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.

Explore more

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

From the March 9th 2024 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Finance & economics

China meets its official growth target. Not everyone is convinced

For one thing, 2024 saw the second-weakest rise in nominal GDP since the 1970s

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed speaks during the launch of the Ethiopian Securities Exchange in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on January 10th 2025

Ethiopia gets a stockmarket. Now it just needs some firms to list

The country is no longer the most populous without a bourse


Shibuya crossing in Tokyo, Japan

Are big cities overrated?

New economic research suggests so


Why catastrophe bonds are failing to cover disaster damage 

The innovative form of insurance is reaching its limits

“The Traitors”, a reality TV show, offers a useful economics lesson

It is a finite, sequential, incomplete information game

Will Donald Trump unleash Wall Street?

Bankers have plenty of reason to be hopeful