Participatory Co-Design & Proactive Balance for Regenerative Futures

“Oceans should be viewed as bodies of water that connect people, cultures, and nations, not separate them.”

Professor Ramsay Taum, Blue Continent

Oceans Month is almost over but the life beneath the surface continues to thrive. Our oceans are our greatest teachers of collaboration. This month we’ve been in awe of our underwater friends and their ability to move together & protect each other. 

At Future of Cities headquarters we’ve been focusing our attention on Ecological Balance, our giving and receiving, ebbing and flowing, slowing down to listen to the wisdom that lies at the depths of the oceans, beneath our soils, in the rays of the sun & through the powers of the wind. 

Preserving our planet’s ecosystems involves deep listening, participatory co-design, co-creation, collaboration and the implementation of varied practices and technologies for maintaining an active balance within the built environment. There is no one size fits all solution and cohabitating requires cooperation.

Ecological balance…

A foundational principle of our Regenerative Placemaking framework is “ecological balance.” Ecological balance is fundamental to mitigating biodiversity loss and securing a more sustainable future for the next seven generations. Within ecological balance we honor our past to teach us how to harmoniously adapt & coexist with the various climate changes at hand in the present. The intricacies of ecosystems is a complex web of interconnectedness which requires active participation and continuous balancing for lasting change. 

This month, as we immerse ourselves in the oceans of change, we’ve been wondering, with all that the ocean selflessly provides for us, in what ways can we continue to innovate and give back to our oceans? 

As conscientious stewards of digital technology & ecological policymaking, we have a shared responsibility to deploy efforts and resources to preserve indigenous cultures while simultaneously recognizing, honoring and amplifying the immense contributions that indigenous leaders and communities are continuing to make towards modern technological advancements. 

At the end of May we gathered for a historic geopolitical event with some of our close partners and global leaders at the ChoZen eco-retreat for a roundtable on regenerative technologies and cultural identity. Our Future of Cities team joined in a land blessing, with prayers led by Hawaiian indigenous leader and professor Ramsay Taum.

During their time at ChoZen, Blue Continent Institute generously shared with us their visions and goals on cultural respect and identity, passing on perspectives of island states and their depth of understanding for the importance of ecological balance beginning with the ocean. 

The wisdom that the ocean carries gifts us many insights, beyond water as natural wonders or utility for human transactions, and instead takes us on a much deeper journey to look within ourselves for the inner knowing that we are made of the ocean and are not separate from it. 

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Future of Cities and Cho Ventures invest in OpenSeed to Bring Tech-Enabled Meditation Pods to Millions

An engaged, healthy, and mindful workforce can truly achieve anything. But now imagine you are a company committed to creating mental wellbeing for your employees, but do not have the room or resources to build or transform a space that will help them achieve this goal in your workplace. That is where OpenSeed solves this problem.

Future of Cities in partnership with Cho Ventures, LP (Tony Cho’s family office) is excited to announce our investment in OpenSeed. Backed by personal transformation visionary Deepak Chopra and world-renowned designer Yves Behar, OpenSeed has developed tech-enabled, prefabricated meditation pods for the workplace (and other public environments) that integrate sound, music, lighting, and aromatherapy to quickly induce calm and facilitate higher states of awareness.

The investment in OpenSeed adds another impact-focused start-up to our roster which champions and catalyzes conscious companies, founders, and allies in the climate, mobility, mindfulness, prop, smart city, and Web3 tech ecosystem focused on ESG outcomes shaping more equitable and resilient cities.

“Supporting OpenSeed to bring meditation to millions of people in busy environments that normally foster frenetic energy and a constant state of stress aligns with our mission to improve living and working in the urban built environment,” said Tony Cho, Future of Cities founder. “The pod blends function and form flawlessly. I believe in the vision of OpenSeed founder Jonathan Marcoschamer and the chance to join this company on their journey is an exciting opportunity.”

In addition, OpenSeed will be joining Future of Cities at our new co-working space and innovation complex in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood, which is scheduled to open later this year.

