Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

arya! @yanarya.bsky.social · 10h

www.cnn.com/style/oman-s...

Oman unveils plans for 100,000-person ‘smart’ city | CNN

Set across 5.7 square miles outside Oman’s capital Muscat, the district will be as big as Beverly Hills — but with almost three times as many residents.

www.cnn.com

arya! @yanarya.bsky.social · 10h

Oman's vision of a new city does not strike me as particularly original. Given the recent trend of building new "sustainable" cities in the region, it seems possible that it will be built.

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arya! @yanarya.bsky.social · 10h

Half of Oman's government revenue comes from oil, so this city represents a desire to reduce its dependency on oil, a pattern among countries in the Gulf states. The digital renderings remind me of Masdar, UAE, with its shaded architecture. The use of digital monitoring reminds me of Singapore.

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arya! @yanarya.bsky.social · 10h

Oman Vision 2040 #newcities West of its capital, Muscat, Oman envisions a "smart", sustainable city with a university, schools, health facilities, and mosques built by star-developing company SOM, which built the Burj-Kalifa. The city is said to be adapted to high temperatures, humidity, and floods.

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arya! @yanarya.bsky.social · 10h

www.africanews.com/2022/12/05/t...

“The new Algeria is now”: massive housing and infrastructure projects | Africanews

Algeria has embarked upon a hugely ambitious project to build five major new cities from scratch. Already 3 million people have benefitted from the distribution of 800,000 housing units and 2 major sp...

www.africanews.com

arya! @yanarya.bsky.social · 10h

Like a movie set, Boughezoul eradicates slums cosmetically within its frontiers and wows tourists with its entertainment and technology (Algerian space agency, airport, railway).

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arya! @yanarya.bsky.social · 10h

As it is only a pilot city, only 400 people are intended to live there, likely for the sake of budgeting. Also, stadiums that fill up to 50,000 are being built enthusiastically to host international games.

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arya! @yanarya.bsky.social · 10h

Boughezoul, Algeria #newcities is one of the five new cities being built in the country as a part of the "slum eradication project". Like many new city proposals, Boughezoul is high-tech, "sustainable" in the leafy sense and in the ease of repair sense, and well-connected.

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arya! @yanarya.bsky.social · 11h

www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/n...

California Forever CEO says manufacturing hub joins proposed new Solano County city

The group revealed that they now also want to build what they say will be the "largest advanced manufacturing park in the country" to be called the Solano Foundry. It touts 90-day permitting and plent...

www.cbsnews.com

arya! @yanarya.bsky.social · 11h

California Forever's city project mimics broader patterns of economic protectionism in the US, as seen in the recent imposition of trade tariffs. The U.S manufacturing has been in decline for a long time (years following 1979), so why is this sentiment for revival surging now?

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arya! @yanarya.bsky.social · 11h

Although the CEO denies the presence of opposition to the project, the proposal to annex Suisun City split the council room in half, with some expressing mistrust in the proposal.

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arya! @yanarya.bsky.social · 11h

California Forever #newcities Backed by investors from Silicon Valley, there is a nostalgic movement for Sunbelt-era California, claiming a need to recenter American manufacturing in California by building a new city. The CEO sees his project retaining subsidies in the county and providing housing.

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arya! @yanarya.bsky.social · 1d

Then again, this is still very much in the preliminary stages of the project, as it is still new.

arya! @yanarya.bsky.social · 1d

Whether or not it will cater to rich investors seems not a priority, but rather whether it will attract any investor might be a bigger problem. The use of an AI-generated model of the city highlights the lack of financing and creativity behind another generic new eco-city project.

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