Can Cities Produce Everything They Consume?
How FabCity Oakland is answering the call to PPE shortages and why that matters long-term for local resilience
We are now (at least) five months into the COVID-19 pandemic here in the US. It has been an eye-opening experience for some and a pronounced painful reality for many, who had long suffered from the inequitable systems in place in the US only to find themselves in an increasingly precarious housing and financial situation. As many have noted, we have multiple pandemics working in tandem — health (COVID-19), climate, and racism — and the same marginalized communities are not only the target or bearing the brunt of these pandemics, but they are also the same members of society allowing our cities and towns to continue to function.
Racism is not unique to the US, but we have institutionalized it in a way that robs Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and other marginalized groups of economic opportunities to allow for wealth building and retention beyond making their very existence, namely members of the Black community, a crime. As a nation, we are finally waking up to the fact that the web of oppression on marginalized groups did not end with the Civil Rights Movement. In fact, it only just started with it. The powerful Black Lives Matter movement is leading the charge with demands that stand at the intersection of these systemic oppressions, such as greater financial investments in communities while divesting from policing.
Racism, economic inequity, climate change, capitalism are tied to one another — where jobs (even if they were low-paying, unstable, exploitative) were moved overseas to exploit another group of people for even cheaper labor costs; where resources and earnings leak out of their community while lining the pockets of m/billionaires, multinational conglomerates; where things are disposable and resource extraction continues until nothing is left.
Getting out of this pandemic stronger means breaking this cycle and moving away from the current practices: 1) local and regional minimum living wage economic opportunities for BIPOCs, immigrants, other marginalized groups, 2) ensuring that wealth, innovation, resources remain in local communities, 3) reducing/eliminating waste and recovering waste locally.
This framing may seem abstract and impossible now, but parts of it are being imagined and developed right now in Oakland, California with FabCity Oakland!
FabCity Oakland is one of a handful of FabCities in the US under the FabCity Global Initiative, founded in Spain with a vision to have each city manufacture everything it consumes sustainably and locally by 2054. This initiative is centered around people and their manifesto includes a participatory decision-making process.
The idea of locally producing and manufacturing everything we consume in about three decades may feel far-fetched to even entertain, but while the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the cracks and gaps in our society, it also demonstrated that projects that normally take years or decades can be achieved in a few weeks or months with enough will, urgency, and investment. Our reliance on the global supply chain has compromised the safety and resilience of our communities — shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), sanitizers, even food. A strong local or regional ecosystem would have at least mitigated, if not prevented, those shortages altogether. Although the intention had not been for FabCity Oakland’s first major demonstration of its critical presence to be for a pandemic, it did exactly that and more.
FabCity Oakland had been at the ready pre-pandemic with skilled technicians, 3D printing equipment, partnerships and collaborations across the East Bay, and amazing and active community members. So when the pandemic hit and the failures of a global supply chain were unfolding, FabCity Oakland mobilized quickly. In a few short weeks in April, FabCity Oakland was able to produce:
- 10,000s of face shields (now over 180K produced)
- 5,000 surgical masks (now over 25K produced)
- 1000s of PAPR replacement shields (equipment for medical professionals to work “in a positive air pressure environment when exposed to highly contagious patients”)
- Dozens of aerosol containment boxes (“used to intubate COVID-19 patients and contain aerosolized virus to avoid contamination and transmission”),
- 1000s of units of surgical gowns, booties, and bonnets.
That’s how fast our local community responded while similar supplies produced elsewhere were being bid on between states and the federal government, while shipments in transit faced delays.
However, as quickly as it formed and responded, it is equally important to translate FabCity Oakland’s response into a lasting and sustainable effort and process.
Lisa has written more about how FabCity Oakland is working to make this process the new normal and conducted an interview with Danny Beesley, CEO of IdeaBuilder Labs and Co-Founder and Chairman of the board of FabCity Oakland; the second part of this article will be published next week. Stay tuned!
Lisa is currently based in the East Bay, where she works to advance environmental and economic equity in local communities. She is passionate about bridging environmental, racial, and economic justice with community-centered civic engagement. In her free time, she enjoys birding, tending to her seedlings and zombie plants, and exploring the East Bay Regional Parks and National Parks with her partner.
