> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://blueprint.builtbydao.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://blueprint.builtbydao.com/how-it-works/multi-city.md).

# The Multi-City Network

{% hint style="info" %}
BBD's cities are **nodes of a single DAO, not franchises.** They share one treasury and token economy, pooled equipment and purchasing power, and portable member equity. The network centralizes early and decentralizes as nodes prove themselves.
{% endhint %}

## City selection — demand-gated

Cities are chosen by a weighted rubric, in priority order:

1. **Committed cohort depth (demand)** — the dominant signal; recruitment data decides.
2. **Facility + deconstruction-stock availability/cost** — can a hub and its feedstock be sourced affordably?
3. **Grant / policy environment (Urban Array fit)** — the non-dilutive funding surface.
4. **Proximity / logistics to other hubs** — lowest weight.

No city advances without a viable committed cohort. **The network follows demand** — recruitment is the instrument.

## The governance arc — centralize early, decentralize as proven

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Central (formation era)" %}
The center owns: **capital + treasury + grants** (via Urban Array) · **standards, playbooks, quality control** · **equipment procurement + purchasing power** · **brand, recruitment, onboarding.** The center is the strategic and financial hub while the model is being proven.
{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Autonomy — all 3 gates" %}
A city earns local autonomy only when it clears **all three**: (1) cash-flow self-sufficiency (hits break-even) · (2) governance maturity (active local node, clean votes) · (3) operational track record (zones live, builds delivered).
{% endtab %}

{% tab title="What decentralizes" %}
Once gated, a city earns: **local treasury / budget authority · project & site selection · local governance & proposals.** What stays central (deliberate guardrail): **workforce & contractor decisions** (to protect the master lever and quality), **standards/QC**, and the **shared treasury**.
{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

```mermaid
stateDiagram-v2
    [*] --> Central
    Central: Central · formation era
    LocalAutonomy: Local Autonomy
    Central --> LocalAutonomy: clears all 3 gates<br/>cash-flow self-sufficiency ·<br/>governance maturity ·<br/>operational track record
    LocalAutonomy --> Central: integrity breakdown
    LocalAutonomy --> [*]
```

## The network connectors

These are what make the network worth more than the sum of its hubs:

* **Shared treasury + cross-subsidy** — surplus from mature hubs flows to the central treasury, which reallocates to newer hubs — **each hub keeping a per-hub operating reserve floor before contributing**, so no node is drained below its cushion. This is the years-2–3 operating-subsidy bridge made structural.
* **Shared equipment + purchasing power** — pooled procurement, equipment sharing across hubs.
* **Member mobility / EQTBLT portability** — members move between hubs for work; their equity travels with them.
* **One token economy** — a single EQTBLT/BLTBY system across all nodes.

## Expansion pace & exit criteria

**Demand-paced** — cities are added only as committed cohorts form, never on a fixed schedule. A city is paused or exited for **cohort non-viability, inability to secure a facility/capital in the window, or governance/quality breakdown** — but *never* for being early. The patient break-even curve and cross-subsidy mean a city is killed for lost integrity, not slow progress.

{% hint style="success" %}
**Year One:** funded co-leads = Detroit + Chicago; 3–4 cohorts follow on proof + demand. 4–5 hubs is the trajectory, not the funded target.
{% endhint %}

{% content-ref url="/pages/HQvvh0IQqLJ2qqVNfR19" %}
[Execution Overview](/execution/execution.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}


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