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By Zoltan Istvan
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I live in California, a place once synonymous with the future. But lately, it feels more like we’re living in a monument to what used to be. Walk around San Francisco today and you’ll see the boarded-up storefronts, empty offices and the sense that something grand has gone missing. For decades, we’ve relied on the idea that California’s innovation and optimism would power us forward no matter what. But optimism isn’t a plan—building is.
That’s why I believe California needs to lead the nation in constructing a new generation of supercities—planned urban centers built from scratch on farmland, empty coastal areas and stretches of desert. I’m talking about seven brand-new, large-scale cities with modernist skyscrapers that could redefine how people live, work and dream in the 21st century.
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These wouldn’t be playgrounds for billionaires. They’d be affordable, sustainable cities for workers, artists, teachers and young people who’ve been priced out of their hometowns. Most importantly, we could design them to free from the regulatory gridlock that has paralyzed housing and infrastructure development across the state.
As someone in real estate, I can tell you firsthand, California has stopped building. The state that once erected freeways, universities and entire suburbs can now barely approve an apartment complex. Construction takes years of permits, reviews and lawsuits. Meanwhile, San Francisco recently had more vacant office space than ever, but housing remains unaffordable. The state is running a deficit, and businesses are leaving for cheaper, more dynamic regions. To revive our economy and spirit, we need to rediscover the ambition that made California great in the first place.
Other countries aren’t afraid to build. I was just in Dubai, where hundreds of cranes fill the skyline. The city is constantly reinventing itself, reshaping its infrastructure and architecture with boldness. In San Francisco, by contrast, you’d struggle to find a single crane. That difference isn’t about aesthetics—it’s about attitude. Dubai believes in its future. Too many Californians have stopped believing in ours.
Imagine if California built seven new cities, each for 1 million-plus residents. They could be spread across the Central Valley, coastal plains and the desert—areas with ample space and potential. These supercities could absorb population growth without burdening existing urban centers while creating hundreds of thousands of jobs in construction, engineering and services. Each city would spark demand for new schools, hospitals, roads and public transit. The ripple effect could lift the entire state’s economy and help close our budget deficit.
But for this to work, these supercities must have freedom from the bureaucratic maze that suffocates current development. They should operate under new local governments—independent jurisdictions that can set their own housing, zoning and low tax policies. Without the decades of accumulated red tape, building could happen quickly, efficiently and affordably—some being completed in just five years.
And this vision doesn’t threaten existing communities. It sidesteps them. California’s housing debates are endlessly mired in NIMBYism—people fighting new construction in their neighborhoods, whether it be major metros or the suburbs. Supercities don’t need to challenge that. They’d rise where no one’s backyard is at stake, somewhere on the approximately 50 million acres of mostly empty federal and state land in California that’s waiting for a purpose.
These cities could also confront two of California’s biggest crises: homelessness and housing affordability. We could plan from day one for low-income and permanent supportive housing, integrated into neighborhoods rather than hidden on the margins. Additionally, for young people, who have watched the dream of owning a home slip away, these new cities could offer a real future—places where the middle class can afford to live, not just survive.
Supercities would also allow us to build sustainability into the foundation of urban life. Powered by renewable energy, designed around walkability and transit, and filled with parks, green roofs and cutting-edge architecture, they could show the world that growth and environmental responsibility can coexist. California has always been a leader in innovation. Why not apply that same imagination to how we live?
This isn’t fantasy—it’s pragmatism. California’s housing shortage is measured in millions of units. Fixing that within the current system is nearly impossible. Building new cities from scratch is the cleanest, fastest way to meet the scale of the problem. It would put people to work, attract investment and reignite the sense of purpose that once defined this state.
The choice is simple: stagnation or creation. We can let our cities decay under the weight of overregulation and paralysis, or we can build new ones that embody the California ideal of progress. The state that built Silicon Valley, Hollywood and the Golden Gate Bridge shouldn’t be afraid to build again. Supercities aren’t some futuristic fantasy—they’re the bold, realistic solution California needs to revive its economy, house its people and remind the world what ambition looks like.
Zoltan Istvan writes and speaks on innovation, artificial intelligence (AI) and the future.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
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