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NewCities

Website:

newcities.org/%20
Location:

Quebec Canada
Type:

Environmental Organization
Formation:

2010
Founder:

John Rossant

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NewCities, also known as the NewCities Foundation, is a left-of-center environmental organization based in Quebec, Canada. The organization, founded in 2010, hosts events, conducts research, and produces content for its editorial platform, with the aim of creating “healthier” and “more inclusive” cities. 1

NewCities states on its website that its work is “guided by” the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of 17 policy goals that were adopted by United Nations (UN) member states in 2015 as a part of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 1 2 3

NewCities states on its website that it centers “equity and inclusion in all of our efforts as an organization.” The organization created a list of left-of-center resources that contains videos, books, and other organizations. 4 NewCities also lists various left-of-center organizations to which to donate, including Black Lives Matter through the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, the Movement for Black Lives; the Bail Project, Reclaim the Block, and the Black Visions Collective. 4

John Rossant, the founder and chair of New Cities, was previously in charge of the team producing the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting, and has produced WEF conferences in China, Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America. Rossant was asked in 2010 to organize the e-G8, the first global summit on the future of the internet, by then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy. 5

Background

According to its website, NewCities has organized 42 events in 22 cities, and its editorial platform has hosted more than 1,000 articles, opinion-editorials, and “progressive texts.” The organization also launched its threesixtyCity podcast in 2021. Episodes of the podcast include “A Roadmap for Economic Justice,” “The Net-Zero Transition,” and “How to Be a Climate Optimist.” 1 6

NewCities states on its website that its work is “guided by” the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of 17 policy goals that were adopted by United Nations (UN) member states in 2015 as a part of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The 17 SDGs include 169 policy targets and focus on issues including climate action, gender issues, energy production, government institutions, education issues, and global poverty. 1 2 3

NewCities highlights several SDGs on which it focuses. These include SDG 5: “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls,” and SDG 13: “Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.” 1

Resources

NewCities states on its website that it centers “equity and inclusion in all of our efforts as an organization.” The organization created a list of left-of-center resources that contains videos, books, and other organizations. 4

Links in the list include one to a video titled “Whiteness at work,” one to another resource titled, “How racist policing took over American cities, explained by a historian,” and another titled, “America’s Cities Were Designed to Oppress.” The list also links to articles and podcasts on policing, including an article titled “The Road to Removing Police From Traffic Enforcement” and another called “Defund the Police: Here’s What it Means.” 4

The organization provides links to books with titles such as White Fragility, White Rage, and Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race. 4

NewCities also lists various left-of-center organizations to which to donate. These organizations include Black Lives Matter, via the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, a movement ostensibly seeking to reform police conduct, especially as it involves the use of force against Black suspects and civilians. The movement has been criticized for appearing to tolerate violent demonstrations in its name, for stoking racial tensions, and for creating an unsafe environment for police. 4 7 8 9

The list of organizations also included the Movement for Black Lives, a coalition of more than 50 left-of-center racial-advocacy organizations associated with the Black Lives Matter movement. The Movement for Black Lives endorsed a radical extremist platform in 2016 described as “an extraordinary grab bag of anti-American and fundamentally Marxist demands.” As of 2025, Movement for Black Lives is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit. 4 10 11 12 13

Other organizations listed include the Bail Project, a nonprofit organization that opposes cash bail and provides payment assistance to those accused of crimes who cannot afford bail; and the National Bail Fund Network, a network of over 80 separate community bail and bond funds. After the 2020 protests against the police killing of George Floyd, the National Bail Fund Network organizations had received over $75 million, while the Bail Project funds had received $15 million. 4 14

Reclaim the Block, a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based political organization that advocates for the defunding of the Minneapolis Police Department, and Black Visions Collective, a radical-left activist organization based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that focuses on racial and transgender issues, are also named in the NewCities list. 4 15

Affiliated Organizations

NewCities states that it relies on the support of its “corporate and institutional members” to launch new projects. According to its website, NewCities members are “forward-thinking organizations” that are based around the world. 16

Organizations that are NewCities members include Citibank, which has been a member since 2013; the McKinsey Global Institute; which became a member in 2015; and the Toyota Mobility Foundation, which has been a member since 2016. 16

NewCities also notes that it works closely with local governments, including the government of Quebec, Canada, as well as the city of Orlando, Florida. 16

The organization also has academic and non-profit organizations as members, including Ashoka, an international organization that promotes social entrepreneurship by affiliating individual social entrepreneurs into the Ashoka organization; Climate Group, an international network of corporations and other groups that advocate for environmentalist policies; the Urban China Initiative, a think tank based in Shanghai, China focused on urban policy that was founded in 2011 and likely went defunct around 2021; and the U.S. Green Building Council, a private membership-based nonprofit organization that promotes environmentalism in building design, construction, and operation. 16 17 18 19

People

John Rossant is the founder and chair of NewCities. 20 21

Rossant was the Europe editor at Business Week from 2000 until 2005, when he became the vice president of communication and public affairs at Publicis Groupe, a French multinational advertising company, a position he held until May 2008. 22

