Starbase residents voted to be the city of Spacex. Now a letter has reached the right to their property

In May, the residents of the small community that surrounded the SpaceX headquarters in Boca Chica, southeast of Texas, carried out A historical vote. An overwhelming mass was done in favor of constituting the city of Starbase, which most or less became that Elon Musk’s company became “almost” owner of the enclave, with levels of autonomy Never seen until now.

That’s why, The letter That has just arrived at residents has been a surprise.

Urban experiment. The transformation of the former Texano of Boca Chica village in the corporate city of Starbase represents much more than a simple name change. Conceived as the epicenter of Spacex’s space operations and, as we said, vmostly For a large -compound population for company employees, Starbase has now moved to a new phase of territorial reorganization.

The problem. Than a disseminated memorandum by him city ​​administratorKent Myers, warns many residents who could “lose the right to continue using their property for current use” due to a rezoning proposal that will be debated on June 23.

He Document is explicit: Those who have land in the affected area could be forced to modify or abandon them if they do not conform to the new urban plan. The city plans to become a mixed area of ​​residences, offices and services, although in practice the development model is almost exclusively oriented to support the Spacex expansion and its launch facilities.

City-business. They counted in Fortune That the Starbase Urban Project recovers, with technologically sophisticated, but politically disturbing features, the model of the old ones “Company Towns“North American: cities where the owner company was also the employer, regulator and in many sovereign spaces of space. In fact, the current mayor, Robert Peden12 -year -old veteran in Spacex, and the majority of the electorate It is composed of company workers.

This structure creates a fusion between civil governance and corporate objectives, where the public interest is subordinated to the industrial plan of a single entity. In this context, key decisions such as rezoning, mobility restrictions or access to common goods such as beaches are no longer settled in a Public Square open, but within the perimeter of a private logic protected by local legal structures.

Public space restriction. One of the most visible consequences of Spacex’s advance in Starbase has been the progressive Restriction of access to Boca Chica Beacha coastal strip of great environmental and spiritual value, especially for the Carrizo/Comecrudo tribe. With the argument of guaranteeing security during the releases, the restrictions have been multiplied, and recently the Texas Senate approved legislation which allows local authorities to close the beach during the week and limit their use during weekends.

Ecological organizations They have denounced That, under the security pretext, a “system designed to give them a de facto private beach is consolidating.” The appropriation of a public good for corporate purposes awakens criticism and calls into question the compatibility between economic investment promises and collective rights.

Global implications. It is the last of the legs that appears with the drift that is taking the case of Starbase. Its consolidation not only constitutes a local experiment, but also A possible model For future business colonies with functional sovereignty aspirations. Fortune explained that if a coastal settlement can be transformed into A corporate municipality With the right to issue land use, condition the permanence of non -affiliated residents and manage public infrastructure Like a beachdoors are also opened to an advanced form of territorial privatization.

In a world where megacorporations such as Spacex, Tesla or X (yes, all of Musk) concentrate each time More economic power And symbolic, Starbase could serve General trial For similar projects in other regions with lax regulations. If you want also and put to think about Musk keyif the promise is that these cities are platforms for interplanetary expansion, the Texan experience suggests that, before conquering Mars, the conquest can begin with the political geography of the Earth.

Image | Alexander Hatley

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