Humans have always built new cities to escape the limitations of the old—freedom, opportunity, power, or simply a fresh start. Now the dream is alive in more ways than ever: some state-led, some tech-powered idealism, and others by the brutal math of market demand.

But building a city from scratch remains a Herculean undertaking. It takes vision, funds, political will, and years—decades, often—of persistence. Some projects move with haste under autocratic regimes. Others bog down in bureaucratic red tape or popular resistance. And many vanish before they even leave the drawing board.

Here is a rundown of the most significant new city projects around the world in 2025—where they stand, what they represent, and how they are faring.

Neom – Saudi Arabia

Neom is very likely the world’s most renowned new city today. Backed by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the megaproject on the Red Sea aims to showcase future urbanism. Its components vary from “The Line”—a 170-kilometer-long linear city—to high-end islands like Sindalah.

On paper, Neom is set to have nine million residents by 2045. In the real world, progress has been more uneven. While construction continues, notably in Sindalah, delays, cost overruns, and wildly ambitious design ambitions have slowed momentum. The issue isn’t lack of money—Saudi Arabia has that—but a top-down strategy that has privileged spectacle over sound urban development.

Neom remains a potent symbol of ambition, but also a cautionary reminder of what happens when vision gets ahead of reality.

New Administrative Capital – Egypt

Forty-five kilometers east of Cairo, Egypt is constructing a new capital city to alleviate the pressure on its chaotic existing metropolis. The desert city is planned to be a modern seat of government and, eventually, home to over six million people.

Unlike Neom, Egypt’s new capital has made physical progress. There are already thousands of residents, and basic infrastructure is in place. However, despite less ambitious expectations, the project carries financial risk. Costing $45 billion and with finite domestic resources, it could be a strain on Egypt’s weak economy.

Still, it’s a more grounded and practical approach to a new city than most on this list—a attempt to solve real problems, if not without danger.

Nusantara – Indonesia

Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, is literally sinking into the sea. Because of this, the government has started Nusantara, a planned city in Borneo that will become the country’s new administrative capital.

Work has begun, but it has stalled spectacularly. The new Indonesian government has put all new capital spending on hold—essentially putting the project on ice. Political transition, fiscal constraints, and the infrastructural challenges of the jungle environment make this a difficult project. While the idea of moving the capital is popular, the actuality is increasingly in doubt.

Nusantara may one day take off, but for now, it’s in a holding pattern.

Praxis – Undisclosed

There are not many projects as enigmatic—or polarizing—as Praxis. Promoted as a “network state” for the new age, it blends techno-utopianism with philosophical overtones, offering the promise of creating an independent community called the Eternal City.

Praxis has attracted attention for its unconventional approach and now has over 87,000 registered members and $525 million in conditional funding. Founder Dryden Brown has attracted both admiration and suspicion with his cryptic manner and philosophical buzzwords. After a collapsed deal with a national government last year, the group is still searching for land and legitimacy.

Despite all its idiosyncratic presentation, Praxis addresses a genuine hunger among young idealists to reclaim and build new blueprints for governance. Whether that manifests as an actual city remains to be seen.

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Kiryas Joel – New York, USA

One of the most successful new towns in America, though quietly so, is Kiryas Joel, a town the Satmar Hasidic sect founded in New York. What began as a religious enclave has grown into a complete town of over 40,000 residents. In 2019, it officially became the first new town in New York State in nearly half a century.

Kiryas Joel’s success is due to high birth rates, social cohesion, and local political control, including over zoning. It lacks the futuristic sheen of Neom or Praxis, but it offers an intriguing lesson: cities grow fastest when people share values, have real incentives, and autonomy.

California Forever – Solano County, California

A group of Silicon Valley investors is attempting to build a new city from the ground up on 50,000 acres northeast of San Francisco. The company behind it, California Forever, envisions a dense, walkable, sustainable city of 400,000 residents.

The plan is ambitious—and controversial. Neighborhood resistance, zoning laws, and environmental laws have slowed it. A referendum that was set to go before voters was pulled back last year, and the company is currently negotiating with nearby cities to annex the land, which could create a loophole but reduce autonomy.

California Forever has the vision and money but not yet the green light. Its destiny hangs on public acceptance and political jockeying.

West Valley – Arizona

In Arizona’s West Valley, 30 to 40 miles west of Phoenix, developers are building huge master-planned communities. Developments like Teravalis and Belmont are tens of thousands of acres in size. While of impressive scale, they are essentially conventional suburban-style developments.

These are not experiments in radical reinvention. They are extensions of existing metro sprawl, shaped by the hunger for cheap land and sunshine. Their ambition is more in scale than in urban innovation.

Highland Rim – Kentucky and Tennessee

Highland Rim is a new venture of conservative investment company New Founding, with the goal of creating a network of like-minded “charter communities” in rural Kentucky and Tennessee. The idea is to build communities for like-minded people who are attempting to escape mainstream cities.

Land is already being sold by corporations affiliated with it. The project invokes cultural and political identity openly—raising questions of inclusivity and compliance with the law—but it draws upon a long tradition of intentional communities in America.

It’s not a city yet, but it’s a movement that’s growing.

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Paused, Frozen, Forgotten: The New Cities That Lost Momentum

Some of the older projects have lost momentum or are struggling with existential threats. Telosa, entrepreneur Marc Lore’s would-be utopian city, has seen no progress in over two years. Próspera, Honduras’s charter city, is in a legal battle with the current government over whether its founding agreement is valid. 

And Bitcoin City in El Salvador, the highly touted crypto-powered tax haven, quietly stalled after IMF pressure and halted development. These cities serve as a reminder: vision is not enough. Political will, the trust of the public, and a realistic execution plan are just as vital. 

Final Thoughts 

Building a city from scratch is one of humanity’s oldest and most radical ideas. In 2025, the idea is more alive than ever—powered by kings, billionaires, idealists, and dissidents alike. Some of these initiatives will fail. Others will transform into something else. A few might just succeed. But as today’s cities grow ever more expensive, congested, and politically gridlocked, the desire to begin anew won’t abate. The question isn’t so much whether people will try new cities—but which ones will survive the long process from plan to realization.

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