There are all kinds of ghost towns around the globe. There’s an abandoned city in Latvia that was up for auction. There are multiple small former communities in Antarctica, which are present day ghost towns. At one point, there was even a ghost town amusement park, abandoned in the heart of New Orleans. This past Tuesday, a Washington based technilogical co mpany mad e the big announcement of a new, modern day ghost town that sounds straight out of the movie- Back To The Future.
There is no doubt that this brand-spanking new “city of the future” would make Doc proud! New Mexico is already home to several of the nation’s premier scientific, nuclear and military institutions.
The 20-square-mile model of a small US city named “The Center,” will be used to test everything from renewable energy innovations to intelligent traffic systems, next-generation wireless networks and smart-grid cyber security systems. No one will live in The City but it will be modeled after a typical American town of 35,000 people, complete with highways, houses and commercial buildings, old and new.
The Center is an unprecedented science project that will allow private companies, not for profits, educational institutions and government agencies to test in a unique facility with real world infrastructure, allowing them to better understand the cost and potential limitations of new technologies. For instance, developers of solar technology will be able to assess exactly how their systems would best be delivered and used in one house where the thermostat is set at 78, and another where it’s set at 68. The center could also help show how efficient it might be in an old building versus a new one.
You can read more about the announcement of The Center on the Washington Post website by clicking here: