These 20 Cities Were Planned from Scratch—How Did They Turn Out?
Ever wondered what happens when urban planners get a blank canvas? While most cities evolved organically over centuries, some ambitious dreamers decided to skip the chaos and design entire cities from scratch.
What makes someone look at an empty landscape and envision a metropolis? In an age of rapid urbanization, these planned cities offer fascinating glimpses into human attempts to create perfect urban environments.
Here are twenty cities that started as blueprints and became reality—for better or worse.
Brasília, Brazil
Brazil’s capital, shaped like an airplane from above, emerged from the jungle as a modernist dream. Wide boulevards, superblocks, and governmental sectors created a city that looks spectacular from the air but can feel overwhelming on foot.
Residents joke that it was designed for Martians who never actually showed up.
Canberra, Australia
After Melbourne and Sydney couldn’t stop fighting over which should be the capital, Australia compromised by building a new city halfway between them. It’s often called “the city in a garden”, designed around artificial lakes and geometric patterns, though critics say it’s more like a garden desperately seeking a city.
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Chandigarh, India
Le Corbusier’s Indian experiment features brutalist architecture and strict zoning that divides the city into sectors, such as a giant filing cabinet. While it boasts impressive monuments, locals have spent decades humanizing its stern geometry with vibrant street life and colorful markets.
Milton Keynes, UK
Famous for its endless roundabouts and grid system, this new British town was designed to relieve London’s overcrowding. Its planners were so enthusiastic about concrete cows that they created a herd of them as public art.
Navigation apps reportedly need special programming just to handle all the circular intersections.
Astana (Nur-Sultan), Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan’s capital, rising from the steppes like a sci-fi movie set, features buildings that look like spaceships, pyramids, and giant tents. Winter temperatures drop to -40°F, making its glass towers gleam like icicles.
Local architects must have a degree in futurism to get hired.
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Masdar City, UAE
Designed to be zero-carbon and car-free, this ambitious project in the desert uses traditional Arabic architecture with modern technology. While not fully realized, its narrow streets and solar panels show how ancient wisdom meets future needs.
Even the wind towers have WiFi.
Putrajaya, Malaysia
Created to ease Kuala Lumpur’s congestion, this administrative capital features massive monuments and Islamic architecture around an artificial lake. Every building seems designed for postcard photos, though residents sometimes miss the chaos of older Malaysian cities.
Naypyidaw, Myanmar
Myanmar’s purpose-built capital has 20-lane highways that are eerily empty and neighborhoods separated by vast distances. It’s like someone designed a city for ten million people but forgot to invite them.
Traffic jams are so rare that they make local news.
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Songdo, South Korea
This smart city, built on reclaimed land, has pneumatic trash tubes and sensors everywhere. It’s so high-tech that even the trash cans have better internet connections than most homes.
Residents joke that their refrigerators are smarter than they are.
Ordos, China
Built for a million people in Inner Mongolia, this city became famous for being nearly empty. Its futuristic buildings and wide boulevards created the world’s most expensive ghost town, though its population has slowly grown.
Real estate agents specialize in “atmospheric silence.”
Celebration, Florida
Disney’s attempt at perfect small-town living features picture-perfect homes and manicured lawns. Even the snow (soap bubbles) is scheduled for Christmas.
Local rebels express themselves by planting unauthorized garden gnomes.
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Lavasa, India
Modeled after an Italian port town but built in the Indian hills, this private city project aimed to create a pollution-free urban paradise. While ambitious, it proved that you can’t simply copy-paste European architecture into Asian mountains.
Sejong City, South Korea
Designed to decentralize the government from Seoul, this city features buildings that look like they’re from the next century. Its dramatic government complex resembles a roller coaster more than an office building.
Bureaucrats claim that better decisions come from futuristic surroundings.
King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia
This port city, rising from desert sands, aims to diversify Saudi Arabia’s economy. While still developing, its modern architecture and ambitious plans show how oil wealth can reshape coastlines.
Palm trees are more numerous than residents.
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Rawabi, Palestine
The first planned Palestinian city features modern apartments and tech-friendly infrastructure. Built on hilltops, it demonstrates how urban planning meets Middle Eastern traditions.
Every apartment has a view, though sometimes it’s of construction sites.
Cyberjaya, Malaysia
Malaysia’s answer to Silicon Valley was planned as a tech hub surrounded by green space. While it attracted some companies, the city proves that you need more than fiber-optic cables to create innovation.
Local cafes offer “cyber-lattes” without irony.
Navi Mumbai, India
Built to decompress Mumbai, this planned city across the harbor has worked pretty well. Its organized sectors and wide roads make old Mumbai look like a beautiful accident in comparison.
Real estate agents sell “peace of mind” along with apartments.
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Magnitogorsk, Russia
Stalin’s ideal industrial city was built around one of the world’s largest steel mills. Its linear plan reflected Soviet efficiency, though nobody considered what would happen when the factory stopped being the center of the universe.
Today, it is reinventing itself for post-industrial life.
Eko Atlantic, Nigeria
Built on land reclaimed from the Atlantic Ocean, this ambitious project aims to be the “Dubai of Africa.” Protected by a sea wall called the Great Wall of Lagos, it shows how climate change shapes urban planning.
Ocean views are guaranteed for now.
Nueva Santa Cruz, Bolivia
Bolivia’s attempt at a smart city features modern infrastructure and planned green spaces. While still developing, it demonstrates how developing nations can leapfrog older urban problems.
Every tree has its GPS coordinates.
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From Blueprint to Reality
These planned cities reveal both the ambition and limitations of human design. While some succeeded in creating efficient urban spaces, others remind us that cities need more than perfect geometry to thrive.
They show that while we can plan streets and buildings, it’s the people who ultimately transform blueprints into communities. Perhaps the perfect city isn’t one that’s perfectly planned but one that leaves room for humanity to make its mark.
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