2024-12-21T20:09:12-05:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/150420862/foster-partners-sasaki-and-actor-idris-elba-float-plans-for-a-smart-city-island-development-in-sierra-leone Josh Niland 2024-03-19T13:34:00-04:00 >2024-03-19T13:48:22-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/96/96421aa3f5b09f9940c854f47f5db4ea.jpeg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p><a href="https://archinect.com/fosterandpartners" target="_blank">Foster + Partners</a> is working on a new <a href="https://archinect.com/news/tag/578224/smart-city" target="_blank">smart city</a> design with actor Idris Elba for a coastal island off the shores of Sierra Leone. The news was <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-68573737" target="_blank">reported</a> by the BBC on Sunday, when the plan was revealed for the first time after five years of planning.&nbsp;</p> <p><a href="https://archinect.com/sasaki" target="_blank">Sasaki Associates</a> will collaborate with the firm, Elba, and his business partners at the <a href="https://sherbroislandcity.com/" target="_blank">Sherbro Alliance Partners</a> (or SAP). Their plan is to preserve nature areas on the 230-square-mile Sherbro Island (which has roughly ten times the land area as Manhattan) while enacting a new "eco-city" capable of supporting up to one million residents.&nbsp;</p> <p>The outlet reports the project is to be financed through a public-private partnership and that the island will "be designated a special economic zone with a separate legal and economic system from the rest of Sierra Leone." Some online commentators have compared it to Disney World, the crypto-funded <a href="https://archinect.com/news/article/150180128/pop-star-akon-set-to-break-ground-on-senegal-s-first-leed-certified-crypto-city" target="_blank">Akon City</a> in Senegal, or the new planned community in Northern California that&rsquo;s backed by a group of...</p>