Here’s our latest newsletter about the big projects and ideas shaping the cities of tomorrow.
You Should Know
- The vacancy rate in America’s data center sector has fallen to a record low of 2.3%. The construction pipeline is now ten times larger than it was in 2020, with 73% of new capacity already preleased. JLL projects that the industry could attract up to $1 trillion in financing by 2030.
- 7 of the top 10 fastest growing cities by population are in Africa. Gwagwalada, a city in the Nigerian federal capital, Abuja, tops the list.
- These are the top U.S. ZIP Codes people are moving to in 2025. Zip Codes in Texas, Florida, and Arizona dominate the top of the ranking.
Worth Watching
- Why Germany has 11 fake bus stops.
- This might just be the world’s best metro system.
- How countries around the world are beating sea level rise.
Top Stories
Why Do Data Centers (Like the $25 Billion Project in Texas) Cost So Much?
Vantage Data Centers recently announced a $25 billion project in Texas: the “Frontier” campus, which will include ten facilities spanning 3.7 million square feet and delivering 1.4 gigawatts of power capacity. It is the largest data center project to date with committed infrastructure and financing already underway, underscoring the immense cost of building the backbone of today’s AI boom. This scale of investment raises the question: why are data centers so costly?
The most expensive part of building a data center isn’t the chips—it’s the electrical systems that power and protect them. Industry benchmarks show that substations, transformers, switchgear, backup generators, batteries, and uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems together account for 40 to 45 percent of total construction costs.
Developers must often build or upgrade substations, high-voltage transmission lines, backup generators, and energy storage to support enormous power draws. At the same time, racks holding NVIDIA, AMD, or custom AI chips now run at 250 kW or more per rack, compared to just 10 to 20 kW in a traditional data center, dramatically increasing electrical complexity and cost.
IT hardware still represents a massive investment. NVIDIA’s flagship AI accelerators, such as the H100 and newer Blackwell B200 chips, sell for $30,000 to $40,000 each. Outfitting thousands of racks with these processors quickly climbs into the billions. NVIDIA’s own estimates suggest that about half of a data center’s cost is infrastructure—power, cooling, and buildings—while the other half is compute, storage, and networking.
Cooling is another major cost item. Servers generate immense heat, and a single rack of AI equipment can exceed 40 kilowatts of heat output. With facilities running 24/7, traditional air systems can’t keep up; advanced approaches like liquid or immersion cooling and closed-loop chillers are now essential.
Land and building construction also add significantly to costs. Large campuses require hundreds of acres and purpose-built shells with reinforced structures, raised floors, and advanced fire suppression. To put its size in perspective, Vantage’s Frontier campus will span over 1,200 acres—more than 40 percent larger than New York City’s Central Park. Together, these elements explain why modern data centers function less like warehouses and more like power plants and factories combined.
Thailand’s Mega “Land Bridge” to Connect Two Oceans
Thailand is pressing ahead with a 1-trillion-baht ($29 billion USD) “land bridge” designed to connect the Gulf of Thailand with the Andaman Sea through two deep-sea ports, an 87-kilometer highway, and a railway.
The scale of the project is immense, with costs estimated at 1 trillion baht (about $28 billion USD). Projections show it could cut shipping times by four days, lower costs by 15%, and create up to 280,000 jobs.
The ports, to be built in the cities of Ranong and Chumphon, are designed to handle ultra-large container ships, requiring heavy dredging, breakwaters, quay walls, and automated container yards. Together, they would form the backbone of a new intermodal system, allowing goods to bypass the congested Malacca Strait by transferring across the Kra Isthmus in hours rather than days at sea.
Connecting the ports will be a corridor made up of a six-lane motorway and a dual-gauge railway. The rail system will integrate with Thailand’s existing and future freight networks, requiring significant civil works such as viaducts, cuttings, and tunnels. Large intermodal hubs and bonded warehouses will support customs clearance and efficient cargo transfers, while high-voltage substations, water treatment facilities, and digital networks will ensure reliable operations. This combination of marine and inland infrastructure is expected to transform the isthmus into a modern logistics gateway.
Critics warn of significant environmental and social costs. Fishers based in Ranong fear losing Ao Ang Bay’s fragile ecosystem, while durian farmers in nearby Chumphon worry the new motorway could cut through lucrative orchards they call their “green gold.”
Despite resistance, the Thai government insists the land bridge is a national priority, though no binding financing has yet been secured. Officials say Chinese and Middle Eastern investors, including Dubai Ports World, have expressed interest, and the project is set to proceed under a 50-year public-private partnership model. Formal bidding is expected to begin in 2026, with completion targeted for 2030.
