Novara FM: New Cities, Old Scams w/ Quinn Slobodian

Business is booming for architects and property investors right now, with masterplans being unveiled for dozens of new cities around the world. The hi-tech promise of NEOM, Saudi Arabia’s proposed new desert metropolis, is only the most discussed of these visions – others are being drawn up in Indonesia, China and Senegal.

What sets these new cities apart from the skyscrapers and sprawling settlements that defined the 20th century? Quite a lot, as Richard Hames finds out with Canadian historian Quinn Slobodian. The author of Crack-Up Capitalism puts on his ‘They Live’ sunglasses to explore the history of special economic zones, Dubai’s ‘legal bubble domes’, and the appeal of these new cities to a global libertarian elite.

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