“We are honored to have Future of Cities and Cho Ventures on board our mission to bring meditation pods to millions of people in the workplace and other environments.  Although meditation is a powerful tool for alleviating stress and elevating mental health, many companies are lagging behind in creating the proper spaces for it in the workplace. In fact, only 17% of the workplace employees have access to relaxation rooms, including spaces conducive to meditation,” said Jonathan Marcoschamer, CEO & Founder, OpenSeed.

Marcoschamer added, “Tony Cho and his team are the type of value-added investors whom we continue to seek in order to build a strong foundation for our company. Together with strategic investors and well-known partners like Deepak Chopra, we have launched an equity crowdfunding campaign on WeFunder to provide anyone with the opportunity to invest, join us on this journey, and benefit from the upside.”

The OpenSeed investment follows our backing of Dance, a premium e-bike service that aims to make cities more sustainable, active, and connected. Future of Cities is committed to incubating and accelerating founders, companies and technologies that are can rapidly innovate the built environment. 

Shaping America’s Role in the Post-COVID World

On March 4th, 2022, Future of Cities participated in the annual digitally mediated Horasis USA meeting. The meeting focused on the United States’ future and how it impacts the rest of the world. With 750 speakers and more than 150 sessions, it was an insightful event that resulted in numerous proposed ideas to positively shape the future of our world.

Tony Cho, CEO and founder of Future of Cities, was on a panel centered around the complexities of new urbanization—chaired by Timothy J. Nichol of Liverpool John Moores University—with Antonio Cantalapiedra of Woonivers, Mayor Eugene W. Grant of Seat Pleasant, Maxim Kiselev of Skoltech, and Avi Rabinovitch of Creative Links.

About Horasis: Horasis is a “global visions community committed to inspiring our future” and offers leaders and companies a platform to go global.

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Co-creating a Regenerative Future

The worlds of architecture and design, climate science, and cryptocurrency converged at ChoZen Retreat in central Florida this February, birthing a vision for what is possible for the future of our planet, and our species.

Anchored with keynotes from Bjarke Ingels, founder of BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group), and Marc Collins Chen, founder of Oceanix, the Future of Cities Regenerative Futures retreat brought together luminaries from every corner of the globe for catalytic conversations around regenerative placemaking. 

Content centered around joint project Oceanix, the floating-city brainchild of Ingalls and Chen, which has been blessed by the U.N. Habitat committee as a possible solution to managed retreat, the impending phenomenon of population migration away from coastal lowlands to higher inland ground as a result of sea level rise. Presenting a vision not only for a new type of habitation, but also a new type of society–Ingalls and Chen sparked the imagination of attendees, ranging from entrepreneurs and investors, to real estate developers and technologists. 

Additional talks were given in-person by Xavier Hawk, CEO of Phireon Global Partners, Crypto-pioneers Amanda Cassat and Sam Cassat, currently the founder & CEO of Serotonin, and the founder at Aligned Capital, respectively, David Gong, policy researcher at CBRI, and Dr. Sarah Manksi, technologist, scholar and professor at George Mason University. Together, the group explored how blockchain technology provides new tools for reinventing our present societal systems of power, sovereignty, and the transfer of wealth, and could empower a new world governance system piloted by an independent city such as Oceanix.

Ximena Caminos, founder and artistic director for the Reef Line, and Chris Castro, the director of sustainability for the City of Orlando, joined to converse about the role of both technology and art in shaping regenerative spaces right here in Florida. Dignitaries Victor Kisob, former UN Assistant Secretary General, and Mayor Park Heong-Joon of South Korea, also joined to offer thoughts on how governments can support progress and innovation being pioneered in this arena.

A closing talk from Daniel Schmachtenberger inspired listeners to imagine what is possible when reinventing civilization itself–and forming an order built on a decentralized, digital governance system by which individuals could be held organically accountable and in balance with one another.

