation of the meaning of "public space" beyond the traditional categories of "chat house", "lecture hall", "meeting room" and "decorative prop". We have had trouble realising cultural institutions, games venues and fairs in the past and should try to improve ourselves in this aspect by involving third parties in the realisation of new sims - either as partners in the expansion effort or as an independent team of "event providers".

[b:1v86e9v3]Replacing franchulation with a commonwealth[/b:1v86e9v3]
Finally, the idea of Franchulates as a vessel of territorial expansion does not seem to have caught on with the SL community at large. This may well be because it offers no clear benefits for anyone in exchange for giving up ownership of one's land or that there is noone responsible for driving the process. In either case it is the view of The Simplicity Party that the Franchulates act is not a vital nor a thriving part of our setup and that the expansive potential it offers is better addressed by advocating and facilitating the idea of territorially based, democratic governance within the broad context of a Commonwealth organisation for democratic communites within SL.

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