Speaking for the US many populated arid areas are completely unsustainable as population centers (ironically also where most people in the US have been moving for awhile now), especially because water resources haven’t been managed rationally in many arid areas. This story will absolutely be a global one though, see Tehran for one massive example, Lake Mead for another. No water and deadly heat waves are going to make for limitless ghost town tourism attraction opportunities!
The future is bright for abandoned building photography communities!
Good for affordable housing?
not if they’re abandoned because they don’t have accessible clean water, affordable power etc…
people aren’t walking away from livable places.
🤫 that’ll upset our precious 1%
I could see them buying up places and doing the slumlord thing but otherwise, it’ll be a net loss for them too: fewer educated workers for their empires
but I doubt they’ll care until it hurts.