While this project is definitely on trend with other cities, these projects use an incredible amount of resources that don't quite meet sustainability standards. There is definitely an irony to that (like Elaine mentioned).

This sounds great in theory, but the overuse of the "smart city" and "eco-city" buzzwords in this article is really throwing me off, and takes away from the article.

I agree with others here, however it feels like another private development pitched as utopia but with no clear plan for inclusive housing (how exactly he will make this happen) or public space.

I wonder who would move there and who would pay? If it's premium housing, does the 'forest city' really challenge inequality or just greenwash luxury? It almost seems like not building this city would help them hit their climate goals.

While it is unsure if this city will be successful (and I do have my doubts), I thought that this quote coming from the Guardian article covering Nusantara was very telling: "Politically, it's unwilling to die, unwilling to live".

I wonder how feasible this project is, considering that this city's budget is worth 30 times the national GDP. Apparently crypto is their focus, maybe that will help with funding???...

Wild pivot from the billionaires because they're now rebranding into a marina/ship hub north of the bay. This doesn't feel like a city for the people, more like a playground for the elites!

These eco-villages are pitched as completely self-sufficient: electricity, water, food, all inside one village. I'm not sure if this is the potential for a new rural-urban hybrid or just another "powerpoint city" that promotes greenwashing?

Originally pitched as a new California city with thousands of homes, it is now a maritime manufacturing zone. Locals call it a 'hostile takeover' of farmland. Who is this city really for?

The new Yangon city plan encompasses 8,100 hectares, two new bridges, and an industrial estate. Promoted as development, but occurs under a military-controlled regime, raising red flags about transparency, displacement, and sovereignty.

Promoted as 'future-facing', Lusail features the World Cup stadium and waterfront development. Yet building a full-scale city in the desert with ultimate sustainability still reads like a marketing pitch more than anything.

The project promises modern infrastructure and smart city digital hubs, but advocates warn of potential risks, including facial recognition and data harvesting, by a government with weak privacy protections. Who watches the watchers in Zim Cyber city?

The pilot for this city is framed as a 'clean-sheet' urban innovation system: educational park, transit-oriented development, with lots of greenery. The flipped narrative (no cars? high-density campus?) still risks replicating tech-cluster exclusivity.

#newcities

to the hurricane. Once Jamaica stabilizes again, perhaps the focus will shift back to new city building in St. Elizabeth. In the meantime, I also inserted a link to help Jamaica rebuild its existing cities post-hurricane, as they desperately need assistance.

supportjamaica.gov.jm

only electric vehicles, green power provided by a hydroelectric dam, and a low-rise metropolis. Part of the reasoning behind this project is to attract investors, as well as slow down the 'brain drain' in the country. This is a very ambitious project (being worth 30x the national GDP).

the current timeline. This project, initially announced in 2015, has seen nearly a decade pass by with no attention until recently. I have low expectations for the project's realization, but only time and the actual allocation of resources and money will tell.