News: the Kenyan government has commenced work on Konza Technology City, a £9.1 billion IT and business hub dubbed "Africa's Silicon Savannah".

Above and top: Konza Techno City Exhibition Platform by SHoP Architects

Located almost 40 miles south-east of the capital Nairobi, Konza Technology City is expected to create more than 20,000 IT jobs by 2015, and around 200,000 jobs by the time it's completed in 2030.

The 2011-hectare site will have a residential area comprising around 37,000 homes to accommodate 185,000 people.

Above: Konza Techno City Exhibition Platform by SHoP Architects

Over 600 hectares of Konza will be marked off as green corridors, and Kenya Wildlife Conservancy has pledged to safeguard the ecology of the surrounding savannah.

"It is expected to spur massive trade and investment as well as create thousands of employment opportunities for young Kenyans," said Kenya's president Mwai Kibaki at the groundbreaking ceremony.

Above: earlier visual concept for Konza by Pell Frischmann

The project, which is part of the government's Vision 2030 initiative to improve the Kenya's infrastructure, is also set to include a university campus, hotels, schools, hospitals and research facilities.

See more images and find out more about the masterplan by Manhattan-based firm SHoP Architects in our updated story on Konza Techno City.

Above: earlier plan for Konza Technology City by Pell Frischmann

We recently reported on a high-density, car-free city for 80,000 people being built from scratch in rural China, while a South Korean firm has developed a system of concrete modules for building the country's answer to California's Silicon Valley.

Above: the site for Konza

Other major masterplans around the world we've featured include a new district to double the size of Moscow and the redesign of the huge Futian District of Shenzhen, China.

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