Elsa Mateos
elsamateos.bsky.social
Elsa Mateos
@elsamateos.bsky.social
Sustainability and Urban Planning Student at McGill.
What makes Oceanix, South Korea’s floating city, stand out from other #newcities projects?

The article raises several unique advantages: its response to climate imperatives and the need for a new model of development, its design centered on biodiversity.

www.tomorrow.city/oceanix-busa...
Oceanix, Busan: The World’s 1st Sustainable Floating City Prototype
Learn about Oceanix, Busan, a leading-edge prototype design for a floating city. Explore how futuristic cities like this provide a space solution.
www.tomorrow.city
October 28, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Yachay 2.0 #newcities
Yachay City of Knowledge became a failed dream. The only legacy is the Yachay University, which remains in operation.
So why did such an ambitious project funded with over 1B$ failed? The article raises several reasons:

nearshoreamericas.com/yachay-tech-...
Yachay Tech: The Quick Demise of Ecuador’s ‘Silicon Valley’ - Nearshore Americas
Ecuador’s Yachay “City of Knowledge", once former president Rafael Correa’s pride, is one of countless unfulfilled "Latin American Sillicon Valley" projects.
nearshoreamericas.com
October 28, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Yachay 1.0 #newcities

Yachay City of Knowledge in Ecuador is being conceived for a national industrial and economic transformation. Built on a former sugarcane plantation, the project repurposes the old haciendas to symbolize and support the transition.

goodanthropocenes.net/yachay-city-...
Yachay City of Knowledge: A New City of Technology, Research and Innovation
“New Cities” are planned cities, generally conceptualized and constructed in partnership between government and corporate actors. While this phenomenon has resulted in a mixed-bag of mostly non-sustai...
goodanthropocenes.net
October 28, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Woven city 2nd post #newcities

Toyota’s Woven City, a city designed to test and accelerate technological innovation, has recently begun welcoming its first residents. The project, costing more than 10B$, is planned to accommodate only 360 people.

www.popularmechanics.com/technology/i...
Toyota Is Building a Strange ‘Living Laboratory’ That 360 People Will Call Home
For four years, Toyota has been constructing a futuristic urban experiment in the shadow of Mount Fuji. Now we’ll see if it actually works.
www.popularmechanics.com
October 28, 2025 at 4:54 PM
#newcities
Diamniadio Lake City, a city located in the suburbs of Dakar, it's the first Senegalese smart city, built primarily to address the continent wide challenge: demographic boom.

www.express.co.uk/news/world/2...
The little African country building a huge new massive city to end traffic chaos
A government-approved utopian city is currently under construction.
www.express.co.uk
October 26, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Serena del Mar, in Colombia, located near Cartagena emerges as a response to the latest rapid urban expansion, which has led to inequalities in infrastructure and increasing segregation.
It is a private city developed by Novus Civitas,

www.economist.com/1843/2017/03...
A city to grow into
Across the world, cities are full to bursting. Serena del Mar, a new town near Cartagena in Colombia, is a local answer to a global challenge
www.economist.com
October 26, 2025 at 6:28 PM
#newcities Alaro City, a free zone located near Lagos, Nigeria, has received several awards, including the Emerging Project of the Year and two Global Free Zone awards. Launched in 2019, it is a Rendeavour-planned development covering 2,000 hectares...

www.alarocity.com/news/alaro-c...
Alaro City wins two global free zone awards
fDi Intelligence, a Financial Times service, has recognised the success of Alaro City in the fDi Global Free Zones of the Year Awards 2020,
www.alarocity.com
October 26, 2025 at 6:08 PM
This article paints a positive image of Waterfall City, a rapidly growing mixed-use urban development in South America, a novelty in the African #newcities context.

www.africa-usforum.africa/waterfall-ci...
Waterfall City Attracts U.S. Corporate Giants to the Heart of Africa’s Fastest Growing Metropolitan Region – ACSUS
www.africa-usforum.africa
October 26, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Cotino, a #newcities and currently under construction by Disney is located in California’s Coachella Valley.
The project aims to create an entertainment-focused residential community that delivers the signature 'Disney experience.'
www.newsweek.com/disney-new-c...
Disney's new California desert city starts taking shape
Disney has begun construction for its ambitious luxury community in the middle of the Coachella Valley.
www.newsweek.com
October 16, 2025 at 6:41 PM
#newcities Like many African cities, Burkina Faso’s capital Ouadadougou, is struggling with rapid demographic growth and urban saturation.
To address this, the objective is to build an adjacent city, 15km away, named Yennenga after the Burkinabe princess.

