Tuesday, July 29, 2008

From the ground up

If you need to create a new city with the population density of Manhattan on a fake island just off the Persian Gulf, Rem Koolhaas has a plan for you. (Photo via Archinect)


Flint Expatriates talks a lot about cities in decline, but what about cities on the rise? Archinect has an intriguing piece on designer cities — complete with futuristic photos that are more reality than fantasy — emerging in Waterfront City, Dubai; Kartal, Turkey; Sergovia, Spain; and Orestad, near Copenhagen.

"We are seeing an emergence of a new industry," says Dennis Frenchman, director of the city design and development program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's urban-studies department. "It's not real-estate development; it's not architecture; it's not city planning. All I can do is name it 'the city-building industry.'"



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Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.