This Bipartisan Affordable Housing Bill Needs More Attention
The most significant affordable housing legislation in decades is making its way through Congress. The bipartisan ROAD to Housing Act of 2025, co-sponsored by Senators Tim Scott and Elizabeth Warren, aims to expand housing supply and ease costs. Two key provisions stand out for their potential to fundamentally reshape housing construction and zoning.
One key provision of the ROAD to Housing Act focuses on expanding access to manufactured housing, a sector often overlooked in housing debates. The bill would eliminate the federal requirement that factory-built homes be installed on a permanent chassis, a rule that has long added cost and complexity to production.
By modernizing this standard and broadening financing options, the measure aims to make manufactured homes more affordable and widely available. These homes, which include mobile homes, are built in factories, transported in sections, and assembled on-site—offering a lower-cost path to ownership.
Another major element of the bill tackles one of the most stubborn obstacles to construction: zoning and land-use restrictions. The bill directs the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to develop best-practice frameworks that local governments can use to streamline permitting and reduce barriers that block housing projects. By providing a national zoning template, the bill aims to give states and municipalities political cover and tools to revisit restrictive regulations and allow more diverse housing types.
The ROAD to Housing Act also includes other important provisions, such as authorizing $1 billion for an innovation fund to incentivize new ways to expand housing supply. It also fixes USDA direct loan rules so borrowers can extend loan terms to lower monthly payments.
The bill unanimously passed out of the Senate Banking Committee (24-0) and was introduced in the full Senate on August 1. If the Senate passes the bill, it will then be transmitted to the House.
Kuwait Rapidly Building New “Worker Cities”
Kuwait is taking one of its biggest steps to address a pressing urban challenge: housing for migrant workers. The government has announced plans to build multiple residential complexes that will accommodate roughly 275,000 people. This initiative is designed to regulate expatriate housing, relieve overcrowded neighborhoods, and reinforce both social and security stability.
There are over 2.5 million migrant (expatriate) workers in Kuwait’s labor force, vastly outnumbering the national workforce of about half a million. A majority of these workers have low literacy or minimal schooling, which complicates integration and skilled workforce development.
The move comes as authorities intensify crackdowns on unregulated “bachelor houses” in areas like Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh, where unsafe conditions and security risks have grown acute.
Six large-scale “workers’ cities” form the backbone of the expansion. Four will be built in Jahra Governorate and two in Ahmadi, complementing existing labor cities in Subhan, Amghara, Shadadiyah, and Al-Raqqa that currently house about 20,000 workers.
Construction has already begun. In April, Kuwait Municipality broke ground on a 40,000-square-meter complex in Subhan that will provide housing for 3,000 workers. The largest project, a 750,000-square-meter mega-complex in West Shuaiba, will house about 56,000 workers.
The new complexes will follow a master plan emphasizing sustainability, public health, and access to essential services. Each site will dedicate 20% of its land to organized housing units, 5% to commercial outlets, 5% to healthcare and other key services, and 12% to green spaces, alongside infrastructure and internal roads.
Other major developments include an expansion of Shaddadiyah’s workers’ city, boosting its capacity to 42,000, and two new Public Authority for Housing Welfare projects in Subiya and along Al-Salmi Road that will accommodate 50,000 and 25,000 workers, respectively.
Big Deals
- Wistron invests $761 million to build AI supercomputing facilities.
- Lowe’s acquires Foundation Building Materials for $8.8 billion.
- DC BLOX raises $1.15 billion for Atlanta data center expansion.
- Foulger Pratt acquires AvalonBay’s D.C. apartment portfolio for $447 million.
- Aalo Atomics secures $100 million funding to build innovative microreactor.
- EliseAI secures $250 million to enhance vertical AI solutions in real estate.
- Affiliate of Mormon Church pays $152.5 million for South Florida apartments.
Extra Reads
- Trump declares U.S. won’t approve new wind or solar projects.
- How microclimate engineering can combat urban heat island effects.
- Nigeria’s Centenary City project resumes after an 11-year delay.
- AVAIO Digital is investing $6 billion in a Mississippi data hub.
- Rivian plans to begin construction on a $5 billion Georgia factory.
- U.S. Dept. of Transportation revives $5 billion EV charging program.
- Dubai’s RTA utilizes AI to enhance traffic flow and reduce congestion.
- How Toronto’s new city plan could ‘transform’ housing near transit and beyond.
- Why we should legalize SROs everywhere.
- The USA’s hottest real estate markets have changed in 2025