Location Selection Process

Purpose

Select locations that can support a safe, autonomous, legally viable, and economically meaningful Specus Village.

Trigger

A new country, region, or land plot is proposed.

Owner

To be defined.

Core Rule

fatal flaws first, beauty second

Specus Village не выбирает землю только по красоте, цене или вайбу. Сначала нужно доказать, что участок юридически, физически и операционно выдерживает Village.

Process

1. Country / Region Screen

Before individual land plots, compare the country or region:

land tenure clarity;
foreign ownership / lease rules;
planning certainty;
rural road access;
power reliability;
internet backbone;
water regime;
wastewater regulation;
hazard data maturity;
healthcare and EMS baseline;
construction ecosystem;
tourism and demand context;
local supply-chain depth;
insurance and finance environment;
municipal and community culture.

2. Red-Flag Gate

Do not score a site until these red flags are checked:

unclear, disputed or non-transferable title;
missing legal access / easement;
zoning that clearly blocks the Village concept;
no legally secure water source;
no compliant wastewater route;
seasonally cut-off or construction-incompatible access;
buildable area in severe flood, erosion, landslide or wildfire exposure;
geotechnical conditions that make foundations, roads or utilities abnormal;
strong municipal or community opposition;
serious security environment;
no legal or physical path to later phases.

Unresolved red flag = hold / reject, regardless of visual appeal.

3. Weighted Scoring

Score every viable site from 0 to 5:

5 — excellent; ordinary mitigation only;
4 — good; manageable risk or cost premium;
3 — conditional; viable with explicit mitigation, CAPEX and permit plan;
2 — weak; serious constraint or uncertainty;
1 — poor; only if strategically exceptional and cheap;
0 — fail.

Use these weighted criteria:

Criterion	Weight
Legal / zoning status	6
Land ownership and use rights	7
Access road	4
Emergency access	4
Distance to airport / city	4
Medical access	3
Water availability	7
Wastewater feasibility	6
Power	3
Internet	2
Climate comfort	3
Natural hazards	5
Fire risk	4
Flood / drainage	5
Soil and foundation conditions	6
Construction logistics	5
Local labour and suppliers	4
Hospitality potential	5
Food system potential	4
Community / municipal acceptance	5
Security	4
Long-term scalability	4

4. Evidence Confidence

Each score must have an evidence grade:

A — legal documents, licensed expert report, utility confirmation, official map or measured field data;
B — strong desktop evidence, provider letters, municipal discussions or credible secondary data;
C — visual impression, seller statement or unverified estimate.

Apply confidence multiplier:

mostly A: 1.00;
mixed A/B: 0.90;
mostly B/C: 0.80.

5. Decision Bands

Final Score	Decision
85–100	pursue immediately
70–84	pursue conditionally
55–69	reserve / watchlist
below 55	do not pursue

Red flags override score.

Required A-Grade Evidence Before Sales

Do not market a site as a home plot, infrastructure package or full Village concept until these are A-grade:

legal control;
legal access;
water;
wastewater;
buildable area / hazard confirmation.

Location Archetypes

Near-Access Village

Best for residential sales.

Prioritise:

road reliability;
medical access;
utilities;
municipal acceptance.

Destination Village

Best for residential + hospitality.

Prioritise:

airport access;
destination appeal;
seasonality;
social licence.

Remote-Regenerative Village

Only pursue if water, food-system potential, hazard resilience and self-sufficiency are exceptional.

First Site Visit Checklist

Drive the full approach route in and out.
Record road surface, bridges, steep segments and difficult turns.
Test whether fire truck, ambulance, crane, module trailer and concrete truck could access.
Check low points for debris lines, ponding, erosion and blocked drainage.
Look for seasonal water signs.
Ask local people where the site floods, burns, loses power or becomes inaccessible.
Identify the real buildable terrace / plateau, not only gross land area.
Check nearby nuisance: odour, quarry, heavy traffic, noise, industrial use.
Run internet tests at several points.
Measure real travel time to clinic, emergency department, fuel, builders’ merchant and municipality.
Speak with planner, firefighter, road engineer, well driller and septic installer if possible.
Check whether phase two can expand without fatal legal or physical constraints.

Expert Checks

Expert	Minimum deliverable
Property lawyer / title specialist	title review, encumbrance schedule, easement / access memo
Planning consultant / land-use lawyer	planning route memo, approvals schedule, red-line issues
Licensed surveyor	boundary, topo and access survey
Hydrogeologist / water engineer	yield, seasonality, quality and storage concept
Wastewater soil scientist / sanitary engineer	site-and-soil evaluation, system options, regulator path
Geotechnical engineer	soil / foundation report with risk zones
Civil / road / drainage engineer	access feasibility, road upgrades, stormwater concept
Fire consultant / forester	fire-risk memo, egress, suppression-water and defensible-space plan
Flood / hydrology engineer	flood and overland-flow assessment with build / no-build map
Modular logistics specialist	route survey, laydown and crane / assembly concept
Environmental / social consultant	EIA trigger memo, stakeholder map, consultation plan
Market / hospitality analyst	demand memo, seasonality and comparator set

Output

A location decision file in the relevant folder under 08_LOCATIONS.

Before a site can move forward, it must pass legal due diligence in 04_OPERATIONS/Business_Processes/Legal_Due_Diligence_Process.md.

Brand / Trust Use

The location framework is part of trust architecture:

Specus does not merely sell attractive land; it pre-qualifies village locations.