2022 World Cup city rises in the desert

Brandon Griggs, CNN
Published 9:41 AM EDT, Tue August 19, 2014
Lusail is a planned city being built from scratch along the Persian Gulf in Qatar. Expected to be completed in 2019, it will be packed with technologically advanced features.
A shiny, new World Cup city —
Lusail is a planned city being built from scratch along the Persian Gulf in Qatar. Expected to be completed in 2019, it will be packed with technologically advanced features.
From lusail.com
Lusail Stadium, still to be built, is expected to host the final game of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
A shiny, new World Cup city —
Lusail Stadium, still to be built, is expected to host the final game of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Getty Images
The stadium will be surrounded by a moat and contain advanced, open-air cooling systems to combat the blistering Qatar summer heat.
A shiny, new World Cup city —
The stadium will be surrounded by a moat and contain advanced, open-air cooling systems to combat the blistering Qatar summer heat.
Getty Images
Qatar sees Lusail as a business and leisure center with a cluster of four commercial skyscrapers.
A shiny, new World Cup city —
Qatar sees Lusail as a business and leisure center with a cluster of four commercial skyscrapers.
From lusail.com
The city's energy, communications and transportation systems will be run with the help of computers from a single command center, allowing Lusail to automatically adapt to changing traffic and weather conditions.
A shiny, new World Cup city —
The city's energy, communications and transportation systems will be run with the help of computers from a single command center, allowing Lusail to automatically adapt to changing traffic and weather conditions.
From lusail.com
The city is being integrated with the surrounding Gulf via man-made islands, canals, marinas and other water features.
A shiny, new World Cup city —
The city is being integrated with the surrounding Gulf via man-made islands, canals, marinas and other water features.
From lusail.com
Lusail's Marina Mall, an upscale retail palace expected to open in 2017, is comprised of five interconnected "pods."
A shiny, new World Cup city —
Lusail's Marina Mall, an upscale retail palace expected to open in 2017, is comprised of five interconnected "pods."
Courtesy HOK Group
The waterfont mall, cooled in part by solar power, will have a canal running through it and waterfalls throughout.
A shiny, new World Cup city —
The waterfont mall, cooled in part by solar power, will have a canal running through it and waterfalls throughout.
Courtesy HOK Group
Between stand-alone homes and luxury condos, Lusail will contain housing for some 250,000 people.
A shiny, new World Cup city —
Between stand-alone homes and luxury condos, Lusail will contain housing for some 250,000 people.
From lusail.com
Buildings will be cooled by chilled water pumped through a vast network of pipes, which the city's developers say is more energy efficient than electrical air conditioning.
A shiny, new World Cup city —
Buildings will be cooled by chilled water pumped through a vast network of pipes, which the city's developers say is more energy efficient than electrical air conditioning.
From lusail.com
A shiny, new World Cup city: 2022

Story highlights

Lusail is an ambitious planned city rising along the Persian Gulf in Qatar

Its infrastructure will be run by computers, making Lusail a "smart" city

A Lusail stadium is expected to host the final game of the 2022 World Cup

But FIFA is under pressure to move the event to another country

CNN  — 

If you’re trying to create the perfect 21st-century city, it helps to start with a blank slate. Even if that slate is a sweltering strip of sand.

That’s essentially what the government of Qatar and its developers are trying with Lusail, an ambitious planned city on 28 square miles of waterfront desert along the Persian Gulf. Now under construction, the compact city will contain a commercial district, a lagoon, four islands, two marinas, an upscale shopping mall, a hospital, a zoo, two golf courses and housing for some 250,000 people.

It also will feature an 86,000-seat soccer stadium, surrounded by a moat, that’s expected to host the final game of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.