Abby Armstrong
abbyarmstrong.bsky.social
Abby Armstrong
@abbyarmstrong.bsky.social
GEOG325 - McGill University
#newcities Suleja Smart City sounds ambitious — Afreximbank-backed, tech-driven, and meant to reshape Nigerian urban growth. But... its already facing congestion, outdated planning and uneven services. Without real reform, “smart” risks being another buzzword.

govbusinessjournal.com/niger-state-...
Niger State Governor holds talks with Afreximbank President, eyes funding for development of the Suleja smart city project
https//www.govbusinessjournal.comAfreximbank Niger State Governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago has held discussions with the President of the African Export--Import Bank (Afreximbank), Benedict Okey Oramah at the Afreximbank Headquarters in Cairo Egypt
govbusinessjournal.com
October 25, 2025 at 7:17 PM
#newcities Telosa’s vision is wild — a billionaire building an “equity city” in the desert. It looks utopian in mock-ups, but water rights, cost, and control make me skeptical. Can you really buy equality, or just brand it?

www.dezeen.com/2025/08/21/t...
BIG's Telosa city includes circular transit hub and flying vehicles
Renderings of Telosa city by BIG and former Walmart e-commerce Marc Lore show details such as large wooden "mobility hub"
www.dezeen.com
October 25, 2025 at 7:11 PM
#newcities Kigali’s Green City sounds like the kind of sustainability that actually matters. Walkable, solar-powered, built for people not profit. But I keep wondering if “affordable housing” can really hold up when loan rates are sky-high and land is limited..

www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/g...
Green Kigali: Sustainable Travel in Rwanda’s Eco-Friendly Capital
From eco-lodges to community clean-ups, here’s how you can explore Kigali sustainably.
www.globalcitizen.org
October 25, 2025 at 7:09 PM
#newcities Bhutan’s new “mindfulness city” might be the most peaceful urban experiment in the world. A place designed around calmness, balance, and community instead of profit. It’s quietly revolutionary.

thediplomat.com/2024/01/gele...
Gelephu: The World’s First Mindfulness City Is in Bhutan
The city is envisioned as Bhutan’s new economic hub – an opportunity to capitalize on the economic corridor linking South Asia to Southeast Asia.
thediplomat.com
October 19, 2025 at 3:56 PM
#newcities Gracefield Island feels like Lagos experimenting with a softer kind of modernity. Smaller, greener, and quieter than the megaprojects next door. It’s another reminder that big ideas don’t always need a big (and usually harmful) scale.

businessday.ng/real-estate/...
Gracefield Island evolving rapidly as good destination for investors, home buyers - Businessday NG
On incremental basis, Gracefield Island, a city being developed by Gravitas Investment Limited in partnership with the Lagos State...
businessday.ng
October 19, 2025 at 3:49 PM
#newcities The Maldives Floating City still feels unreal to me. A place literally designed to rise and fall with the ocean. It’s poetic in a way—urban resilience that moves instead of resists.

www.cnn.com/style/articl...
A floating city in the Maldives begins to take shape | CNN
The solution to living with rising sea levels could be floating architecture.
www.cnn.com
October 19, 2025 at 3:48 PM
#newcities Coal Mountain Town Center might be small, but it’s the kind of local urbanism I love! Walkable, intentional, and community-driven. Not every “new city” has to be a megaproject to matter.

atlanta.urbanize.city/post/crossin...
Fresh renderings: New phase rises at made-from-scratch OTP town
Retail component of 140-acre The Crossing at Coal Mountain making “significant progress,” developers report
atlanta.urbanize.city
October 19, 2025 at 3:46 PM
#newcities Victoria North is being called one of the UK’s new towns, which feels both ambitious and ironic. Manchester keeps reinventing itself, and this time it might actually pull off inclusive growth. The key will be keeping locals part of that future.

www.investinmanchester.com/resources/la...
Manchester's Victoria North Named One of Government's 12 New Towns
Manchester's Victoria North Named One of Government's 12 New Towns
www.investinmanchester.com
October 19, 2025 at 3:46 PM
#newcities Isimi Lagos calls itself a wellness city, which sounds like a slogan until you see the design. The balance between greenery, quiet spaces, and renewable systems actually feels restorative...

guardian.ng/sponsored/wh...
Why everyone is buying Isimi Lagos – And why you shouldn’t miss out
The real estate market is buzzing with one name, Isimi Lagos. From investors to lifestyle seekers, everyone is racing to secure a stake in Nigeria’s
guardian.ng
October 16, 2025 at 7:45 PM
#newcities Tatu City is quietly becoming one of the most practical “new cities” in Africa. It’s organized, green, and built with intention. I like how it’s less about grand statements and more about getting everyday life right.