www.franceinfo.fr/monde/afriqu...
Yennenga, projet de ville nouvelle à 15 kilomètres de Ouagadougou
La ville nouvelle de Yennenga verra le jour à 15 kilomètres au sud de Ouagadougou. Créée en pleine savane, elle accueillera 80.000 habitants sur 678 hectares. Innovante et durable, elle se présente co...
www.franceinfo.fr
October 16, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Konza, a #newcities of Kenya, completed phase one of infrastructure. The project goes hand in hand with the Country vision 2030, to become a middle income economy by that date.
marcopolis.net/konza-techno...
Konza Technopolis: Kenya’s Smart City Leading the African Silicon Savannah - MarcoPolis
In this exclusive interview with John Paul Okwiri, CEO of Konza Technopolis, Kenya’s ambitious smart city project, we explore the transformative role Konza is playing in advancing Kenya’s digital econ...
marcopolis.net
October 5, 2025 at 9:15 PM
#newcities Lanseria, the new planned city in South Africa, reflects a greater trend in urban development. The idea is not new, it emerged in 2007 under a different name and revived in 2020 by the president.

www.rprealtyplus.com/internationa...
South Africa’s New Multi-Billion Smart City
South Africa’s New Multi-Billion Smart City
www.rprealtyplus.com
October 5, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Praxis, a start-up city project financed by the Silicon Valley elites, plans to build the #newcities of the future in Greenland. The city is based around technology, crypto-money, and financial freedom from states with lower taxes and regulations (seasteading idea)
www.insidehook.com/internet/pet...
A Startup Linked to Peter Thiel Wants to Build the "Next Great City" in Greenland
Funded to the tune of $525 million, Praxis aims to “revitalize Western Civilization” through a techno-libertarian city upon a hill
www.insidehook.com
October 5, 2025 at 8:16 PM
After writing about Bhutan's #newcities, I came across a very different side of the story: one involving displacement and discrimination. Bhutan national ideology of Gross National Happiness and motto of ‘one nation, one people’ stands in contrast to its history.

scroll.in/article/1079...
The dark shadows of Bhutan’s Gelephu ‘mindfulness city’ project
The ambitious ‘mega city’ plan is a violent appropriation of the homeland and memories of the displaced Lhotshampa people.
scroll.in
October 5, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Bhutan just launched the Genephy Mindfulness City, a #newcities inspired by the country ‘unique philosophy of Gross National Happiness’. According to the article, the city aims to serve as a ‘blueprint for sustainable development in the Global South’.
borgenproject.org/gelephu-mind...
Gelephu Mindfulness City: Bhutan’s Model for Poverty Reduction - The Borgen Project
Bhutan has launched the Gelephu Mindfulness City, a development project to bolster economic prosperity by focusing on spiritual well-being.
borgenproject.org
October 5, 2025 at 6:47 PM
#newcities A new city has been built in Kenya, next to Nairobi, known as Tatu City. It is presented as a model in contrast to other sub-Saharan cities for its cleanliness and safety.

apnews.com/article/keny...
A startup city in Kenya tries to tackle Africa's problem of urbanizing while poor
Tatu City outside Kenya's capital is a startup city, privately owned and with aspirations of eventually having a population of 250,000.
apnews.com
September 15, 2025 at 8:44 PM
#newcities New cities, 3 to 5, have been proposed by the Russian minister, Sergei Shoigu, north of Mongolia. These mega cities, each planned to house up to 1 million people, are to boost regional development for the region and connect to other markets.

www.thebarentsobserver.com/industry-and...
Sergei Shoigu has a grand masterplan for Siberia. It could move Russia towards Eurasia
The Russian defence minister wants to build several new mega-cities and connect the vast region to the Arctic.
www.thebarentsobserver.com
September 15, 2025 at 8:31 PM
#newcities Thailand is planning to build a new city in the Eastern Economic Corridor, called EEC Capital City. It is expected to start taking shape in 2030.

www.nationthailand.com/news/general...
14,000-rai ‘Lung of EEC’ to help Thailand meet net zero goal by 2050
Project to support future investments in smart, green, sustainable economy
www.nationthailand.com
September 14, 2025 at 9:53 PM
#newcities Gaza, a war-ravaged city, is being reimagined by some as the ‘Riviera of the Middle East,’ branded the GREAT by Donald Trump and a circle of Israeli elites.
Or described by others as a 'blueprint for mass deportation disguised as development.'
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...
Leaked ‘Gaza Riviera’ plan dismissed as ‘insane’ attempt to cover ethnic cleansing
Prospectus proposes forced displacement of entire population and puts territory into US trusteeship
www.theguardian.com
September 9, 2025 at 7:16 PM
#newcities currently being built near Mount Fuji in Japan, with an estimated cost of $10 billion. Known as Woven City, the project was first announced by Toyota in 2021. Designed to house around 2,000 people, the city is being constructed entirely from scratch.

www.ndtv.com/world-news/f...
www.ndtv.com
September 9, 2025 at 6:44 PM