What is Auroville?

In Auroville, people of all nationalities and creeds would live together in peace, an experiment both in self-knowledge and in collective living. Today about 2500 people live there but the goal of building a city of 50,000 inhabitants in the form of a galactic spiral is far from being achieved after 50 years. Faced with today’s individualism, political crises and environmental ruin, it can be difficult to conceive of a positive future. Auroville’s founders looked forward with confidence. Have these ideals of common ownership, of life-long learning and research survived? Back then, Auroville residents designed utopian living environments that reflected their visionary ideas; were these indeed a blueprint for new forms of community living?