I have finally tracked down, and fixed, the elusive bug that caused all the issues with the launch of Foundation.
Long story short, it was related to another older bug with how the server services synched with each other.
I'll probably write up a proper dev-diary about it at some point.
Both bugs are now fixed, cities are back online, but buildings and goods production still need work.
You can follow the work on the patch on the forums at http://www.godsandidols.com/topic/1119/ or on the main menu in-game.
I was hoping to include more in this patch and I'm sorry to disappoint (Not even an april fools joke this year...)
But don't worry, features will get fixed, go online, and before you know it you'll be building cities and producing goods for your empires!
Countdown has been updated for when the next fixed Foundation feature is expected to come back online.