SESSION I – Introduction to Regenerative Futures  

ABOUT: Our first session kicked off an introduction to regenerative futures, highlighting the vision of a regenerative future in Florida, a region with at-risk geography to sea-level rise and flooding.  With the devastating effects of climate change, declining biodiversity, and widening inequality globally, inclusive and effective tools like regenerative placemaking are needed as catalysts towards a sustainable future. The conversation touched on global environmental challenges, and identified place-based and community-driven solutions. We discussed how we can take concrete steps towards effective cultural, political, and ecological changes were answered.

Welcome by Tony Cho, CEO of Future of Cities. Introduction to regenerative placemaking as a tool for urban transformation within the built environment. Lead discussion into what regenerative futures are and the vision of a regenerative future in Florida.

Transition by Victor Kisob,  former UN Assistant Secretary-General and former Deputy Executive Director of UN-Habitat who discussed the global challenge of doubling the built environment in the next 40 years and what this means for coastal cities like Lagos, Nigeria or Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, both projected to have over 50 million residents by 2060.

Final discussion about some global regenerative solutions by Bjarke Ingels of Masterplanet and Bjarke Ingels Group, his vision and some sample global projects. 

Open discussion with in-person and virtual attendees.

About the Speakers: 

SESSION II – Emergent Technology Solutions: The Promise of Blockchain, DAOs and Web3 as tools for a more equitable, resilient & Regenerative Future. 

ABOUT: The promise of blockchain to decentralize and democratize access to real assets, including real estate has the potential to dramatically disrupt the built environment and help to create a more equitable future for all of humanity. DAOs, NFTs & Web3 offer new opportunities for co-designing regenerative futures that allow for more inclusive participation and full transparency. In this session, experts explored current ideas, thinking and platforms that are accelerating this transition from the current paradigm to a new paradigm with the potential to dramatically impact our future.

Xavier Hawk – CEO of Phireon Global Partners

Amanda Cassatt – Serotonin Co-founder & CEO 

Sam Cassatt – Founder at Aligned Capital

Dr. Sarah Manski, Assistant Professor, Business/Global Affairs at GMU researching the Political Economy of Blockchain Technology

Open discussion with virtual and in-person attendees

About the Speakers: 

SESSION III – Sustainable Solutions for a Resilient Florida /Sustainable Policy Framework + OCEANIX + ReefLine

ABOUT: In our final session, we discussed and explored sustainable solutions and progressive policies right here in Florida and projects like OCEANIX as potential solutions. As a state on the frontlines of rising sea levels and flooding, Florida has been home to many innovative solutions to improve flood resilience.

One of these ideas is that of a floating city which may seem like a utopia, but today, the first self-sustained and resilient floating city is on the way in Busan, South Korea. OCEANIX is a UN-backed project that is proposing a floating, sustainable urban infrastructure to host 10,000 people on the water. Is this the future of resilience in Florida? Join Chris Castro, Director of Sustainability of Orlando, Marc Collins Chen, Co-founder and CEO of OCEANIX, and Mayor Park Heong-Joon of Busan as they delve deeper into sustainable solutions for climate resilience.

Chris Castro, Director of Sustainability City of Orlando, introduced the latest sustainable breakthroughs for Orlando and Florida at large and set the stage for other demonstration projects. 

Marc Collins Chen, Co-founder and CEO of OCEANIX City, introduced OCEANIX City and the Busan, South Korea, sustainable floating city prototype project.  Floating cities are a new approach to flood resilience, climate adaptation and community development.

Ximena Caminos, Founder and Artistic Director of The Reef Line – introduced The Reef line, a unique project that brings attention to and mitigates the dangers of climate change in Miami Beach, while simultaneously enriching the city’s vivid art scene.  

Mayor Park Heong- Joon of Busan, South Korea, spoke about his vision for his city, which is a candidate for Expo 2030, under the theme “Transforming Our World, Navigating Toward a Better Future.” He also discussed the importance of attracting innovations such as blockchain and floating cities to Busan.

Daniel Schmachtenberger, founder of The Consilience Project, spoke on the opportunities of prototyping closed-loop, full-stack civilizations from scratch on the ocean, before becoming an interplanetary species.

