is a city stretching 170 kilometers from the Red Sea coast to the provincial capital of Tabuk. It will be home to 9 million residents on an area of just 34 square kilometers.
The Line is a city of innovative transport infrastructure hidden underground and controlled by artificial intelligence. With no roads, cars or emissions, the city will use 100 % renewable energy, and 95 % of the land will be given over to nature. Unlike conventional cities, the priority here is not transport and infrastructure, but the health and well-being of residents, the project website states [56].
All the necessary amenities will be located within 5-minute walking distance, and the other end of the city can be reached in 20 minutes by high-speed rail.
"The Line will tackle the challenges facing humanity in urban life today and will shine a light on alternative ways to live. We cannot ignore the livability and environmental crises facing our world’s cities," His Royal Highness Mohammed bin Salman said in a statement.
CITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, CHENGDU
https://clck.ru/32jceW
COUNTRY — China
Chengdu is among the most innovative cities currently under construction in China. Urbanization process in China is accelerating rapidly. As of 2022, it stands at 64.7 % and is expected to reach 75–80 % by 2035, when about 1 billion people will live in cities. China’s most populous cities are Beijing and Shanghai.
Another high-tech city is to appear in China’s Sichuan Province. Its construction was scheduled for completion in 2023, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the deadline has been pushed back indefinitely.
According to the master plan, the city will be divided into six clusters, each having its own architecture and relationship with nature. For example, the University Cluster will consist of buildings with landscaped terraces for classes, resembling hills. This cluster will also include a biofiltration system, with the roofs turned into gardens that filter water and collect it in tanks. The shopping cluster will contain commercial and public facilities, as well as residential areas and offices. The city will use hydroelectric power extensively.
All clusters of the city will be car-free, and all businesses in the service sector and social amenities will be reachable in ten minutes.
"With this project, we hope to provide an alternative to the typical urban master plan," says Chris Van Duyn, a partner in the international architecture firm OMA [57].
BIODIVERCITY
COUNTRY — Malaysia
Malaysia plans to build its own "islands of the future" by 2030. BiodiverCity, with a total area of 18 million square meters, will consist of three man-made islands, each home to 15–18 thousand residents. The idea proposed by a group of architectural bureaus — BIG, Hijjas and Ramboll — is that the people should coexist in harmony with the nature. The residents will be able to move freely through the city.
The city’s master plan states that "a water, air and land-based autonomous public transportation grid is intended to create a car-free environment, where streets serve as a safe and welcoming environment for cyclists and pedestrians."
In addition to educational and administrative centers, research institutes, and digital parks, BiodiverCity will have public beaches and a 25 km long promenade. A nearby oasis will feature a miniature archipelago with floating houses on stilts and terraces, according to ArchDaily [58].
The buildings are planned to be built mainly from low-carbon materials such as bamboo and Malaysian timber, combined with "green concrete," using recycled materials as the filler.
AEQUOREA
https://vincent.callebaut.org/object/151223_aequorea/aequorea/projects
COUNTRY — Brazil
Off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a city of the future will be 3D-printed. Up to twenty thousand people will live here. The purpose of the project is to study the ocean.
The Aequorea project was proposed by the visionary architect Vincent Callebaut. According to his idea, the jellyfish-shaped buildings of the city will be submerged in water. Each building will be complete with recycling plants, production laboratories, offices, co-working spaces, workshops, research centers, marine farms, organic farming, community gardens and vegetable gardens.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is called the seventh "continent" of the planet. Approximate estimates of its area range from 700 thousand to 1.5 million square kilometers at least. Aequorea will be built of recycled plastic waste and algae, using 3D-printing technology.
The project author’s concept envisages people travelling in ships and submarines powered by biofuel. Energy and food will be provided by algae, plankton, and shellfish, which are planned to grow on the island.
"Never forget this: the oceans produce 50 % of our planet’s oxygen. They are its most active lungs!" the project’s website states [59].
MALMÖ, SWEDEN, THE REAL CITY OF THE FUTURE
https://clck.ru/32jciw
COUNTRY — Sweden
The city of Malmö, Sweden, is already being called the city of the future, because this is where you can see a synergy between different approaches to urban problems.
Malmö has more than 400 km of bicycle paths and several thousand parking spaces for bicycles. Bicycles are used for 40 % of all trips to work. By 2030, the city wants to achieve full energy independence, increasing the share of alternative energy use to 100 %, according to the city’s municipal program.
In the 1990s, Malmö was known as a port in Southern Sweden; today it is an IT, innovation, ecology and tourism hub. It is all about biofuels, bicycles, and green roofs. The city took over its own restructuring and renovation. The harbor was rebuilt, the labyrinths of industrial shipyards were cleared away and redeveloped with 600 houses, stores, and office buildings equipped with solar panels and wind turbines made of eco-friendly materials.
All homes are connected to a circulating water system, where the same medium is used for heating in the
