What would you do with an enormous fortune at your fingertips? These lucky billionaires don’t have to daydream; they’re turning their wildest visions into reality and using their vast fortunes to construct utopian cities across the Earth… and beyond.
Read on to discover seven jaw-dropping cities of the future being shaped by today’s billionaires, from Elon Musk’s Mars colonies to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s desert “gigacity”.
All dollar amounts in US dollars.
As if being a serial entrepreneur and the owner of X (formerly Twitter) weren't enough, Elon Musk is busy developing Snailbrook, a dedicated town for SpaceX and The Boring Company employees.
The community is based near Austin, Texas, where Musk's car company Tesla has been based since 2021. Reports suggest the world's richest person snapped up between 3,500 and 6,000 acres of land for this ambitious project, and construction is underway for factories and facilities that will support Musk’s SpaceX and The Boring Company ventures.
Nestled 35 miles (56km) outside Austin, Snailbrook (pictured) is currently modest, featuring just 12 trailer homes and an outdoor recreation area. However, this is only a taste of the exciting developments ahead.
Musk recently unveiled plans for Project Amazing – Phase I. They reveal that Snailbrook will feature streets with The Boring Company-themed names such as Boring Boulevard, Waterjet Way, and Cutterhead Crossing, as well as boasting 110 detached homes and a Montessori school.
Snailbrook aims to provide its future citizens with affordable rent compared to nearby Austin, with homes reportedly costing just $800 (£633) per month. According to Zillow, the median monthly rent in Austin is $2,150 (£1.7k).
Musk sought input from various creative friends while planning the town, including his ex-partner Grimes and even Kanye West. Experts have predicted that Snailbrook could develop into a thriving utopian city, embodying Musk’s futuristic visions, within the next few decades.
But Musk’s ambitions extend far beyond Snailbrook: by 2050, he also aims to establish a self-sustaining Mars colony for one million people. SpaceX is committed to making life multi-planetary, and Musk wants to use the company’s Starship crafts to transport passengers and cargo to the red planet during favourable Earth-Mars alignments, which occur every 26 months.
Musk has admitted that life for early Mars residents would be “hard” and “dangerous” and even confessed that some citizens might die, though he hopes the allure of adventure will prompt brave explorers to take the risk. The first colonists would be tasked with establishing vital infrastructure such as life support systems and habitats. In the long term, Musk envisions a vibrant Martian city with many economic opportunities for settlers.
Musk has already suggested several ways of financing the bold project. This includes launching satellites and servicing the International Space Station, which SpaceX is already doing to generate revenues. Meanwhile, another proposed money spinner is point-to-point travel on Earth, where spacecraft transport people around the planet in under an hour.
One thing's for sure: the project will prove out-of-this-world expensive. But Musk has predicted a future where Mars travel is much more affordable, potentially costing less than $200,000 (£158k) per ticket.
However, Musk's futuristic vision has caused controversy. Critics have raised concerns about everything from the feasibility of the project to its potential environmental impact, not to mention the questionable ethics of prioritising colonising Mars amid the significant challenges on Earth.
The picture shows SpaceX concept art of a Mars colony.
Elon Musk isn’t the only billionaire with aspirations for an outer space community. In a 2019 presentation at his space exploration company Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos revealed grand ambitions to construct floating colonies in space.
Bezos detailed futuristic plans for O’Neill colonies, inspired by a proposal from physicist Gerard O’Neill back in 1976. These spinning cylinders (shown), designed to replicate Earth’s gravity, could orbit Earth and potentially accommodate up to a staggering 1 trillion people, according to the Amazon founder.
Describing the colonies as “Maui on its best day, all year long”, Bezos paints a utopian picture of a climate free from rain and earthquakes – a place where humanity would eagerly choose to live in the future.
As the concept art (pictured) shows, these advanced colonies would contain diverse habitats featuring high-speed transportation, agricultural areas, recreational spaces, and even national parks. Some could replicate Earth’s cities, offering citizens a blend of familiarity and an extraordinary living experience.
Bezos has suggested that the colonies could feature flexible gravity levels, with areas with zero Gs for recreational purposes, enabling residents to “go flying with their own wings”.
This may sound too good to be true, and Bezos has acknowledged that we haven't yet invented the technology needed to build these space colonies. However, he's pledged to lay the groundwork for future generations and his commitment begins with the Blue Moon lander, a spacecraft designed to transport payloads and people to the moon’s surface. The craft could one day play a pivotal role in constructing the infrastructure for floating space colonies.
