The Wall

In a future not long from now, New York City had to face challenges that would deeply change it. At the dawn of the 21st century humanity experienced its worst crisis at all level: financial, political, social, environmental and philosophical. States that had ruled the world for centuries, dictating their will to others, have found themselves increasingly dependent on them. Social policies implemented over the centuries thanks to a booming economy crumbled, infuriating the people and encouraging the the return of extremism within the assemblies and parliaments.

In the U.S. the damage was as severe as elsewhere. New York City remained the last city to produce wealth for the country. The city became a major challenge for the survival of the nation.

At the same time the sea level continued to rise threatening the city. The government had to react quickly in order to preserve the last country’s growing economy and thus the rest of the states.

The government introduced an ambitious plan to save the city. It began to build a WALL around Manhattan. The WALL would not be a simple protection against the rising waters; it would be a machine that would allow the city to continue to exist. Electricity, drinking water, food, wastes, everything would be produced, processed, routed through the WALL.

To be able to finance such a project, the United-States, strangled by debt repayment, doesn’t have the money. It must do what it always did, rely on private funding. In exchange for financing a portion of the wall, investors can build a lot higher (air rights). Manhattan becomes denser rapidly. At the same time, people from all over the country flow to New York in hopes of finding work in one of the last city in the country which has continued to create. The ever higher heights of skyscrapers do not enable the bearing to the housing shortage.

New York is also one of the last cities that have enough money to help fund universities. Registration fees have never been higher. Yet there are more students than space in universities. Youth continue to hope that a better life awaits them with a diploma. What they earn goes to tuition, they cannot afford housing. They therefore settle in the last open space available inside the WALL: Central Park. Their numbers grow rapidly making the situation uncontrollable for the authorities. Central Park b half a century a gigantic slum where a middle class crushed by the cost of living tries to survive inside the WALL.

Millions of people have no choice but to find refuge outside the WALL on floating platforms. An entire city is quickly building itself. Very often platforms drift due to storms and crash on the WALL. They are very dangerous places controlled by the organized crime. The state can’t do anything, it can’t afford anyway, and even though they are prohibited, they are tolerated because they contribute to the economy of New York City and thus the country.

The living conditions are getting more difficult every day. Humanity had no choice but to choose individuality over community. The gap in living standards between people continues to grow.

The same situations recur but behaviors do not change. The past is quickly forgotten. We like to think the future is going to be better. Future is not always bright.