I need people smarter than me in kicking my EU-wide law project into gear. I don't know how to do this and probably can't do this alone. I'm also not well versed on the market/regulatory/etc realities on the EU therefore getting some experience into this thread would be great. If there are things that i'm being dumb on, i need to know.
I have not seen or heard of such a law project or even a discussion in that particular direction the likes of which i would like to suggest to the EU bodies, that's shocking to me as i think nowadays it is especially relevant. As something of an EU patriot i think it would also help advance European interests globally and it is an environmental and housing advantage also. I also choose the EU because of my perception of it being a more democratic entity willing to hear people out.
I want to help pass a EU law that promotes sub-surface/underground construction of all types of infrastructure for all manners of uses such as leisure (malls, shops), transport (interconnections clearing up surface level traffic), medical (making it more systematic), housing especially (will also help normalize living underground, may drive down housing prices and energy expenditure due to thermal isolation), strategic (all manners of transformer rooms, food storage, retail stocks etc), administrative, educational, and even industrial (production outputs in-house whenever practical) maybe even power plants!
This seems necessary or at least highly advantageous nowadays for several reasons:
>Climate. Living underground affords constantly cooler temperatures and protects from heatwaves, storms, bitter winters, etc. More heatwaves are coming.
>Conflict. A nation living underground has a better advantage versus the threat of M.A.D doctrine and overall better protected (from small arms also)
>Environmental. Vertical density provides more compact cities. Less green land gets taken over and destroyed.
>More fluidity in vehicular traffic. Same originator as the above point. A fluid nation is a faster nation.
>Convenience overall. Your office might be above you, or below you, cities may become more walkable, things run smoother and faster. Plus it's cozy.
>Long-term: no more ugly high-rises, more greenery in your environment and less urban sprawl. Power savings. Freed up space for other things. More.
The main mechanisms for the encouragement are, at least in my draft, as follows:
>Regulatory definition and clarification of housing codes as would be applied to underground space, including safety and environmental regulations. This enables developers to tread on clear and defined ground which gives them stability and something to expect.
>Tax cuts or incentives. While the energy bill might come across as more attractive to renting companies, the construction companies in themselves might see subsurface work as a risky business financially speaking due to lack of experience and perceived public opinion on living below ground. Economic encouragement should allow developers to consider these projects with less pressure on their shoulders.
>Percentage minimums per city or region. Beyond the market sphere, forcing cities to build a small determined percentage of their public space underground might get them to take the opportunity in developing something useful for their town wherever the soil allows it, such as storage, offices, nurseries, and whatever might be needed in their jurisdiction. Even something less useful gardens or some random cultural/youth spot would normalize and promote underground living and experiences. Even an addition of just one percent of a city's area can be quite significant depending on the size of the city. There could be a purpose category system where some types of infrastructure is financially promoted as more useful (versus, say, leisure). This is to prevent cramming by lazy administrators just to meet a quota.
>Other mechanisms that i wasn't smart enough to spot.
At this point i would like to point out that many such projects are already out there and successful in the world.
>Finland, Helsinki, is developing underground complexes with churches, stadiums, schools, and more.
>Montreal, Canada, has had an underground section for many years, sporting malls, restaurants, offices and businesses, which includes residential space in the form of hotels.
>China has been building underground districts for a while now.
>Private companies and homeowners (that word has meow in it lol) have been building bunkers on people's lands for decades, all around the globe.
So it works. People live underground, work underground, and enjoy life underground. And from various testimonies, they surely prefer it to braving the heatwave in summer or a freezing blizzard in winter above, on the surface.
Right now my plan is to submit a draft as a Citizen's Initiative but i don't have the requirements to make it succeed. I need help from lainons to spot the flaws in my program and suggest better promotion mechanisms for the developers to pick it up. Infrastructure is already being built underground, i know that, but the pace is not nearly enough and pressingly haphazard between states. I have no idea how to write legal proposals and what to do exactly. If anyone has experience in that domain that's currently what i need.
More is required!