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
October 16, 2025 at 7:42 PM
#newcities The California Forever plan in Solano County feels like someone tried to draw optimism into existence. It promises walkable streets, classic design, and affordable homes. The idea is cool but earning trust from the community might be a challenge.

www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/n...
California Forever submits final application outlining big plans for Solano County's smallest city
California Forever's billionaire-backed push to build a new Solano County city has taken a big step forward, as the group submitted its final, more than 250-page plan for annexation into the county's ...
www.cbsnews.com
October 16, 2025 at 7:40 PM
#newcities Waterfall City just won World’s Best Masterplan and I get why. It’s sleek, organized, and surprisingly functional. But I keep thinking about who gets to enjoy it. A model city doesn’t mean much if it’s only accessible to a few...

www.goodthingsguy.com/business/sou...
South Africa’s Waterfall City Wins World’s Best Masterplan
South Africa’s Waterfall City is basking in the international spotlight following the smart city’s win for the
www.goodthingsguy.com
October 16, 2025 at 7:33 PM
#newcities The Senate just passed a sweeping housing bill while the government’s shut down. The irony writes itself... no lights, no budget, but plenty of zoning reform! It’s meant to back “pro-housing” cities, but I’m not sure how inclusive that really is.

www.planetizen.com/news/2025/10...
Senate Passes Major Housing Bill During Shutdown
The ROAD to Housing Act is a broad-ranging plan aimed at streamlining housing production and increasing affordability.
www.planetizen.com
October 14, 2025 at 4:26 PM
#newcities Addis Ababa’s corridor project is reworking the city’s arteries; 100 km of bike lanes, 96 km of sidewalks, bridges, and parks. It’s pitched as mobility reform, but it’s really an urban identity project: how a city moves says a lot about who it serves.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Evaluating corridor development initiatives and their effects in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Corridor development refers to the strategic planning, building, and operation of transportation infrastructure that connects key metropolitan areas within a city. This study aims to assess the eff...
www.tandfonline.com
October 14, 2025 at 4:08 PM
#newcities Avondale Estates (just east of Atlanta) is finally redeveloping its long-empty downtown into a $350M mixed-use district. 800 apartments, 100 homes, new shops. A huge shift for a small historic suburb.

www.axios.com/local/atlant...
$350 million mixed-use project could add 900 homes in Avondale Estates
Plans call for apartments, cottages and townhomes connected to the Town Green and Stone Mountain Trail.
www.axios.com
October 13, 2025 at 11:30 PM
#newcities Kerala’s Azhankal Walkway opens soon — 2 km of riverside space along the Karamana River in India, with shaded paths, play zones, and open stages. It's refreshing to see cities in South Asia invest in smaller, local-scale projects like this.

timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thiruva...
Azhankal walkway to be opened on Oct 29 | Thiruvananthapuram News - The Times of India
Thiruvananthapuram: Azhankal Walkway work, a project under Smart City Mission, is complete and will be inaugurated on Oct 29. Corporation officials sh.
timesofindia.indiatimes.com
October 12, 2025 at 6:23 PM
#newcities Small towns across the U.S. are fighting back against AI data centers. Massive, power-hungry facilities showing up in quiet places that never asked for them. They promise “jobs,” but mostly deliver noise, heat, and more expensive bills.

futurism.com/small-towns-...
Small Towns Are Rising Up Against AI Data Centers
As local activists repel data center development, their battleplans are being chronicled and shared with organizers across the country.
futurism.com
October 12, 2025 at 6:16 PM
#newcities India is planning a new Aerocity around the upcoming Navi Mumbai airport — complete with business zones, residential clusters, and smart infrastructure. Still in the masterplan stage, but massive in ambition.

economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/ser...
Master plan in the works to build a brand new city around Navi Mumbai Airport
Navi Mumbai Aerocity's master plan is nearing finalization by CIDCO, aiming to develop 667 acres adjacent to the new international airport. This project, alongside planned Educity, Medicity, and Corpo...
economictimes.indiatimes.com
October 12, 2025 at 6:12 PM
#newcities On Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore, local villages are co-creating spatial intelligence & climate adaptation tools — mixing traditional ecology, local knowledge, and sensor data to plan for sea level rise and storms. Tech meets community in real place.

arxiv.org/abs/2509.01845
Community-Centered Spatial Intelligence for Climate Adaptation at Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore
This paper presents an overview of a human-centered initiative aimed at strengthening climate resilience along Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore. This region, a collection of rural villages with deep ties t...
arxiv.org
October 11, 2025 at 8:38 PM
#newcities Joburg Water and Wits University are testing boreholes with purification systems in informal settlements to combat chronic water shortages. 15,000+ residents may gain stable access — an infrastructural fix that’s small, but life-changing.

centralnews.co.za/joburg-water...
Joburg Water and Wits University Launch Borehole Pilot Project to Tackle Water Woes in Informal Settlements
Joburg Water and Wits University Joburg Water and Wits University Johannesburg, 08 October 2025 – Joburg Water, teaming up with the University of the Wi
centralnews.co.za
October 10, 2025 at 10:31 PM
#newcities A $20M modular housing factory is underway in Kirkland Lake, led by Indigenous women, and focused on sustainable homes for First Nations communities. The facility will build panels for passive-house designs, train locals, and help tackle housing injustices.

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
How a project in northern Ontario is helping give Indigenous women careers in construction | CBC News
Keepers of the Circle, operated by the Temiskaming Native Women’s Support Group, is building a 24,000-square-foot factory in Kirkland Lake in the hopes of bringing more sustainable and durable homes t...
www.cbc.ca
October 10, 2025 at 9:45 PM
#newcities When The Well in Toronto opened, many rolled their eyes — another “mall of the future” in a city full of them. Critics said it was too polished, too commercial. But if there aren’t major externalities... what’s so wrong with a new mall anyways?

storeys.com/the-well-tor...
The Well Is The Mall Of The Future, Is That A Good Thing?
Even before it’s finished, The Well is being hailed as the “mall of the future.” Whether or not that’s desirable at a time when malls everywhere are dying, it’s clear the multi-use complex aspires to ...
storeys.com
October 10, 2025 at 9:16 PM
#newcities Stockholm is planning an entire district made of wood. 25 city blocks designed to store carbon instead of emitting it. Developers say it’ll cut construction emissions by 40% and feel “warmer” than glass or steel.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘It shapes the whole experience’: what happens when you build a city from wood?
Transforming a former industrial area in Sweden will bring psychological benefits for future residents and reduce construction’s climate impact
www.theguardian.com
October 9, 2025 at 10:03 PM
#newcities In São Paulo, botanist Ricardo Cardim is planting “pocket forests”. Mini jungles tucked into urban corners to cool heat islands, absorb CO₂, and bring biodiversity back to concrete. Small-scale, local, but incredibly hopeful.

www.reuters.com/lifestyle/ri...
Ricardo Cardim on greening Brazil’s concrete jungle
The Amazon city of Belem will take center stage in Brazil, the world’s most biodiverse country, when it hosts the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/love-motels-converted-ferries-brazil-gets-creative-host-cop30-2025-03-28/" target="_self" rel="" title="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/love-motels-converted-ferries-brazil-gets-creative-host-cop30-2025-03-28/">COP30</a> global climate summit in November. But visitors who descend on São Paulo, the business heart of Brazil, ahead of the summit may be surprised by its treeless landscapes and polluted rivers.
www.reuters.com
October 9, 2025 at 9:59 PM
#newcities Toronto’s Quayside project is finally a go — part of the Waterfront revitalization that’s been reshaping the city for years. New housing, green design, and public space are promised… again. The scale’s impressive, but delivery’s always been tricky.

www.waterfrontoronto.ca/news/whats-n...
What’s Next for One of Toronto’s Most Significant Housing Projects | Waterfront Toronto
www.waterfrontoronto.ca
October 8, 2025 at 5:04 PM