The Five Pillar City

September 2025 - Whitepaper by G.O.A.L.

Executive Summary

By 2050, nearly 70% of humanity will live in cities. Whether those cities enable human thriving or accelerate decline will depend on the systems we design today. As outlined in the Executive Summary (page 2), most current urban models prioritize economic efficiency over human well-being — producing rising chronic disease, ecological stress, mental health strain, and widening inequality. Retrofitting existing megacities is slow and costly; but for the hundreds of new urban centers yet to be built, a once-in-history opportunity exists.

The Five Pillar City is a first-principles urban blueprint that designs health into the city’s DNA from day one.

Anchored in the Five Pillars of Health — Environment, Movement, Nutrition, Knowledge, and Mindset — it presents a globally adaptable operating model for greenfield cities, organized into scalable deployment formats (village/town, mid-sized city, mega-project) and backed by evidence-based design principles.

It offers:

A clear vision, mission, and design DNA (pages 5–6)
A multi-scale deployment framework (pages 7–8)
A full Five Pillars system with outcomes & metrics (pages 9–14)
An integrated urban operating system (pages 11–12)
A phased implementation roadmap (pages 13–14)
Three applied examples across Vietnam, the Netherlands, and Nigeria (pages 16–31)

The result is a practical, action-ready model for building cities where communities can thrive for generations.

Key Insights

1. Urban health is the new strategic frontier.

Most cities optimize for density and transport efficiency while neglecting physical, mental, social, and ecological well-being. Health-first design is no longer optional — it is a prerequisite for resilience and long-term prosperity (page 5).

2. The Five Pillars provide a universal operating system for city-building.

Environment, Movement, Nutrition, Knowledge, and Mindset form the core human determinants of thriving. Designing cities around these pillars produces compounding benefits across health, economy, ecology, and culture (pages 9–14).

3. The Five Pillar City is scalable across all sizes and contexts.

The framework adapts to villages (5–30k residents), mid-sized cities (150–500k), and mega-projects (1–5M) with consistent principles but flexible spatial expressions (pages 7–8).

4. Integrated systems outperform isolated interventions.

Nature corridors double as mobility spines; food hubs support education; cultural spaces reinforce community trust. Cross-pillar design unlocks exponential systemic outcomes (page 11).

5. It is buildable today — with pilots leading to full-scale cities.

The implementation roadmap outlines a clear 5-phase process from vision to operations, emphasizing pilots as the engine of learning, de-risking, and scaling (pages 13–14).

Concept Visualizations

The following images are illustrative concept renderings of the Five Pillar City.
They are not final architectural designs, but visual interpretations of how the Five Pillars of Health can shape urban form, mobility, and everyday life.

1. Community Street District — Movement + Mindset Integration

A human-scaled street designed around walkability, social interaction, and daily life rhythms. This rendering illustrates how mixed-use density, shaded corridors, and community seating create environments that strengthen both Movement (active mobility) and Mindset (belonging, psychological safety).

This is the “community core” vision — safe, vibrant, and designed for connection.

2. Green Mobility Spine — Environment + Movement Synergy

A central mobility corridor where nature, clean transit, and active transport converge. The integration of trams, cycling lanes, pedestrian paths, and continuous tree-lined greenways reflects the Environment Pillar’s stability and the Movement Pillar’s focus on energy and vitality.

This is the backbone of the Five Pillar City — a mobility system that is clean, quiet, and life-enhancing.

3. Central Park District — Environment + Nutrition + Mindset

A neighborhood organized around a communal lake park, combining ecological resilience with space for rest, food culture, and community activity. This rendering highlights how green public spaces support mental health, social cohesion, and local food ecosystems.

This represents the city’s “restoration zone” — an anchor of stability, wellbeing, and daily renewal.

What’s Inside

A First-Principles Vision
The Five Pillar City DNA
Deployment Scales & Application Contexts
The Five Pillars of Urban Health
1. Environment
2. Movement
3. Nutrition
4. Knowledge
5. Mindset
Integrated Urban Framework
Implementation Roadmap
Applied Examples by Deployment Scale
1. Da Lat Periphery (Vietnam)
2. East Holland (Friesland, Netherlands)
3. Lagos New Towns (Nigeria)
Conclusion

Who This Is For

This whitepaper is designed for:

City governments & national planning ministries
Urban development agencies
Regional development authorities
Architects, planners, and design firms
Developers & investors working on new towns and megaprojects
Foundations and NGOs focused on sustainability, health, and resilience
Universities, research institutes, and think tanks
Multilateral organizations (UN-Habitat, World Bank, ADB)

If you work with cities — this blueprint is built for you.

Applications & Use Cases

Governments can use this whitepaper to:

Embed health-first logic into zoning, building codes, and investment priorities
Structure new cities or districts around measurable human outcomes
Guide climate-resilient growth strategies

Developers and investors can use it to:

Differentiate mega-projects and new towns in global markets
Anchor design decisions in evidence-based frameworks
De-risk long-term investments through resilient systems

NGOs and institutions can use it to:

Co-design pilots and demonstration districts
Integrate health metrics into community development
Develop scalable, participatory planning models

Urban labs & academia can use it to:

Research cross-pillar urban outcomes
Prototype health-first spatial systems
Create new educational and governance models

Author’s Note

"Cities are humanity’s greatest invention — but only if they enable people to thrive. The Five Pillar City reframes urbanism around what truly matters: health, ecology, trust, and culture. This blueprint is not an idealistic vision; it is a practical foundation for the cities we must start building today. I invite governments, institutions, developers, and communities to collaborate in bringing the first real Five Pillar City to life."

— Mika Kunne, Founder of G.O.A.L.

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