Qatar is building a whole new city from scratch for the 2022 World Cup

By Leah Ginsberg

Qatar 2022! Not excited that the Middle Eastern country is hosting the World Cup in eight years? Well it’s about to get even more interesting: Rather than just build some new stadiums like most host countries, the filthy rich State of Qatar is spending $45 billion to build a whole new city from scratch.

Lusail will cover 28 square miles on the desert coast along the Persian Gulf approximately nines miles from Doha, the country’s largest city.

And it will be a metropolis of the future: Plans include a commercial district, a lagoon, two marinas, a swanky shopping mall, luxury hotels, a hospital, a zoo, golf courses, a snow park, a Six Flags amusement park and more.

For getting around town there will be a light rail, underground pedestrian tunnels and water taxis.

Everything from transportation to communication will be controlled by command center computers. And yes, people will actually live in Lusail – there will be housing for about 250,000 people.

Of course, there will be an environmentally friendly 86,000 seater stadium for the finals of the World Cup. 

It certainly will be a shiny new toy of a city. But some are worried there will also be a price beyond the billions the government will spend building it.

Qatar has faced accusations of exploitation of its approximately 1.4 million poor migrant workers, something organisers have strenuously denied.

Original post by Y! Travel Journal