THE GUARDIAN | 'Five years ago there was nothing': inside Duqm, the city rising from the sand

“Several dozen new cities are being constructed in the Middle East, mainly to transition away from the petroleum industry to a variety of other industries, including tourism, manufacturing, education and hi-tech,” says Dr Sarah Moser, a McGill University geography professor and author of an upcoming atlas of new cities. “Many oil-producing states in the Middle East are eager to globalise their economies and attract international investors, particularly in anticipation of a post-oil world. New cities are a way to jumpstart this economic transition, and are also seen as a way to start fresh and avoid the entrenched corruption, bureaucracy and political entanglements of existing cities.” Read more.