Archinect - News

The booming business of building cities from scratch

2019-07-10T15:22:00-04:00

“We’re in the midst of new cities fever,” says Prof Sarah Moser. The head of the new cities lab at McGill University has documented more than 100 cities that have sprung up across Asia and Africa since the early 2000s for her forthcoming Atlas of New Cities.

The Guardian kicks off its new Cities from scratch series with an overview of noteworthy planned metropolises that are replacing big swaths of desert, jungle, or sea across Asia and Africa.

While some new cities started out ambitiously but had to eventually give up on key features, others took some years to overcome the 'ghost city' label. And there's no shortage of prominent newcomers.

Pursuing carbon-neutral growth

2017-10-09T09:43:00-04:00

Though the financial crisis put a crimp in Masdar City’s ambitions too, it's now expanding around its compact urban core, with a new apartment complex nearing completion and plans for 5,000 homes. And the international publicity the project received from the start helped break the resistance to green ideas throughout the UAE

For their Urban Expeditions (Exploring Sustainable City Solutions Around the World) series, Robert Kunzig examines the challenges and opportunities facing Dubai, which by 2050, plans to have the world's smallest carbon footprint.

Masdar abandons its dream of becoming the first zero-carbon city

2016-02-23T14:33:00-05:00

Masdar City, when it was first conceived a decade ago, was intended to revolutionise thinking about cities and the built environment. Now the world’s first planned sustainable city – the marquee project of the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) plan to diversify the economy from fossil fuels - could well be the world’s first green ghost town. As of this year [...] managers have given up on the original goal of building the world’s first planned zero-carbon city.

Masdar City previously in the Archinect news:

Get a drone's eye view of Foster + Partners' Masdar City in Abu Dhabi

2015-02-27T22:00:00-05:00

UK/Dubai-based media company Electric Lime Productions recently released a film for the Masdar Institute in Abu Dhabi called "The Arcology", defined as "a vision of architectural design principles for very densely populated habitats (hyperstructures)"

The short video below is a highlight from a student recruitment film, showing off beautiful aerial shots of Foster + Partners' solar-powered Masdar City and its desert landscape -- all captured by drone.

A quick look at some of the most talked-about "smart-city" projects

2013-02-21T11:33:00-05:00

Technology being used in urban communities around the world hints at how we may live in the cities of the future

Jane Wakefield reviews recent efforts by large technology firms such as IBM and Cisco, as well as more grass root projects, to harness the power of technology to build the "cities of the future now". The list of projects includes Songdo in South Korea, Masdar in Abu Dhabi, Rio de Janeiro new city-wide operation centre,

Fully Charged visits Foster-designed Masdar City

2012-10-02T12:18:00-04:00

Masdar City is a project in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. Its core is a planned city, which is being built by the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, a subsidiary of Mubadala Development Company, with the majority of seed capital provided by the government of Abu Dhabi. Designed by the British architectural firm Foster and Partners, the city will rely entirely on solar energy and other renewable energy sources, with a sustainable, zero-carbon, zero-waste ecology.

5 Cities, 5 Congestion Solutions

2011-08-25T19:07:00-04:00

Once the definitive bicycle city, Beijing is responding to growing congestion and ongoing smog by setting a new target: for 23% of commuters to pedal to work by 2015. To achieve this target, new infrastructure for cyclists is to be wheeled in, with improved bicycle lanes, more parking facilities and a rental scheme to put a further 50,000 bikes on the roads by 2015.

Inside Masdar City: a modern mirage

2011-05-11T11:46:00-04:00

The first phase of this zero-carbon Gulf city is up and running. But behind the futuristic facade of driverless pods, medieval streets twist and turn back the clock to traditional design