You call her Zeentah and expect her to comment?
On Sat, Aug 22, 2015 at 8:01 AM, Udhay Shankar N <[email protected]> wrote: > This is such a cool idea, and a much needed counterpoint to the anti > immigrant hysteria elsewhere in the world. > > I wonder what our Malmo-resident silklister has to say. Comments, Zeentah? > > Udhay > > > http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2015-08/21/little-big-malmo-most-international-city-in-the-world > > The city of Malmo in the south of Sweden is launching a crowdfunding > campaign to help it become the world's most international city. > > Malmo already boasts a hugely diverse population, with people from 169 of > the 193 UN-recognised nations currently resident there. The aim of the > Little Big Malmo project is to recruit individuals or families from each of > the 24 outstanding nations to join the city's population, which would make > it the world's most international city, ahead of the likes of New York and > London. The hope is to have achieved the goal by the time of the 2016 Malmo > Festival -- in exactly a year's time -- when the whole city will celebrate > with a party. > > Little Big Malmo is not being run by the city's tourist board, but as a > non-profit foundation by Finnur Sverrisson, an Icelander who has lived in > Malmo for many years, and Lars Lyberg, a Swede. "The project as it is right > now started exactly a year ago, but the idea was born five years ago," > Sverrisson tells WIRED.co.uk. Pretty much every other day out on a canal > boat, everyone told me about the multinational, and I was like, alright why > isn't every country living in Malmo, we're so close?" > > > Little Big Malmo > The project will be owned completely by the citizens of Malmo, with > individuals and local businesses able to buy shares in the project. One > share will be 16 krona -- a little over £1 -- which means Malmo's residents > will be able to buy into the idea without even needing to hand over a bill. > "This means you will own it as much as anyone else," says Lyberg. The pair > will be trying to raise around 10 million krona in total. > > The money raised will be used to fund a "soft landing" for Malmo's new > residents. They will be given a plane ticket (and a return ticket in case > they don't like it -- Swedes think of everything), work sponsorship, a > place to live, phone contracts, a bicycle and tickets to cultural events so > they can embrace the Malmo way of life. > > Even with all the shares sold, the pair will need help from others. They > have formed partnerships with local housing and transport agencies, but > they will be seeking more money too. So how do they plan to get it? "I do > believe in the power of the internet," says Lyberg. "I believe in the power > of good." > > "I think reaching out and saying we can't accomplish this on our own is a > pretty good way of getting things done. So if they sympathise with our > goals and think, that seems reasonable -- this little place, this little > dot on the map should be the most international place on the planet, I'll > support that." > > The countries Malmo is seeking residents from are: Antigua, Grenada, > Barbuda, Kiribati, Andorra, Comoros, Belize, Liechtenstein, Bhutan, > Maldiverna, Brunei, Marshall, islands, Micronesia, Oman, Nauru, Palau, > Saint Kitts Nevis, Salomon islands, São Tomé Príncipe, South Sudan, > Tonga, Vanuatu, Tuvalu and East Timor. > > There won't be an application process, other than meeting terms set out by > the immigration authorities in Sweden. Instead, it will be done on a first > come, first served basis. If you are from one of the above countries and > have ever fantasised about living the good life in Sweden then best get > your application in now. Neither Sverrisson nor Lyberg are from Malmo, but > they both insist enthusiastically that it is incredibly welcoming to > newcomers. "There's more outsiders than insiders here," says Lyberg. > > It sounds like those coming into the city will be getting a pretty good > deal. But what is in it for Malmo as a city? "Our standing point of view is > that a multicultural background just means more creativity and that means > we can create more jobs, we can create a better social environment, we can > create more culture," says Sverrisson. Of course, being able to claim that > it is the most international city in the world will also be a huge boost to > its reputation. Still, Sverrisson also sees it as being a lot fun for all > involved. "If another city wants to challenge us, then that's awesome." > > > -- > ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com)) > > -- Ramakrishnan Sundaram | [email protected] | +91 860 501 5851 --
