Neoliberalism's Imagined Futures: Sustainability as Colonialism in Eco-City Design

Abstract

This article examines the architectural tropes used in designs which are concurrently branded as sustainable and futuristic, offering a critique of techno-solutionist architectures that have been promoted by the European Union, World Expos, and forward-looking design pedagogy. Through an analysis of the designs of Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut, I observe that such “eco-futurist” images symbolically communicate an association with sustainability through the visible use of “green” technologies and the adoption of highly contextual encounters with greenery, rhetorically prefaced on the ability of techno-science to mediate human–nature relationships, and visually bound within the design tropes of luxury tourist destinations. By intertwining the aspirational futures of sustainable design with the aesthetic sensibilities of the wealthy, I argue that eco-futurism primarily aligns itself with the interests of neoliberal property development and the spatial and social logics of colonialism.