Global Cities Development

Institutional & infrastructure development

Building the foundations of new cities

Global Cities Development structures city-scale programmes in emerging markets — from the legal mandate and governance to infrastructure, digital systems and capital.

Abstract plan of a new city, assembled layer by layerA schematic plan seen from above. A coordinate grid carries, in order: the site boundary as a closed legal contour; a trunk corridor and a second axis crossing it; residential blocks of fine grain north of the corridor and coarse grain to the south-west; a hatched economic zone beside the water; a quay with three berths at the water edge; and utility network lines with junction nodes. No real place is shown.
Illustrative. A schematic image of how a city-scale programme is ordered — boundary, corridors, blocks, networks — not a plan of an existing or planned city.

The model

A city is assembled in layers

Mandate, stewardship, master development, sector delivery, capital and operations are separate layers of one structure. Each layer answers for its own work and is financed on its own terms, with digital public infrastructure running through all of them.

Six layers of city formation, crossed by a digital layerSix horizontal layers, from the top down: 1, mandate & legal framework; 2, stewardship & governance; 3, master development & city management; 4, sector delivery vehicles; 5, capital; 6, operations & services. A vertical digital layer crosses all six: connectivity, data and digital public services.01MandateMandate, land rights, zone status02StewardshipCustodial foundation and control03Master developmentOne accountable master developer04Sector deliveryOne delivery company per sector05CapitalEntry where the risk belongs06OperationsUtilities, maintenance, servicesDIGITAL LAYERSix layers of city formation, crossed by a digital layerSix horizontal layers, from the top down: 1, mandate & legal framework; 2, stewardship & governance; 3, master development & city management; 4, sector delivery vehicles; 5, capital; 6, operations & services. A vertical digital layer crosses all six: connectivity, data and digital public services.01MandateMandate and land rights02StewardshipCustodial foundation03Master developmentOne master developer04Sector deliveryOne company per sector05CapitalEntry where risk belongs06OperationsUtilities and servicesDIGITAL LAYERSix layers of city formation, crossed by a digital layerSix horizontal layers, from the top down: 1, mandate & legal framework; 2, stewardship & governance; 3, master development & city management; 4, sector delivery vehicles; 5, capital; 6, operations & services. A vertical digital layer crosses all six: connectivity, data and digital public services.01Mandate02Stewardship03Master development04Sector delivery05Capital06OperationsDIGITAL LAYER
Illustrative. The diagram shows how responsibilities are divided, not a construction sequence.

See the full model

Sectors

Where the work is delivered

Ten sectors, each delivered through its own special-purpose company at the sector-delivery layer of the model.

How we work

Structure before capital

Programmes of this scale come apart on governance more often than on engineering or funding. We build the institutional order first, in sequence.

Abstract plan of a new city, assembled layer by layerA schematic plan seen from above. A coordinate grid carries, in order: the site boundary as a closed legal contour; a trunk corridor and a second axis crossing it; residential blocks of fine grain north of the corridor and coarse grain to the south-west; a hatched economic zone beside the water; a quay with three berths at the water edge; and utility network lines with junction nodes. No real place is shown.
Illustrative. A schematic image of the order in which a programme is assembled, not a plan of an existing or planned city.
  1. 01

    Mandate

    Establish the relationship with the host government and a formal basis for the programme before anything is committed.

  2. 02

    Legal framework

    Land rights, zone or concession status and the enabling instruments, drafted with local counsel under the host jurisdiction.

  3. 03

    Structure

    Governance, delivery and capital held in separate entities, so that accountability is traceable and each layer can be financed independently.

  4. 04

    Capital

    Development finance institutions and institutional investors brought in at the level where their risk belongs, against a structure that already stands.

Flagship programme

In preparation

Clear City

Eastern Seaboard, South Africa

A planned Free Economic and Innovation Zone and greenfield urban development, designed around a multi-level structure that separates the custodial foundation, the master developer and the sector-level delivery vehicles.

Programme overview

Principles

How the structure is kept honest

Governance and integrity

Insights

What we are reading

A short review of reporting published elsewhere, read against the model above. These are other organisations' projects and other publications' headlines, not news about Global Cities Development: each one opens the original. Our note on what the item shows about structure sits beside it in the section.

Insights and our notes on them

Contact

Enquiries

General enquiries
info@globalcities.ae
Legal & contractual notices
legal@globalcities.ae

Contact details