Tony Cho: Closing – Why Florida can lead regenerative future urbanization to connect to the land, ocean and space.

Open discussion with in-person and virtual attendees.

About the Speakers: 

Co-authored by Future of Cities and Design Science Studio

We have faced numerous pivotal events throughout history that have forced behavioral changes. The “Black Death” plague was one of these events: deadly sickness and the absence of advanced technology preceded the rebirth era. The Renaissance was an era of change. It led to the rise of inspiring ideas, flourishing art, and the reinvention of principles and social structures. 

Today, we can draw parallels with the “Black Death” Plague and Covid19: a deadly virus that has forced a global reawakening in all aspects of life. The virus caused us to re-evaluate how we interact, build, and relate to nature.  Covid19 has caused us to recognize that the status quo is not working. We have spiraled into a generation of over industrialization, othering, and environmental degradation. We need to re-evaluate our systemic relationships from our urban systems to our larger ecosystems and make these sustainable.

We are living with failing social, ecological, and economic systems that call for a sustainable rebirth. 

We need a movement that disrupts the failing status quo. A movement that nurtures the rethinking of our governance and energy sources, reinventing our built environment, and more importantly, recapturing the ethos of our civilization. We need a movement that recognizes the importance of life-centered design and how it is a necessity; a new era of rebirth, The Regenaissance, one that fosters systems of radical change. Visionaries, designers, artists, and people of all walks of life need to come together to fuel this new narrative, as no one is left behind.

The Regenaissance will inspire a collective effort towards regenerative design and systems thinking. This means understanding that everything in our world is interconnected and that we should design systems understanding how changes in one part affects the others. Our current apparatus encourages the survival of the fittest mentality that we need to rid ourselves of. We need to embrace a cross-system collaboration to improve the quality of life and regeneration of societal resources. The Regenaissance will use regenerative placemaking as a tool to foster self-sustaining ecological, social, and economic systems through local co-creation. 

Our society needs to abandon the practices of alienation of nature as we are seeing and feeling the consequences globally of climate change. Our resources are finite, and our generated waste is constant. The Regenaissance will feature the meaningful inclusion of nature based solutions, which means creating things inspired by nature’s design and incorporating nature into our buildings, using less concrete and more natural materials, rekindling ourselves to nature and using sustainable materials but not to greenwash our brands or institutions. It will rekindle our relationship with nature through learning from it and interweaving it into our life processes.

Design-led approaches, like art and storytelling, will present transformational and measurable change in our cities. We have witnessed the power of art in evoking action throughout history; art can inspire, unite, and reconstruct the world today. The art of the Regenaissance can help us rethink how we live, create sustainable cities, and drive collective action towards a better future.

As the world becomes more interconnected through technological advancements, the need for governments to build international coalitions and create economic frameworks is necessary for countries to remain stable. Not only does economic statecraft and diplomacy help countries recover from financial crises, it also steers governmental policies and regulations towards economic reforms by providing jobs for its citizens and receiving investment from overseas. The use of economic diplomacy is essential for countries looking to provide economic security and equity in the 21st century. In these upcoming sessions, business leaders and government leaders will discuss the avenues in which the private sector can work closely with the public sector to create a purpose-driven environment for its citizens.

The Speakers

Anousheh Ansari
CEO, XPRIZE

Jonathan Reckford
CEO, Habitat for Humanity

Tony Cho
CEO & Founder, Future of Cities

Barbara Humpton
President and CEO, Siemens Corporation USA

Sam Katiela
CEO & Founder, Mamemo Consulting

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The inaugural Future of Cities global virtual think tank program – Rewilding Cities – presented in collaboration with NewCities Foundation, powered by

Featuring Deepak Chopra, founder of The Chopra Foundation and bestselling author; David Holmgren, co-originator of the global Permaculture movement and founder of Holmgren Design; Jeanne Gang, distinguished global architect and Principal of Studio Gang; Tony Cho, Founder of Future of Cities. and Amanda Joy Ravenhill, Executive Director of Buckminster Fuller Institute.

