7 Most Futuristic Cities Being Built Around the World
From Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 headlining projects like The Line to a smart forest city in Mexico, this is what our world could look like in 50 years from now
Whilst The Line, which promises to blend into the desert when complete, and Mukaab, a cubical internal city in Riyadh, put Saudi Arabia at the forefront of developing futuristic cities, there are other boundary-pushing developments around the world that answer to the very humanistic pursuit of chasing tomorrow.
We write about them in utopian – and dystopian – novels, offer glimpses of what they’d look like in movies and TV shows, and now, it seems, we build them too. Though designing for the future could be understood as the most basic requirement for architects and urban planners, in recent years, this goal has been taken to a new level. It seems every few months, firms unveil plans for wholly reimagined metropolitan areas: from floating cities to those in outer space, the offerings are relentless. In these new cities, sustainable infrastructure and smart technology is often a given, and in some cases, the plans even include things that haven’t even been invented (or brought to market) yet – like flying taxis or extremely autonomous AI cars. Still, it never hurts to dream big, right? With that in mind, AD rounded up seven of the most interesting proposals for futuristic cities, some of which are already under construction. Which one are you moving to?
Futuristic Architecture in Neom: 11 Astonishing Buildings in Saudi Arabia’s $500 Billion Mega-Project
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Photo: Stefano Boeri.1/7Smart Forest City, Mexico
Stefano Boeri, an Italian architect, unveiled plans for a smart city near Cancún, named Smart Forest City, in 2019. The proposed metropolis would contain 7.5 million plants and is based on the area’s Mayan heritage and the culture’s relationship with the natural world. “Thanks to the new public parks and private gardens, thanks to the green roofs and to the green facades, the areas actually occupied will be given back by nature through a perfect balance between the amount of green areas and building footprint,” the firm told Dezeen. Collecting data is an important aspect of the proposed project, but Boeri assures this will be of benefit to residents, as it would be used to enhance governance.
Photo: Courtesy of BIG.2/7Telosa, USA
Conceived by billionaire Marc Lore, Telosa’s goal is to “create a new city in America that sets a global standard for urban living, expands human potential, and becomes a blueprint for future generations.” Though it’s exact location has yet to determined, the city will prioritize pedestrians and bikers with a few “slow-moving autonomous vehicle.” Imagined as sustainable city and designed by Bjarke Ingels Group, renewable resources will power the urban area; green spaces will be protected and prioritized; and water will be stored, cleaned, and reused on site. Aside from environmental initiatives, the city will be built around the idea of equitism, “an economic system in which citizens have a stake in the city’s land.” The project is currently targeting a population of 5 million by 2050.
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Photo: Courtesy of NEOM.3/7The Line, Saudi Arabia
Standing tall within NEOM’s futuristic landscape, The Line in Saudi Arabia was presented to the world in 2017 as a shining beacon of the Arab kingdom’s ambitious Saudi Vision 2030 roadmap for economic diversification beyond oil. Construction work on The Line is well underway, but recently it seems as though this crown jewel of NEOM – Saudi’s tourism driven cluster of futuristic projects by the Red Sea – has faced setbacks.
The Line in Saudi Arabia was slated for completion in 2030. What remains to be seen is how much of the 150-kilometre span will actually be ready by then. Its first modules were to be activated in 2026, but the time required to develop sci-fi promotional videos into viable design and structural solutions, coupled with financial concerns, has already delayed the project. Find out what's going on with The Line.
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Photo: Courtesy of BIG4/7Oceanix Busan, South Korea
Though floating-city proposals are increasingly common these days, Oceanix Busan may be the first one to actually reach completion. Oceanix hired Bjarke Ingels Group and SAMOO to design the city, and Busan soon signed on to help build the first prototype, which was delivered to the UN in April of 2022. Built from biorock, a self-sustaining and self-repairing material, the city will hopefully serve as a model for other coastal communities battling rising sea levels and other climate-change-induced difficulties.
Photo: Courtesy of MRVD5/7Chengdu Sky Valley, China
Designed by firm MVRDV, Chengdu Sky Valley was conceived as a an entry for the Future Science and Technology City competition, though the project isn’t moving forward at this time. The metropolis is designed to preserve and enhance the site’s traditional Linpan settlements, which are rural communities in the area’s valleys. For this reason, new buildings are clustered on hills and designed to accentuate the valley skyline. By preserving the agricultural landscape of the area, residents are offered “a wider choice of lifestyles, including opportunities for self-building and developing self-sufficient lifestyles in harmony with nature.”
Photo: Courtesy of Foster+Partners6/7Amaravati, India
Though this masterplan for Amaravati conceived by Foster+Partners is no longer happening, it does offer great insight into what a futuristic city could look like. In the the plan, a government complex would anchor the city, and a large central green space would span the city’s centre – inspired by Lutyens’ Delhi and New York’s Central Park. The firm also envisioned an aggressive environmental strategy, in which “at least 60% of the area is occupied by greenery or water.” According to Foster+Partners, the metropolis would’ve been among the most sustainable in the world and would make use of various new and emerging technologies including photovoltaics, electric vehicles, water taxis, and dedicated cycle routes.
Photo: New Murabba Development Company7/7Mukaab, Saudi Arabia
Construction has begun on the world’s largest building, Mukaab, in Riyadh. Envisioned by AtkinsRéalis, Mukaab will be the focal point of a 19-square-kilometre development called Murabba, which will be Riyadh's new downtown district.
Derived from the Arabic word for a cube, Mukaab is just that: a monumental, monolithic and perfectly symmetrical building. Enclosed within an exterior screen whose triangular pattern is a modern interpretation of Najdi, the traditional Saudi architectural style, this geometric structure will contain an ‘interior’ city. Visually it is a stark contrast to Epicon, the jagged skyscraper development in Neom.
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