Smart City Master Plan Announced Near Boston

"Smart city" plans are being announced at a steady clip. The latest master planned "smart city" proposal comes for a former U.S. Navy-owned site near Boston.

1 minute read

December 4, 2017, 12:00 PM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


"Architecture firms Elkus Manfredi and Sasaki have unveiled a masterplan to transform a parcel of land south of Boston into a smart city," according to an article by Eleanor Gibson.

The 1,500-acre site is the former home of a U.S. Navy airfield. "Developer LStar Ventures acquired the site – approximately 1,500 acres (607 hectares) – two years ago, with the ambition to build a new community 'from the ground up'," according to Gibson.

Union Point, as the master planned development is named, "will incorporate high-tech features such as autonomous vehicles, and smart systems for collecting and sharing data, to improve the lifestyles of future residents and the management of the city," explains Gibson. More details, and renderings, are included in the original article.

Union Point joins a smart city landscape that has populated quickly in recent months. In October, Toronto announced a plan to partner with Sidewalk Labs (a unit of Google's parent company) to develop the Quayside district into a smart cities experiment. News also broke in November that Bill Gates had acquired 25,000 acres of land located outside of Phoenix to develop a smart city dubbed Belmont.

Thursday, November 30, 2017 in Dezeen

"Planetizen federal action tracker" logo superimposed over black and white image of US Capitol dome.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

October 28, 2026 - Zachary Whalen

A car drives through a puddle, making a large splash. Rain pours down.

California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour

If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.

October 28, 2026 - Grist

Lake Powell with much of the water evaporated.

Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River

Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.

October 30, 2026 - Yale Environment 360

People board a bus in Seattle.

Seattle passes record-breaking transit services expansion

Proposition 1 will double the city’s transit tax to add 95,000 more bus trips and preserve 180,000 bus trips annually.

45 minutes ago - KOMO News

Elon Musk in front of a sign for Grok 3

Post election, Texas is no longer Musk’s 'AI oasis'

Elon Musk dolled out $446 million on the 2026 midterms, the most ever spent by a non-canidate.

1 hour ago - Politico

People vote in Chicago behind blue privacy screens

Chicago voters approve permanent festival grounds, penalty for vacant property owners

Currently, major summer and fall festivals take over public parks for weeks at a time, drawing criticism from nearby residents

November 5 - Block Club Chicago