Emilia Chavanne

[Emilia Chavanne @ChavanneEmilia]

This article seemed ironic as it calls for the consultation of the people to build bike lanes when it is rarely done or ignored when building car-centric infrastructure. This shows the way politicians lobby against bike infrastructure. https://t.co/KPZzu05Hm9 #TransportGeogMcgill

[Emilia Chavanne @ChavanneEmilia]

The lack of transparency makes it hard to know if these cities are really green and if the steps taken really will build an eco-complex or if it is simply following a trend to grow economically. One needs to pay attention to the growth of these projects and hold them accountable.

[Emilia Chavanne @ChavanneEmilia]

This article questions how much of Masdar's current reality is due to its false promises that are leading to nowhere, or is it simply too new to see the potential impacts of this eco-complex? https://t.co/IFribKMFEu #newcitiesmcgill

[Emilia Chavanne @ChavanneEmilia]

Updates on this city are mainly from Arab newspapers, such as this article https://t.co/AnZmP8wWhU which states their new green real estate investment trust portfolio. But very little is said about the impacts it will have on the environment and the population. #newcitiesmcgill

[Emilia Chavanne @ChavanneEmilia]

This article mentions a version of a future that's crazy to me, where cars wouldn't need to be parked anymore, driving themselves home. This would push for a more car-centric society and would probably not be affordable to everyone.
https://t.co/blgbgbMMm4 #TransportGeogMcGill

[Emilia Chavanne @ChavanneEmilia]

@AmandaT_23 Also as the local people did not 'fit in' with the vision of the new capital, I wonder if they will not end up being permanently displaced. It is shocking that a capital city does not include plans for all people in its country and only elites to be able to sell economic success

[Emilia Chavanne @ChavanneEmilia]

This article shows how Duqm is built for economic interests rather than the people, as the local population has been displaced to build Duqm. Furthermore, it is profiting nations abroad as they invest in the project, and there is little mention of any benefits for Omanis.

[Emilia Chavanne @ChavanneEmilia]

Duqm is a new master-planned city promoting manufacturing to diversify its economy away from oil. Developers are building new cities as business initiatives to promote economic growth rather than developing new people-centric urban areas. https://t.co/IVIOj0ETKT #newcitiesmcgill

[Emilia Chavanne @ChavanneEmilia]

This reminds me of the City quest conference, where 'experts' spreads ideas about new cities although all these projects are brand new and we haven't seen the consequences of them yet. This normalizes new cities and convinces countries they need to build them to develop.

[Emilia Chavanne @ChavanneEmilia]

New cities are an attractive trend and a standard for economic growth even though we see new cities fail over and over again. Nevertheless, they act as a restart button. This is also explained by who holds the power and to whom these cities are catered, excluding other opinions.

[Emilia Chavanne @ChavanneEmilia]

I found this article that mentions that the projects for a pink line are being suspended to favor the REM for the East. Will it be as effective as the pink line? Was the pink line a way to win votes or will it still be implemented? https://t.co/PW2qLr841m #TransportGeogMcgill

[Emilia Chavanne @ChavanneEmilia]

@mariagheorgh1u I think even if it looks less attractive than Forest City, Zenata could still suffer from speculative investment as it would have other appealing advantages like being 'eco-friendly' or in a quiet environment. But it'll depend if the city is catered to investors or residents

[Emilia Chavanne @ChavanneEmilia]

However, a consequence of the failure of this plan was that the land was sold to build a gated community which also goes against the idea of building inclusive cities. I'm not sure which one is worst, but at least there was resistance against a new city without affordable housing

[Emilia Chavanne @ChavanneEmilia]

This article shows how China tried to sell a new city to South Africa as the 'Manhattan in Africa' or 'the capital of Africa' but was never built because the plans didn't plan for affordable housing and thus were rejected by South Africa.
https://t.co/36Ibo0plXm #newcitiesmcgill

[Emilia Chavanne @ChavanneEmilia]

I'm wondering if the fact that this was rejected by South Africa is due to a raise of awareness on the failure of new cities, or maybe a better consideration for equitable cities. Nonetheless, inter-referencing to other cities, like New York, was not enough to sell the project

[Emilia Chavanne @ChavanneEmilia]

It's interesting to see with this project who China wants to cater to their new cities, but also their international ambitions. Their goal is clearly profits and investments, as Monderfottein was supposed to build luxury housing and refused to negotiate/settle with South Africa.

[Emilia Chavanne @ChavanneEmilia]

@AmandaT_23 I find it interesting that this article refers to the opinion of locals. This shows how they're rarely considered, and how these cities are run for profits rather than for the people. In the case of Forest city, the project is clearly for investors rather than Malays.

[Emilia Chavanne @ChavanneEmilia]

(2/2) but if these cities are not livable then housing could fall into the trap of speculative housing. This emphasizes the need to build housing and affordable housing in already existing cities and focus on them as services are already available. #newcitiesmcgill

[Emilia Chavanne @ChavanneEmilia]

After doing the reading for this week, I was curious to see how new cities in Morocco were portrayed in the media. This article mentions the difficulties Moroccan new cities are facing like providing basic infrastructure to new residents.
https://t.co/6KDIsfqN4E #NewCitiesMcGill