which cities are rising, and which are fading

50 cities, six rankings, measured the same way everywhere. No surveys. No paid places.

Most sun and wind power built nearby

Large solar and wind plants operating within 100 km of the city, megawatts, September 2026. · Fact

  1. 3 Dubai UAE 5,169 MW
  2. 20 Riyadh Saudi Arabia 1,154 MW
  3. 35 Cairo Egypt 116 MW
  4. 38 Baghdad Iraq 75 MW
  5. 42 Tehran Iran 28 MW

Source: Global Energy Monitor, Global Integrated Power Tracker (September 2026) · 2026 data. Utility-scale plants as tracked by Global Energy Monitor; the smallest plant it tracks differs by country (about 1 MW in some, much larger in others), and rooftop solar is not counted, so cities are not measured on exactly the same scale. The 100 km circle crosses borders (Berlin includes western Poland). Plants nearby are not the power a city uses: Luanda and Kinshasa run largely on dams further away.

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