The title of this entry is the metaphor used by Chris Dixon, founding and managing partner of a16zcrypto, to vividly illustrate the differences between the Web2 and Web3 models of the internet.

Cities are complex ecosystems formed by countless interactions and interconnections among their residents, institutions, infrastructures, and technologies. They coexist in a symbiosis between public and private services.

Regardless of the existence of a municipal governing body, they are really not controlled by a single entity. Their development and functioning are the result of the collective action of their citizens and various actors that give it life.

In this sense, cities are decentralized because their growth and evolution emerge from the sum of many individual decisions rather than being dictated by a single central planner.

Similarly, decentralized networks operate without a central authority controlling or managing all the information or transactions.

Instead, they use a distributed infrastructure where each network node participates in the process of verifying and recording transactions or information exchanges.

This ensures that no single entity can control or manipulate the system as a whole, promoting a more secure environment resistant to censorship or attacks.

The analogy also extends to how cities and decentralized networks foster innovation and growth.

Just as cities are breeding grounds for innovation due to dense interaction between people with different skills and knowledge, decentralized networks facilitate the creation of new applications and services.

By providing an open and permissionless platform for development, they allow anyone to build and offer new services and solutions, empowering innovation from the ground up.

Furthermore, just like cities have governance systems that evolve over time to meet the needs of their inhabitants, decentralized networks can implement distributed governance mechanisms through tokens.

These systems allow network participants to make collective decisions on how the network should evolve, ensuring it adapts and responds to the needs of its users.

Corporate networks, however, operate similarly to theme parks:

• Centralized control: One entity or a small group of entities control the environment, dictating the rules, the available services, and the user experience.

• Homogenized experiences: Just like theme parks offer a designed and curated experience, corporate platforms tend to standardize the user experience to maximize efficiency and profit.

• Limitations on innovation and participation: While they can provide high-quality services, these platforms limit users’ ability to influence the system or innovate within its structure.

In which environment would you prefer to live, start a business, work, and create?