Mapping tomorrow’s world
A look at global #megacities currently being built that most people haven't ever heard of before
Can you identify any of the cities marked on the map? No? Well, don’t worry, because some of these places are projects that haven’t even broken ground yet. But, by 2050, they could be among the most important cities on the planet.
We are living in an age of unprecedented city-building. As you read this, more than 200 new cities are at various stages of development around the globe. These economic hubs are expected to cater for large populations – in some cases, numbering millions. Some will even become new capitals.
‘Building cities is nothing new, but the current intensity and global spread we are witnessing is unparalleled,’ says Wade Shepard, co-author of the upcoming Atlas of New Cities. ‘What’s fascinating is that, in terms of development, countries all over the world are doing the same thing at the same time, often with the same companies involved. It’s starting to look like an all-out movement – a new industry.’
Some of the most prolific and concentrated development is happening in China. Since it opened itself up to capitalism in the early 1980s, there has been a massive rural exodus, prompting heavy urban development. In the past decade, this has intensified and, today, a quarter of the 100 largest cities in the world can be found in China. And it’s Chinese investment that’s funding many of the projects in other regions too, including Africa, and the new Belt and Road Initiative – the trade route that stretches from Asia to Europe.
As you read this, more than 200 new cities are at various stages of development around the globe
According to Shepard, there are five reasons for the development of these megacities. Some are being created by economic drivers and others are transportation projects. There are those created around financial districts and others that are politically or religiously motivated. Finally, there are socially driven cities – places on the periphery of other developments that create interconnected urban clusters.
In many cases, the development of a new metropolis will incorporate a number of these identities. New cities in the Middle East, for example, are often created to fulfil multiple purposes as it becomes apparent that the region’s current reliance on an oil-based economy cannot last.
‘With such a high level of development, there’s an important question to be asked about sustainability,’ says Shepard. ‘Will these megacities be successful and buoy up local economies? Or will they drag down global development? In some places, we’re witnessing large developments failing to attract inhabitants and lying dormant, while those elsewhere have prospered and continue to grow.’
It will be decades before we know the answer to that question. In the meantime, it’s a case of ‘wait and see’ – and of being ready to draw up a new atlas