Back on Earth, former Walmart executive Marc Lore has visionary plans for a sustainable city in the US desert. According to Lore, the utopian city of Telosa would be a winning blend of Tokyo's cleanliness of Tokyo, New York's diversity, and Stockholm's social services.
Covering 150,000 acres, Telosa would house five million people upon its completion. Locations are still under consideration, with Nevada, Utah, Texas, and Arizona among the potential candidates.
Designed as a “15-minute city”, residents could access work, school, and amenities within a quarter-hour of their homes. It promises eco-friendly architecture, sustainable energy production, and a drought-resistant water system.
Amazingly, it's been estimated the city could reach its target population of five million people within the next four decades.
The initial phase of construction, accommodating 50,000 residents over 1,500 acres, will cost around $25 billion (£19.7bn). Meanwhile, the project's total cost is estimated at a staggering $400 billion (£315bn).
Funding will reportedly come from many sources, including private investors, philanthropists, federal and state grants, and economic development subsidies. If development goes according to plan, Telosa could welcome its first lucky residents as soon as 2030.
Tech billionaire Peter Thiel is the investor and founder behind The Seasteading Institute, established in 2008. The nonprofit organisation advocates for the development of floating cities in the ocean. These pioneering sea communities are envisioned to be environmentally restorative and provide residents with a degree of political autonomy.
Rather than construct floating sea communities, the aim of the institute is to support and empower others to undertake such initiatives. The picture shows concept art from The Seasteading Institute, offering insight into what these communities could look like.
As an example, the Seasteading Institute is supporting Arktide, an eco-friendly seasteading company based in Florida that's committed to constructing affordable housing on the seas.
Arktide aims to establish sustainable sea infrastructure that meets the basic needs of humanity while fostering the flourishing of ocean life. The company is currently working on innovative designs with a focus on safety and affordability for individuals and businesses considering moving to the seas.
Additionally, Arktide is taking part in the $100 million (£78.8m) Carbon Removal XPRIZE competition, with a goal of removing over a gigatonne of carbon from the Earth’s atmosphere through natural ocean processes.
Concept art by Arktide (shown) features a small floating home equipped with solar panels for power. Could this startup be the first step towards creating fully realised floating cities, aligning with the vision of The Seasteading Institute? Only time will tell...
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman chairs the NEOM board of directors, steering the ambitious development of a pioneering “gigacity” in the desert. Set to span regions in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt, NEOM ranks among the world’s largest cross-border projects.
NEOM (concept art pictured) aims to transcend the traditional city model, aspiring to become a technologically advanced and sustainable region rather than a singular urban city. Upon completion, it's poised to stand as a global hub for innovation, trade, and tourism, focusing on cutting-edge technologies in biotechnology, robotics, renewable energy, and AI.
Development is in full swing. Figures from 2023 showed that 60,000 workers from over 90 countries were constructing NEOM’s four megacities: The Line, Oxagon, Sindalah, and Trojena. Key infrastructure projects, including roads, utilities, and a hospital, are already underway.
The Line, a key component of NEOM, will be a futuristic and sustainable city with a unique linear design (pictured). It will measure 656 feet (200m) wide and stretch 106 miles (170km) at an elevation of 1,640 feet (500m) above sea level. With plans to accommodate a whopping nine million residents, it will occupy a footprint of 13 square miles (34 square kilometres) – an unprecedented scale compared to cities with similar capacities.
Residents of The Line will enjoy utmost convenience, with all facilities accessible within a five-minute walk and a high-speed rail link providing a quick 20-minute end-to-end transit.
Unsurprisingly, this utopia won't come cheap. The total cost of the megaproject is predicted to exceed an eye-watering $500 billion (£395bn).
Our final entry is not so much a city as an island paradise for the rich and famous. In 2012, Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle, purchased 98% of the Hawaiian island Lanai for a cool $300 million (£237m). The remaining 2% is owned by the Hawaiian government and homeowners.
Spanning 141 square miles (365 square kilometres) and boasting an impressive 50 miles (80.5km) of coastline, Lanai (pictured) is the sixth-largest island in Hawaii. Affectionally known as Pineapple Island, it was once home to a sprawling pineapple plantation.
Since acquiring Lanai, tech mogul Ellison has been busy transforming it into a tropical paradise. This includes the creation of a lavish wellness retreat, adding an upscale Nobu restaurant (pictured), and revamping existing resorts on the island.
What used to be the residence of approximately 3,000 individuals has developed into a celebrity hotspot under Ellison’s redevelopment. A-listers such as Tom Cruise, Cindy Crawford, and Will Smith now frequent the shores of Lanai. Meanwhile, Ellison himself moved to the island full-time in 2020.
The picture shows the luxe Four Seasons resort located on the island.
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