From China to Saudi Arabia, Morocco to Johannesburg, new planned cities are emerging at a pace never seen before.
From the South Korean “ubiquitous city” of Songdo to the 100 smart cities being planned by India; from 18 new cities emerging in Morocco to a slew of projects across the Middle East, we are experiencing a new cities building boom.
There’s nothing new about planned new cities, of course. Washington DC and Canberra are examples. In the UK, the garden city and new towns movements gave birth to places such as Letchworth and Welwyn, Harlow and Basildon.
Q&AWhat is the Cities from Scratch series?
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Scores of new cities are rising across the world from previously untouched desert and jungle, or on land “reclaimed” from the sea. While the history of cities built from scratch is long, the scale of the current epidemic is beyond anything seen before.
Another 2.5 billion people are predicted to move to cities over the next 30 years and the trend shows no signs of stopping. New research has identified more than 100 examples, nearly all in Asia and Africa.
This week Guardian Cities meets the 90-year-olds who built the Bulgarian city of Dimitrovgrad after the second world war (many still live there) and visits the bizarre Bahria Town development promising Karachi residents protection from terror attacks and violent crime. We look at Hong Kong’s plan to build artificial islands for 1.1 million people and examine Egypt’s dream to conquer the Sahara. We remember past visions of future cities and ask, is there ever a good reason to start a city from scratch?
This week Guardian Cities is exploring the phenomenon of cities built from scratch and we want to hear from you.
Share your experiences
Do you live in a new city? Or one that was planned from scratch? Why did you move there? What were your first impressions? And what do you particularly like or dislike about living there? Share your thoughts and experiences in the form below. We will publish a selection of our favourite contributions.
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