nelinurgad

Nelinurgad is a fictional geopolitical and urban-planning concept used in speculative fiction and design discourse to describe a quadripartite federation organized around four urban cores. The term is typically presented as a thought experiment to explore how polycentric city regions might cooperate across governance, infrastructure, and shared services.

The model envisions four roughly equal centers connected by high-capacity transit, a ring of transportation infrastructure, and joint institutions that coordinate land use, housing, and environmental management. While the cores retain local autonomy, they participate in a unified framework for regional planning and crisis response.

Governance in nelinurgad is described as a rotating council with representation from each core, a common budget, and harmonized regulations to facilitate cross-core commerce. Economies of scale emerge through shared procurement, research and development programs, and standardized urban services.

Urban design emphasizes polycentric, transit-oriented development, with dense yet walkable cores surrounded by green corridors, flood- and drought-resilient infrastructure, and modular housing. The approach prioritizes equitable access to amenities and inter-core mobility.

In scholarship, nelinurgad is used to assess challenges and benefits of multi-core governance, such as resilience, fiscal stability, and political legitimacy. Critics argue that real-world complexities—unequal demographics, veto power, and regional inequalities—could undermine a four-core arrangement, limiting its applicability as a policy blueprint.