What about building new towns instead? Aren't they easier than cities?

New towns offer some advantages like better placemaking potential and faster greenfield construction. However, they face critical limitations: they must be located next to existing infrastructure to be viable, they have minimal commercial centers requiring profitability through much higher residential prices, and they're unlikely to change regional productivity metrics. They remain dependent on other areas for employment rather than creating self-sustaining economic ecosystems. And yet politically speaking, they are often as difficult to create as new cities.