Finance & economics | Urban economics

The world is in the midst of a city-building boom

Everyone, from Donald Trump and Peter Thiel to Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, is getting involved

The central business district under construction in the New Administrative Capital, Egypt
Photograph: Ahmed Gomaa/Xinhua/Eyevine

Africa’s tallest building is rising under empty skies. Beneath the Iconic Tower in northern Egypt sits a city that officials expect to one day house 6.5m people. For now, though, it is mostly empty—like the desert that came before it.

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This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Boom: towns”

From the March 9th 2024 edition

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