Silica City set to become global biodiversity powerhouse as Pres Ali unveils vision of Guyana’s 1st forest city

…King’s Foundation reps already in Guyana assisting with urban planning

The Government, in keeping with its urban renewal efforts, envisions that Silica City will be one of the richest cities in the world when it comes to its biodiversity.
During Tuesday’s launch of the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership (FCLP), which is being co-chaired by Guyana and the United Kingdom, President Dr Irfaan Ali laid out his government’s biodiversity vision, and noted that the intent was to create a “forest city” that will feature hundreds of thousands of trees.
“We are hoping that in just a few years, you will walk in a forest city in Guyana, and even the new city, Silica City, that we’re planning. You will walk in a city that is the richest in biodiversity in the world. This is how serious we’re taking this,” the President said.
“While many are saying, how many more flyovers we’re going to build, we’re thinking about how do we create a forest city. Planting hundreds of thousands of trees. Not replanting, because we’ve not taking down. But planting anew, adding more. And greater value.”
Conceived in 2009 and located on the Linden-Soesdyke Highway, Silica City will be Guyana’s first modern, sustainable city. In August 2024, President Ali announced the completion of the planning model for Silica City, which forms part of his government’s climate change mitigation initiatives under the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).
In November, the Head of State met with an executive team from Republic Bank Guyana to discuss collaborations on a number of innovative projects, including the Silica City project.

In February 2023, a $2.1 billion contract was inked to develop Silica City. It is envisioned that over the next two decades, this new secondary city along the Linden-Soesdyke Highway would grow to hold more than 12,500 households.
It would initially cater to just over 3000 households in the first five years, but 3800 acres of land have been earmarked for the new city. The first phase of the project would see an initial 400 “Young Professional” homes being constructed.
It was previously reported that the Housing Ministry had already begun shortlisting persons for these homes. In fact, construction has already commenced on the first 110 “Young Professional” homes in the city, and those works were 50 per cent complete as of November last.
The city will have high-end developments including smart homes with the newest energy-saving technologies for wastewater management, energy management, and water conservation. The city will have recreational parks, community centres, an electricity grid, and a multi-specialty health facility.
President Ali had previously announced that phase two of the city will focus on Diaspora investments, which comes as the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government has been pushing for the Diaspora to come home and invest.
The Government has been making deliberate efforts to encourage the Diaspora to not only visit, but also invest in Guyana. Only last year, it was announced that the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s Diaspora Unit would be partnering with Guyana’s first indigenous company to offer Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions to create a platform that will better enable members of the Diaspora to make enquiries and conduct transactions with governmental agencies.

King’s Foundation
President Ali also acknowledged the presence of Ben Bolgar, the Senior Director for the King’s Foundation that is playing a key role in helping Guyana revamp its urban planning landscape and architecture.
“I want to pay a particular welcome to Ben Bolgar, who is with us today from the King’s team. Ben is doing fantastic work on our urban planning and helping Amerindian communities advance their village plans.
“The world needs leaders who act as champions of the forest agenda, in the way President Jagdeo, the Prime Minister of Norway and King Charles did years ago. I hope the FCLP will help to make the case for why we need to see such leaders emerge in the years and months ahead,” President Ali added.
Last year, President Ali had announced that the Government would with support from the British-based King’s Foundation, transform the capital city under the rollout of the next phase of the strategy. President Ali, whose doctorate is in Urban and Regional Planning, had noted that the King’s Foundation would be providing support to Guyana in the area of sustainable urban development.
“We are very pleased that we have established this strong partnership with the King’s Foundation in the renewal of the City of Georgetown. And we’re working on various projects to enhance the City of Georgetown and give it back that title of the Garden City of the world,” the President had laid out during high-level discussions that focused on the LCDS.
As a matter of fact, the President noted that the work to renew Georgetown would be within the LCDS 2030 vision and would include the beautification of the city and country, the expansion and revival of urban planning and improvements to drainage and irrigation in the city to address flooding.
Only in March 2025, the Protected Areas Commission (PAC) had launched the National Tree Planting Project at the Conversation Tree and Pike Street intersection, Georgetown, a $600 million initiative that will be rolled out across the country and see nature being seamlessly incorporated into the Government’s infrastructural projects.