Methodology
How we build the atlas
Inclusion criteria
A project enters the atlas when it meets all three conditions:
- Named operator
- There is a legal entity — a company, government authority, or registered organization — publicly identified as the developer or operator of the project.
- Public announcement
- The project has been announced publicly with a stated location or host-country agreement. Concept-stage proposals without a named site are not included.
- Credible commitment
- At least one of the following is true: seed or institutional funding has been publicly disclosed; a memorandum of understanding or concession agreement with a host government has been signed; or ground has been broken on the site.
Projects that meet (1) and (2) but not (3) may be tracked in our review queue but are not published until the third condition is satisfied.
Status labels
Each project carries one of five status labels. We update these when we have a verifiable source:
- Operational
- Residents, tenants, or businesses are on the ground. The project functions as a going concern.
- Under development
- Construction has started or the legal framework is formally in place, but the project is not yet operational at scale.
- Announced
- The project meets our inclusion criteria but has not yet broken ground or reached operational status.
- Cancelled
- The project has been publicly cancelled by its operator or host government.
Sources
Facts are drawn from: the project’s official website and published documentation; government announcements and legislation; major news sources and trade publications; and, where available, academic or policy literature. Where sources conflict, we use the most recently dated credible source and note the date. Where data is unavailable, the field is left empty rather than estimated or interpolated.
If you have a correction or a better source for any entry, use the Submit page.
What we don't do
We don’t rank projects. We don’t assess the likelihood of success. We don’t editorialize on governance models, political economy, or the merits of any particular approach to city-building. Every project in the atlas is represented as its operator describes it, using verifiable facts. Judgment belongs to the reader.
Taxonomy
A stable taxonomy of project types is published at /about with anchor-linked definitions. These definitions are versioned: if a definition changes materially, the old version is preserved in the changelog.
Last updated April 2026.