Alfassa expected that this experimental "universal township" would contribute significantly to the "progress of humanity towards its splendid future by bringing together people of goodwill and aspiration for a better world".

Auroville wants to be a universal town where men and women of all countries will be able to live in peace and progressive harmony, above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities.

Inside the Matrimandir, a spiraling ramp leads upwards to an air-conditioned chamber of polished white marble referred to as "a place to find one's consciousness".

The change was initiated when, after Mirra Alfassa's death in 1973, serious fissures in the day-to-day management developed between the Society and the city's residents.

Kireet Joshi, then Educational Advisor to the Union government, met for consultations with the then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi.

The International Advisory Council comprises five members also selected by the Government, chosen from people who have rendered valuable service to humanity in the areas of Auroville's ideals.

[17] The community had many residential housing clusters with Tamil, English, French and Sanskrit names like Aspiration, Arati, La Ferme, Auromodel and Isaiambalam.

The biggest one under the trust is the Auroville Village Action Group (AVAG), which has programs for women's empowerment, education, and financial support, and also sells its own products in the name of AVAL, Surya and Kudumbam as social enterprise work.

There are guest houses, building construction units, information technology, small and medium scale businesses, producing and re-selling items such as handmade paper for stationery items, organic food, as well as producing its well-known incense sticks, which can be bought in Auroville's own shop in Puducherry.

The visitor center and Matrimandir can be reached by traveling 6 km (3.7 mi) westwards from the signposted turnoff at the ECR Bommayapalayam.

The Auroville website provides open as well as restricted forums for various projects, interests, organizations, and outreach which make up the life of the community.

Auroville also has an internal MediaInterface, formerly OutreachMedia, team to regulate visits of journalists and film/video makers, which has served the community for many decades.

Their aim is to ensure that all journalists and filmmakers get official, up-to-date information and representative footage from reliable sources.

[27] The reports contrasted the idealism of its founders with allegations by some people that the community tolerates pedophiles, especially in a school that Auroville has established for local village children.

[28] On 4 December 2021, local police, joined by a group of outsiders, began demolishing the Auroville Youth Centre – uprooting the surrounding trees with the help of earthmovers.

The verdict was announced on 28 April 2022, which directed the Auroville Foundation Office to prepare a proper township plan and apply for Environmental Clearance (EC) under Item 8 (b) of the EIA Notification, 2006.

Till then they were directed not to proceed with further construction in the project area with the exception of ets the completion of the crown road given a Joint Committee comprising officials in forest, wildlife, and state departments inspect the area in question and the Auroville Foundation Office undertake the crown road work in the remaining stretches where there are no trees.

By occasion of the 50th anniversary of Auroville on 28 February 2018 the Indian President Ram Nath Kovind sent a message to the community in which he called Sri Aurobindo "one of modern India's greatest sages".

[32][non-primary source needed] Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and Auroville on 25 February 2018.