It will feature a wide range of building styles and features.

Masterise Homes, the prominent Saigon-based real estate developer, announced this week that it has appointed Foster + Partners, the United Kingdom's largest architecture firm, to advise the development of an enormous project called The Global City.

According to a press release, the 117.4-hectare development will include high- and low-rise apartments, villas, social housing, schools, medical facilities, a shopping mall and a host of other amenities. The "city within a city" would be located in An Phú Ward and replaces a previous project called Sài Gòn Bình An township. 

CNN adds that the development will be centered on a "spine" of trees and greenery and flanked by two waterways, with five distinct neighborhoods linked by a central park. 

Toby Blunt, a senior partner at Foster + Partners, was quoted in the press release as saying: "The ambition and scale of the project is striking...This will be our first township in Vietnam, and we are excited to extend our footprint in the country."

According to Masterise, construction will take just 48 months, though it is not clear when work will begin or how much the massive project will cost. 

Masterise is currently developing a number of major residential projects in Saigon, perhaps most noticeably the Ba Son area in District 1. 

Foster + Partners was founded by famed British architect Norman Foster and is known for designing distinct buildings like the Hearst Tower in New York City and "The Gherkin" in London. 

[Top image: a rendering of The Global City by Foster + Partners]