The idea that you could build out in a field ignores the true value and the true finiteness of land, the geography of agglomerations of skill and people.
British Columbia looks big on a map, turn on the topographic layer and oops it's all mountain. No wonder everyone lives in a handful of tiny valleys. And oops we flooded tons of the valleys for hydro power too, further driving down the actual available prime land one can live on.
If no one lives in a place there's usually a good reason.
The situation seems the opposite, the NYC/SF/LA/London/etc are entrenched.
https://www.businessinsider.com/dubai-in-1990-is-totally-unr...
Also, while Dubai is flashy, I wouldn’t really consider it a first tier city in terms of actual living. The urban planning is not human scale at all and they just defaulted to highways and skyscrapers.
But I think he means western examples. San Diego maybe?