Architects and developers continue to develop ambitious projects of high-tech cities designed to solve global problems such as climate change and the housing crisis, and, of course, to amaze the imagination.
The Line, Saudi Arabia
The Line project was designed as an alternative to traditional cities that usually diverge from the centre. This 170-kilometre megastructure in northwestern Saudi Arabia will have a height of 500 metres and a width of only 200 metres. If the project is implemented, the building will be the 12th tallest building in the world, as well as the longest. The city will be a straight “line” of two wall-like skyscrapers connected by bridges and open space between them. The buildings want to accommodate residential, shopping and entertainment areas, schools and offices, and to set up parks outdoors. The buildings are planned to be covered with mirror facades to emphasise the unique nature of the project and erase the boundary between architecture and nature.
Telosa, United States
The Danish BIG team led by Bjarke Ingels presented images of the new master plan of the city with an area of 60,700 hectares, which will be built from scratch in the desert in the western United States. The project called Telosa aims to “create a new city in America that will set a global standard of urban life, expand human potential and become a model for future generations”. The aim of the project is to create the most environmentally friendly city in the world. It includes renewable energy sources, fresh water, autonomous transport and various housing options. It is expected that more than 5 million inhabitants will live in it over the next 40 years.
BiodiverCity, Malaysia
BiodiverCity is another large-scale project of the BIG team, which deals with the general planning of buildings with an area of 1,821 hectares. Three artificial islands connected by an autonomous transport network without cars will be built off the coast of Penang Island in Malaysia for the state government. Water lily-shaped islands will consist of mixed areas, 4.6 km of public beaches, 242 hectares of parks, and a 25-kilometer promenade. Each island is expected to be home to 15,000-18,000 inhabitants. The buildings are mainly planned to be built using a combination of bamboo, Malaysian wood, and “green concrete”, which uses recycled materials as a filler. To support biodiversity, an ecological buffer will be built around each area.
Amaravati, India
The city of Amaravati, located on the banks of the Krishna River, will become the new capital of Andhra Pradesh in India. Foster + Partners carry out general planning. The city will be built around a government building with a noticeable sharp spire from afar, and more than 60 percent of its central neighborhood will be occupied by greenery or water. It is planned that Amaravati will stretch over 217 square kilometers and become one of the most environmentally friendly cities in the world. “Design combines our long-term research in sustainable cities using the latest technologies currently being developed in India,” says Norman Foster.
Smart Forest City, Mexico
A smart forest city near Cancun, Mexico, which is planned by Italian architect Stefano Boeri, is designed to become a ” pioneer” in the field of more environmentally efficient development. They want to build the city on a plot of 557 hectares and plant 7.5 million plants in it, including numerous species of trees and shrubs chosen by botanist and landscape architect Laura Gatti. It will be designed to accommodate 130,000 people. “Smart Forest City is a botanical garden in a modern city based on the Mayan heritage and its relationship with the natural and sacred world,” Stefano Boeri Architetti said in a statement. “An urban ecosystem in which nature and the city are intertwined and act as one organism.”
The Capital Cairo, Egypt
Egypt is building an entirely new city to offload fast-growing Cairo. The Capital Cairo project envisions a new administrative and financial capital that will expand Cairo eastward to the Red Sea coast, creating a new urban area for seven million inhabitants. The master plan was developed by the architectural firm SOM. The building area of 700 sq. kilometers boasts one of the world’s largest urban parks and more than 100 new residential areas. The neighborhoods will be designed to fit in with the natural topography of wadis—dry riverbeds and eroded river valleys that fill with water during heavy rains. They should become patches of green space that channel natural breezes through the city. SOM believes that this approach will create a new sustainable city.
The Orbit, Canada
The Orbit, by architecture studio Partisans, aims to transform the Canadian farming town of Innisfil, 60km north of Toronto. The plans include the widespread use of fiber optics, drones, and autonomous vehicles, and development decisions will be made based on Big Data. The project aims to transform Innisfil into a “city of the future” with a plethora of new technologies while maintaining existing agriculture and lush vegetation. The Orbit will occupy an area of more than 182 hectares, and the population of the city will increase from 30,000 to 150,000 inhabitants.
Innovation Park, USA
Cryptocurrency tycoon Jeffrey Burns plans to turn part of the Nevada desert into a smart city powered by blockchain technology. The project, developed with the participation of architectural studios Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects and Tom Wiscombe Architecture, will create a community on a 27,113-hectare site where people can banking, vote and store data without the involvement of government or third parties. Greater control over the privacy of personal information is a potential major benefit of this city model.
Maldives Floating City, Maldives
The Government of the Maldives, in partnership with architecture studio Waterstudio, has designed a floating city that will house 20,000 people in a 200-hectare lagoon near the capital. The project appeared in response to rising sea levels due to climate change: it is believed that because of this, by 2050, most of the Maldives will become uninhabitable. Billed by the architects as “the world’s first true floating island city”, it will be built on a series of hexagonal structures and will include 5,000 low-rise floating houses. As the sea level rises, so will the city.
Chengdu Future City, China
Dutch architecture firm OMA has designed the master plan for the capital of China’s Sichuan province. Chengdu Future City, covering an area of 4.6 square meters. km, will be divided into six separate clusters, modeled after traditional village settlements and designed to blend in with the surrounding landscape. The city will be car-free, challenging traditional urban planning models based on road networks or maximizing the total area. All buildings in each zone will be within a 10-minute walk, and a “smart mobile network” using automated vehicles will connect the city to the rest of Chengdu.
The most important thing about our X that it is for
those who are in a hurry
I’d suggest that Próspera should have been included in this list. It’s actually being built, as opposed to just offering nice promotional renderings.