clipped from www.themedialine.org

Covering an area larger than Beirut and with almost half a million people – two ways that the Qatari developer is describing Lusail - a brand new city is being constructed in the northern part of the Gulf nation.

On completion, the Lusail development project will cover almost 6,800 acres (compared to 5,000 for the Lebanese capital Beirut). It will cater to 455,000 people – including 200,000 permanent residents, 165,000 people working in different parts of the city and an additional 90,000 visitors for various recreational purposes.

“Qatar has been favored as a safe haven so far for its expanding gas story and the government’s market-friendly support of the economy,” Turker Hamzaoglu, Economist with Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, told The Media Line.