ELI5. There is a blank patch of land. How would a state or country go about the massive undertaking of turning it into a city? Would it have to take centuries like NYC? Done in stages? (Small town to city?)
In: 5
This is a ton of ways to approach this question, so I’ll take the centuries portion.
Look at Las Vegas. It was a bare spot of desert where some rail lines met. There was water, so the opportunity for commerce and survival meet.
Incorporated in 1911, it blew up population-wise in the 1930’s with its proximity to the Hoover dam and jobs. Then in the 1980s the population just about doubled, from 180k in 85 to 360k by 95. And then it’s doubled again since to close to 700k residents.
It was less about the state and more about opportunity for private industry. There was money to be made so people moved there, corporations built up the area, the population grew as did the tax base which supports the public works.
TLDR; if there is money to be made, people will move there and build things. Cities are less planned and more form to fill an economic need.
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