The Youngest Cities in Russia and Around the World

In history lessons we memorize the founding dates of the country's oldest, most significant cities, but hardly anyone talks about the youngest cities – except perhaps in the news. And yet they are worth attention too! 

Innopolis

The youngest city was built in Russia near Kazan specifically for workers in the IT industry. On a territory of 2 sq. km there are a university campus, a business center, coworking spaces, and residential complexes for 150,000 people. True, so far only 3,000 residents live in the city. A distinctive feature of Russia's youngest city is its empty streets, since residents work remotely from home, along with the free driverless taxi service of the «Yandex» company.

Moskovsky

Just 20 years ago this was a settlement on the outskirts of Moscow. However, thanks to the construction of residential complexes, it is now a city of 60,000 residents. And although it has officially been part of Moscow since 2012, it has not lost its status.

Kudrovo

At first this was the name of a village near St. Petersburg, during the years of the USSR – a collective farm, and the construction of residential complexes began in recent decades. Kudrovo became a district of the northern capital, and five years ago it grew so large that it earned city status with a population of 50,000 people. Among the young cities of Russia, Kudrovo is famous for a record – a building with 35 entrances was constructed here.

True, few people consider Kudrovo a dream city. There are a great many high-rise buildings here, enormous apartment blocks, to which the name «human anthills» has firmly stuck. But housing prices are quite affordable – which is why the city keeps growing and growing. 

Magas

The first stone in the construction of the capital of Ingushetia was laid in February 1994. Previously, Ingushetia was part of the Checheno-Ingush Republic with its center in the city of Grozny, and after the formation of two separate regions, the need arose for a separate capital. In Ingushetia's most populous city, Nazran, dense development made it difficult to house the republic's administrative bodies, so it was decided to found a new city. Magas was located 9 kilometers from Nazran.

Gubkinsky

A settlement for specialists developing oil and gas fields in the Yamal tundra was founded in 1986, but just 10 years later it became a city. The living conditions can hardly be called easy – the nearest railway station is 16 km away, and the airport is 200. A distinctive feature of the city is the youth of its residents, whose average age is 29. And Gubkinsky has 33,000 residents.

Doha

The capital of Qatar, the richest state in the world (so Forbes magazine believes), appeared on the world map with city status only in 1963. Thanks to the investments received from oil and gas production, of which there are no shortage of deposits here, half a century later Doha had turned into a modern city with dozens of skyscrapers and a population of one million people.

Dubai

The capital of the United Arab Emirates has become a popular tourist destination, and yet just 30 years ago only a few thousand people lived here. The settlement was founded long ago, but it became the state's capital only in 1971, and since then its development began thanks to oil production. In 2022, 2.1 million people live in Dubai, and the architecture is astonishing. For example, the Burj Khalifa skyscraper was built here - a 163-story building 828 meters tall is considered the tallest in the world, as well as the luxurious sail-shaped Burj Al Arab hotel.

Sandouping

The distinctive feature of this Chinese city is that it was originally a settlement for the builders of the «Three Gorges» dam. Construction of the world's largest hydroelectric power station (four times more powerful than our Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric plant) began in 1984, and now the number of residents of Sandouping exceeds half a million people.

Astana

Until 1991, the capital of Kazakhstan was called Tselinograd, then in 1992 it was renamed Akmola, but even then the city had not yet become the capital. The decision to make this city the main one in the state was made in 1997, since the country's largest city, Alma-Ata, was unsuitable for the role because of its remoteness from the center and a dangerous seismic situation. Along with the transfer of the capital, the city was also renamed, and over the course of three years it was for a time known as Nur-Sultan, but since 2022 it has once again become Astana.

King Abdullah Economic City

The question «which is the youngest city in the world» can also yield an unexpected answer. The project of the ruler of Saudi Arabia is perhaps the youngest city, since it... is not yet finished. The project was launched in 2005, and it is planned to be completed by 2035. During this time, a city with a port, an industrial valley, and a resort district is planned on an area of 168 sq. km. The goal of the project is to transform the economy of the kingdom, which is striving to reduce its dependence on oil production.