Cuidad-5 is the brain child of a handful of research specialists who formed the Cuidad Group in 2196. Their early work focused on organic building materials but quickly evolved to incorporate genetic engineering.
Work on the arcology itself began as the by-product of an investor who lost momentum on several construction projects in South America. The Cuidad group needed a facility to conduct large-scale research, and their backer happened to have an unoccupied, mostly complete industrial complex. Cuidad used the opportunity to test some of its early organic building materials and techniques, and the rest is history (4.2.1).