Why Reinvent When We Can Reinvent What We Have?

The Promise and Challenges of Model Cities

Rethinking Urban Design from Scratch

Model cities—like Neom, Songdo, or Telosa—promise a fresh start. Built from scratch, they offer the rare opportunity to rethink everything: architecture, mobility, energy systems, and land use. In theory, they’re clean slates for innovation, free from the constraints of outdated infrastructure and bureaucratic inertia.

The Reality: Do Model Cities Deliver?

But while new cities can be fertile testing grounds, the results haven’t always lived up to the hype. Neom has faced massive cost overruns. Songdo, despite its smart city credentials, lacks the street-level vibrancy of older urban cores. Brasilia, a much older model city founded in the 1960s and often admired for its bold design, remains criticized as an architectural and social misfire. Even purpose-built cities struggle with the messiness that makes urban life dynamic and human.

The Evolution of Existing Cities

Transforming Urban Spaces Through Policy and Innovation

Meanwhile, our existing cities are changing—often dramatically. Policy shifts, zoning updates, and creative reuse (like office-to-residential conversions) are reshaping the urban landscape. These transitions aren’t always cheap or easy, but they hold immense potential. Why not draw inspiration from model cities while investing that vision into the places we already live?

Real-World Examples of Urban Revitalization

Take the Green and Healthy Homes Initiative (2025 Ivory Prize finalist), which supports energy retrofits in aging housing stock—essential in a country where most homes were built decades ago. Boston’s Office to Residential Conversion Program (2025 Ivory Prize finalist) and Gensler’s Conversions+ software (2025 Ivory Prize finalist) show how underused commercial buildings can become vibrant housing, reactivating downtown corridors in the process. On a smaller scale, the Incremental Development Alliance (2025 Ivory Prize finalist) champions neighborhood-focused growth, helping people transform a vacant lot or underused single-family home into a duplex or triplex—gentle density with big impact.

A New Vision for Cities

The Power of Urban Reinvention

The appeal of starting fresh is understandable. But in most cases, we don’t need to build a utopia from scratch—we need to uncover the potential already embedded in our cities. Reinvention doesn’t always mean something new; sometimes it means seeing the old with fresh eyes. Let’s not overlook what’s already here— cities that are ready for reimagination, revitalization, and reinvestment.