City

The Kenyan government intends to spend a reported US$14.5 billion on the creation of Konza Technology City or "Silicon Savanna," which Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki hopes will become Africa's answer to Silicon Valley. Recently underway, the ambitious venture will see the construction of a brand new city on 20 sq km (7.7 sq miles) of what is currently natural savanna, 70 km (43 miles) southeast of Nairobi.  Read More

Ground has been broken on the residential component of the $4.9 billion Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, New York. The first of three residential towers to be constructed on the 22 acre (89,000 sq.mt) site, the B2 building will be 32 floors high and contain 363 units constructed using innovative prefabrication methods, making it the world’s tallest modular building.  Read More

Fashion designer Pierre Cardin has proposed a controversial high-rise complex to be built in Venice – a UNESCO World Heritage city that also has a long and distinguished history of innovative architecture. Dubbed Palais Lumiere or "Light Palace" due to its abundance of transparent walls, the design was conceived by the 90 year old Cardin with the help of architect nephew Rodrigo Basilicati has been approved by the Mayor of Venice, Giorgio Orsoni.  Read More

Internet security specialist SANS is building what it calls CyberCity, a model city to help train U.S. Military personnel – Federal hackers, in effect – in defending cities from cyberwarfare attacks.  Read More

If you were an animator who was instructed to “Make a street that looks like it’s in Paris,” chances are you might not know what to do. Sure, you could occasionally put the Eiffel Tower in the background, but you couldn’t do that for every shot. If you were using a new data-mining system developed by Carnegie Mellon University and INRIA/École Normale Superiéure in Paris, however, it would show you what you should include. The software automatically looks through photos taken in various cities, and identifies the recurring visual features unique to each place.  Read More

Luanda in Angola, Libreville in Gabon and N’Djamena in Chad are the most expensive extreme hardship locations in the world and thanks to the marketplace volatility which results from local inflation, political instability, currency fluctuations and natural disasters, Tokyo has consolidated its title as the most expensive of the recognized cities of the world in which to live.  Read More

With global sea levels predicted to rise significantly over the next century due to climate change, a lot of people living in low lying areas are expected to be displaced from their homes. Architect Vincent Callebaut has come up with a possible relocation destination for these climate change refugees in the form of the “Lilypad” concept – a completely self-sufficient floating city that would accommodate up to 50,000.  Read More

The idea of going offshore to satisfy our renewable energy needs isn't new, but the grand vision of Japan’s Shimizu Corporation goes way beyond harnessing green energy at sea for use in cities on Terra firma – it takes the whole city along for the ride. The company, along with the Super Collaborative Graduate School and Nomura Securities, is researching the technical issues involved in constructing its Green Float concept – a self-sufficient, carbon-negative floating city that would reside in the Equatorial Pacific Ocean.  Read More

Cisco has given an ambitious green city project a huge credibility boost by agreeing to work with urban-scale sustainable technology company Living PlanIT on its creation. The new community in Portugal will use the latest cutting-edge green technology from both companies, and house over 200,000 people with minimal environmental impact.  Read More