The new development in Valencia, Spain, harkens back to a 1,000-year-old way of life, integrating small agricultural lands with housing, using a modern, high-rising twist.
The new neighborhood's development will be a stark contrast to the typical dense and paved Spanish housing developments in the eastern coastal city of Valencia. Green space and farmable land will be heavily incorporated into this new neighborhood, to be called Sociopolis, as construction continues over the nest three years.
The sustainable design has caught the attention of many in the housing market, and the architecture has garnered international acclaim. Two of the housing designs were chosen as representative of the best Spanish architecture for a recent exhibition at New York's Museum of Modern Art.
"Sociopolis has taken its inspiration from the typical Valencian huerta, or market garden region, where small farms share irrigation systems to grow their fruit and vegetables. Irrigation channels dug by the Moorish inhabitants of the region more than 1,000 years ago are to be used to water Sociopolis and allow the residents to combine life in a tower block at up to 20 storeys with allotment-style gardening. The project will provide about 2,800 'affordable' homes in a country where house prices have left many young people out of the market."
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