@scott I'll disagree with you about de novo (although neighborhoods are as good as cities). i think you just don't get the scale of transformation that we need in any plausible (or desirable) infill only world. when tokyo was growing its fastest, it did it by "new towns". singapore does to this day.

i share skepticism abt the way they are planning. meritocratic professionals from afar are likely to do a flashy, bad job. (my linked in the followup explains my preferred approach.)