A network city is a highly aligned community that runs its operations digitally on the blockchain — whether its governance, the housing market, resources, city treasury — and it is the central coordination point of the city. I will focus on funding allocation.

The Issue and Solution

Network cities can be the solution to the issues of economic inequity. Equity is defined as ​“the state, quality or ideal of being just, impartial and fair,” and it “recognizes that each person has different circumstances and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.”

Instead of leaving funding (e.g. our taxes) in the hands of politicians, funding can be adequately dispersed in terms of priority. In this way, funding can be used to address structural inequity and economic disparity. Politicians make big promises but are not transparent where funding is used, however, in a network city, funding can be automatically distributed according to a trustless funding system on the blockchain.

Examples of Redistributed Funding

Building Equitable Infrastructure

“Infrastructure is the physical framework upon which the an economy operates, and our standard of living depends.” From a historical context, cities have done a poor job of maintaining infrastructure in low-income neighborhoods and have long ignored requests to build more green spaces or provide solutions to food deserts. With a network city, infrastructure can be designed to prioritize neglected populations or to “address existing backlogs to basic services.” A trustless funding mechanism can lead to a thriving economy in all neighborhoods.

If we had a network city in place in the U.S. on a national level, problems like the water crisis in Flint, Michigan or Jackson, Mississippi could have been averted. These crises follow years of failure to fix basic systems.

Providing Equitable Education

In the U.S., children from low income families attended school districts with roughly the same amount of funding as middle or high income districts, however, the same (equal) funding is not equity. Low-income districts need more school funding depending on many different factors. A funding system can be created, for example, to allocate assistance via more funding based going towards schools with lower average test scores.

Ending the Gender Pay Gap

Last year (2021), in the US, women earned 83% of what men did. At the aggregate level — within a workplace, town, or “network city” — admin and labour force data can help identify when gender wage gaps occur and their causes. A network city can level the playing field for women by increasing pay transparency, where this trustless system can help standardize equal pay for equal work.

Conclusion

In a network city, it can be transparent where money is spent. It is important to note that although “money is a variable — it’s not the end all, be all, but without the money, you’re already starting the race miles back from everyone else.”

SOURCES

https://www.marinhhs.org/sites/default/files/boards/general/equality_v._equity_04_05_2021.pdf

https://infrastructurereportcard.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/FTA_Econ_Impacts_Status_Quo-1.pdf

https://www.chalkbeat.org/2022/8/25/23318969/school-funding-inequality-child-poverty-covid-relief

https://www.aauw.org/resources/research/simple-truth/