In this inaugural episode of the Edge City Podcast, host Timour Kosters sits down with Devon Zuegel and Janine Leger to explore Edge Esmeralda, a pop-up village experiment they organized in June 2024 that brought together 1,300 people who believe the future can be better and are actively working to make it happen.

Devon is an accomplished writer and thinker with a background in software engineering and a deep passion for cities. She’s currently working on Esmeralda, a new town project in Northern California. Janine, Timour’s co-founder at Edge City, previously led the grants program at Gitcoin and was a co-creator of Zuzalu, a pioneering popup city that explored new models of communal living and collaboration.

Chapters

(00:00) Introduction

(02:40) What was Edge Esmeralda?

(05:30) Inspiration and historical context

(10:37) Building community and culture

(17:41) Highlights of Edge Esmeralda

(29:03) Challenges and learnings

(36:54) Looking ahead: future plans

Links

Devon Zuegel: https://x.com/devonzuegel

Janine Leger: https://x.com/JanineLeger

Timour Kosters: https://x.com/timourxyz

Edge Esmeralda Recap: https://edgeesmeralda.com/2024

Esmeralda: https://esmeralda.org/

Edge City: https://twitter.com/joinedgecity

Edge City Lanna: https://www.edgecity.live/lanna