As of 2025, Rossant is a member of the board of directors at the Tocqueville Foundation, a position he has held since January 2009. He is also the founder of CoMotion LA and Miami, a global platform that aims to “accelerate sustainable urban mobility” around the world. 22 23

Rossant has been an advisory board member of the Alliance for Southern California Innovation since March 2025. The Alliance for Southern California Innovation has partnered with venture-capital firms and universities in Southern California in various programs designed to encourage economic growth. 22 24

Rossant was previously in charge of the team producing the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting and has produced WEF conferences in China, Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America. WEF is a business league that primarily organizes annual meetings of international business and political leaders in Davos, Switzerland. In 2020, WEF’s annual meeting agenda advocated for a plan known as the “Great Reset,” which proposed using the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to restructure the global economy along collectivistic and interventionist means. 5 25

Rossant was asked in 2010 to organize the e-G8, the first global summit on the future of the internet, by then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy. 5

References

  1. “Mission, Vision & Values.” NewCities. Accessed October 6, 2025. https://newcities.org/about-us/?lang=en. 
  2. “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Accessed October 6, 2025. https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda. 
  3. “The 17 Goals.” Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Accessed October 6, 2025. https://sdgs.un.org/goals. 
  4. “Resources and Non-Exhaustive Reading List.” NewCities. June 18, 2020. Accessed October 6, 2025. https://newcities.org/resources-non-exhaustive-reading-list/?lang=en. 
  5. “John Rossant.” CoMotion. Accessed October 6, 2025. https://www.comotionglobal.com/speakers/john-rossant. 
  6. “threesixtyCITY: A NewCities Podcast.” NewCities. Accessed October 6, 2025. https://newcities.org/threesixtycity-a-newcities-podcast/. 
  7. Russell, Nicole. “Black Lives Matter’s Violence Undermines Its Credibility.” July 12, 2016. Accessed October 6, 2025. https://thefederalist.com/2016/07/12/black-lives-matters-violence-undermines-its-credibility/. 
  8. Sidner, Sara. “The rise of Black Lives Matter: Trying to break the cycle of violence and silence | CNN.” December 28, 2015. Accessed October 6, 2025. https://edition.cnn.com/2015/12/28/us/black-lives-matter-evolution/index.html. 
  9. “FBI report finds officers ‘de-policing’ as anti-cop hostility becomes ‘new norm’.” Washington Times. Accessed October 6, 2025. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/may/4/fbi-report-officers-de-policing-anti-cop-hostility/. 
  10. French, David. “Black Lives Matter Keeps Getting More Radical — Will the Media Care?.” National Review. August 5, 2016. Accessed October 6, 2025. https://www.nationalreview.com/2016/08/black-lives-matter-media-left-radical/. 
  11. “M4Bl – The Movement For Black Lives.” Accessed October 6, 2025. https://web.archive.org/web/20210104231715/https://m4bl.org/. 
  12. “Home.” M4BL. Accessed October 6, 2025. https://web.archive.org/web/20250101070544/https://m4bl.org/. 
  13. “Home.” M4BL. Accessed October 6, 2025. https://m4bl.org/. 
  14. “Racial Justice Groups Flooded With Millions in Donations in Wake of Floyd Death.” New York Times. Accessed October 6, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/14/us/politics/black-lives-matter-racism-donations.html. 
  15. “Reclaim the Block – Profile.” X (Formerly Twitter). Accessed October 6, 2025. https://x.com/reclaimtheblock. 
  16. “Nos membres.” NewCities. Accessed October 6, 2025. https://newcities.org/about-us/our-members/?lang=en. 
  17. “About us.” Climate Group. Accessed October 6, 2025. https://www.theclimategroup.org/about-us. 
  18. Foley, Stephen. “McKinsey-led think-tank advised China on policy that fed US tensions.” February 23, 2024. Accessed October 6, 2025. https://www.ft.com/content/15a3e8d9-6c57-422a-8eb8-35a3c24a50e3. 
  19. “U.S. Green Building Council | Activist FactsActivist Facts.” Activist Facts. November 22, 2013. Accessed October 6, 2025. https://activistfacts.com/organizations/united-states-green-building-council/. 
  20. “Wellbeing Cities 2020 Forum.” NewCities. June 29, 2020. Accessed October 6, 2025. https://newcities.org/press-release-wellbeing-cities-2020-forum/?lang=en. 
  21. “Infinity Film Festival Beverly Hills – John Rossant.” Sched. Accessed October 6, 2025. https://bhiff.sched.com/speaker/john.rossant. 
  22. “John Rossant – Experience.” LinkedIn. Accessed October 6, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jrossant/details/experience/. 
  23. “About.” Accessed October 6, 2025. https://www.comotionglobal.com/about. 
  24. “Programs Overview.” Alliance for SoCal Innovation. Accessed October 6, 2025. https://alliancesocal.org/programs-overview/. 
  25. “Davos at 50: a timeline of highlights.” World Economic Forum. December 6, 2023. Accessed October 6, 2025. https://www.weforum.org/stories/2023/12/world-economic-forum-davos-at-50-history-a-timeline-of-highlights/. 
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