Special interstitial creative performances from the Design Science Studio, an educational incubator for artists exploring Buckminster Fuller’s principles of Design Science.

Before society unthinkingly returns to “normal,” how can we seize this moment to decarbonize and “rewild” our cities, resetting our relationship with nature? If there is one thing the last year has taught us, it’s the pressing need for greater access to public green space — our wellbeing and the health of our environment depends on it.

Featured speakers —

Deepak Chopra, Luminary & Bestselling Author

Deepak is founder of The Chopra Foundation, a non-profit entity for research on well-being and humanitarianism, and Chopra Global, a modern-day health company at the intersection of science and spirituality, is a world-renowned pioneer in integrative medicine and personal transformation. Chopra is a Clinical Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of California, San Diego and serves as a senior scientist with Gallup Organization. He is author of over 89 books translated into over forty-three languages, including numerous New York Times bestsellers. His 90th book and national bestseller, Metahuman: Unleashing Your Infinite Potential (Harmony Books), unlocks the secrets to moving beyond our present limitations to access a field of infinite possibilities. Daily Breath with Deepak receive the 2020 Webby Award for Podcast in Health and Wellness. TIME magazine has described Dr. Chopra as “one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century.”

David Holmgren, Co-Originator of Permaculture

David Holmgren is the co-originator of the permaculture concept following publication of Permaculture One, co-authored with Bill Mollison in 1978. David is globally recognised as a leading ecological thinker, teacher, writer and speaker promoting permaculture as a realistic, attractive and powerful alternative to dependent consumerism. Other key publications include Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability (2002) and Future Scenarios: How Communities Can Adapt To Peak Oil and Climate Change (2009), RetroSuburbia: The Downshifter’s Guide to a Resilient Future (2018) and most recently, Our Street (2020).

Jeanne Gang, Distinguished Global Architect

Jeanne Gang, FAIA, is the founding principal and partner of Studio Gang, an architecture and urban design practice headquartered in Chicago with offices in New York, San Francisco, and Paris. Her inquisitive, forward-looking approach to design—unique in its pursuit of new technical and material possibilities as well as in its expansion of the active role of designers in society—has distinguished her as a leading architect of her generation. Drawing insight from ecological systems, she creates striking places that connect people with each other, their communities, and the environment. Her studio’s diverse, award-winning work includes major projects throughout the Americas and Europe, ranging from community-centered cultural institutionsA MacArthur Fellow and a Professor in Practice at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Jeanne has been honored with the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award in Architecture and was named one of the most influential people in the world by TIME magazine.

Amanda Joy Ravenhill, Buckminster Fuller Institute

Amanda Joy Ravenhill is an active member of the international community focused on addressing imminent global challenges. She is the Executive Director of Buckminster Fuller Institute, where she is accelerating the design science revolution, applying the principles of science to the design of a future that meets the needs of 100% of life. Ravenhill is driven by her experience living and working internationally as well as her enthusiasm to integrate art and science. She lectures and speaks publicly on such wide-ranging topics as biochar, regenerative design, carbon drawdown strategies, mindfulness, and systems thinking. She is deeply inspired by the life of Buckminster Fuller and his goal to “make the world work for 100% of humanity in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological offense or disadvantage to anyone”.

Tony Cho, Future of Cities

Tony Cho is founder and CEO of Metro 1, a forward-thinking real estate brokerage, management and development firm focused on shaping neighborhoods and developing sustainable cities in South Florida and beyond. The company has completed over $2.5 billion in real estate transactions since 2005 and has been recognized every year since 2011 as one of the top 25 commercial real estate firms by South Florida Business Journal. As an entrepreneur and early pioneer in Wynwood, Tony served as a founding member of the Wynwood Business Improvement District (BID), and championed the progressive rezoning of the area — known as the Wynwood NRD (Neighborhood Redevelopment Plan) — which transformed blighted streets into a diverse, 24-hour mixed-use arts and entertainment district. In 2011, Tony was awarded the prestigious Young Leader of the Year Award from the Urban Land Institute for his role in the redevelopment of Miami’s urban core neighborhoods.