Auroville - A Universal City in the Making

The first place I'll be traveling to after I arrive in Bangalore and get my paperwork sorted is Auroville!  Its a city near Pondicherry in the south of India, that is trying to reach a goal of sustaining the livelihoods of 50,000 people.  Once it is completed, this is what it will look like:

This is a community that concentrates on human unity through celebrating diversity.  The people there concentrate on transforming human consciousness away from materialism towards spirituality and living in harmony with nature.  There is a lot of research taking place about living sustainably to fulfill all the needs of their community.

Some of the technologies that they have and are already using include: electric bicycles and motorcycles, a solar kitchen, rainwater harvesting on buildings, solar water heaters, and wind energy.  A lot of the buildings there were made from Earth blocks (made mostly of mud and sand) or Ferro-Cement (made with chicken mesh, cement, and sand), both environmentally friendly and low-maintenance forms of building. 

The main landmark of this community is the Matrimadir, the center golf-ball looking building.  It's both a temple on the inside and an energy source from the solar panels it has lining the outside.

More pictures to come once I actually get there!