Where the 1% is going — and what follows

From Dubai’s zero income tax to Italy’s flat-rate regime for foreign residents, countries around the world are aggressively competing for the world’s wealthiest citizens. This isn't just about attracting capital — it’s about reshaping the global geography of luxury itself. The UAE offers golden residence visas to property investors spending as little as $550,000. Italy provides a favorable tax regime where wealthy foreigners pay a flat annual fee to exempt overseas assets. Portugal and Greece are developing new non-dom frameworks. Spain continues to attract Latin American high-net-worth families through cultural proximity and residency options. Meanwhile, the U.S. recently launched a "Gold Card" program offering U.S. residency, with Florida capturing significant wealthy migration thanks to zero state income tax. These policy shifts reveal more than fiscal strategy. They signal a fundamental reordering of where prosperity concentrates, how luxury is experienced, and what ultra-high-net-worth families now value most: not just wealth preservation, but environments that sustain health, privacy, and continuity across generations. What emerges is a map in transition. London, New York, and Hong Kong still carry symbolic weight, yet new geographies are stepping forward. Dubai, Sydney, and Miami are no longer peripheral — they are being chosen as homes, supported by infrastructure, cultural life, and stability that families hope will carry across generations. This movement reflects the atmosphere we are all living in. Privacy feels fragile in a world of constant exposure. The lessons of the Blue Zones remind us that health and time are the most treasured resources. In this light, relocation becomes a search for balance, and perhaps a way of life that feels coherent, safe, and sustainable. The departure and arrival of wealthy families is part of a wider reordering. Luxury today is defined less by possessions and more by the freedom to choose how life is lived. Three dimensions of this shift carry particular relevance for the luxury industry. From hotels to homes: How hospitality is becoming permanent What was once a sector centered on journeys and short stays is increasingly being asked to provide the foundations of everyday life. Ultra-wealthy individuals now seek environments that function as ecosystems, where housing, education, healthcare, and cultural life are interwoven rather than separate. Spain has become a focal point, attracting Latin American high-net-worth families drawn by cultural proximity, language, and residency options that make settlement easier. This movement is reshaping the urban fabric of Madrid, where luxury complexes such as Centro Canalejas — home to the Four Seasons hotel, branded residences, and a high-end mall that reported strong revenues in 2024 — embody how travel and real estate merge into anchors of permanence. For many Latin American families, Spain represents continuity with heritage and a gateway into Europe. South America enters this picture from another perspective. Brazil and Argentina continue to see outflows of high-net-worth families, many relocating to Miami, Lisbon, or Dubai. At the same time, Uruguay is emerging as a haven. Its political stability, favorable tax regime, and expanding luxury real estate market, particularly in Punta del Este, are attracting families seeking continuity and security. In North America, another form of permanence is taking root. Some of America's wealthiest are turning to luxury ranch estates across Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Texas. Sales of properties once owned by cattlemen are now being driven by billionaires and financiers drawn to space, privacy, and connection to the land. Recent transactions include a 1,507-acre spread near Austin selling for $90 million, and the 353,000-acre Brewster Ranch in West Texas changing hands for $164.6 million. These estates blur the line between private residence and high-end travel, offering sanctuary and experience in equal measure. This new scenario is redefining how hospitality is imagined. Properties once positioned as retreats are now conceived as frameworks for permanence. Branded residences tied to Aman, Bulgari, and Dorchester Collection are expanding, merging service with infrastructure. Schools, clinics, and cultural institutions are being integrated into these developments, turning the field into the architecture of settlement. For families rebuilding their lives in new geographies, the measure of hospitality is its capacity to sustain a way of living rather than a fleeting impression. Wellness economics: Why health is the ultimate luxury investment The movement of wealth is increasingly guided by health. Concerns over pollution, preventive care, and access to advanced medical systems are shaping relocation as much as fiscal policy. Environmental and lifestyle considerations now weigh equally alongside taxation when high-net-worth families decide where to live. This alignment of vitality with place is reshaping the meaning of prosperity. The wellness economy illustrates the momentum. McKinsey estimates the sector at $1.8 trillion in 2024, with annual growth between 5% and 10%. Wellness tourism alone is projected to surpass $1.4 trillion by 2027. The market is expanding beyond resorts into communities designed for longevity. Spain, home to some of the world’s best cardiovascular health outcomes, continues to attract international residents who associate its lifestyle with better food, lower stress, and more favorable healthcare. As wellness experts note, many are beginning to recognize a mispricing in global real estate: cities that are costly to inhabit often make their residents sicker, while countries with healthier lifestyles remain undervalued. The United States reflects this shift in its own way. Miami has become one of the most expensive neighborhoods in America, with Gables Estates reaching an average home price above $21 million. Analysts point to more than tax advantages. Cleaner air compared with other U.S. urban centers, access to world-class clinics, and the appeal of oceanfront living have turned Florida into a magnet for families seeking healthier, more balanced environments. This evolution is reshaping the language of luxury. Health is becoming the ultimate form of wealth because it cannot be outsourced. Families choosing homes in Geneva, Lisbon, or Miami are investing in health span as much as in lifestyle. Properties integrated with clinics, regenerative food systems, and longevity services are no longer niche but part of what younger affluent groups now call “longevity real estate.” For the industry, this creates a mandate to embed health into every layer of its offerings. The relocation of wealth magnifies this direction, making vitality the true currency of luxury. The rise of private cities: What Próspera and Telosa mean for luxury A growing frontier is emerging: privately designed and governed cities. Often called private or charter cities, these projects experiment with governance, infrastructure, and lifestyle at a scale once reserved for states. For wealthy families seeking stability, security, and innovation, they represent both possibility and uncertainty. Across the globe, these experiments take diverse forms. On Roatán Island in Honduras, Próspera operates under its own tax and legal frameworks as a Zone for Employment and Economic Development. Its advocates present it as a hub for biotech, blockchain, and longevity research. In East Africa, projects such as Tatu City in Kenya or Itana in Nigeria focus on providing infrastructure for rapidly urbanizing populations while appealing to global investors. In Peru, developers are constructing a 200-hectare artificial peninsula off Callao, envisioned as a financial and tourism hub with private marinas and luxury residences. Marketed as a “Dubai of South America,” it signals how coastal engineering is being deployed to attract international capital. In the U.S., Marc Lore’s proposed city of Telosa envisions a $400 billion car-free settlement for five million residents, designed around renewable energy. Whether or not it is built as designed, it embodies the allure of starting again, of designing urban life as an intentional experience. For the luxury industry, these laboratories matter. They point to where wealth, culture, and innovation may cluster in the decades ahead. Private cities are less an experiment in governance than an attempt to reimagine how luxury itself can be lived — not as an overlay on existing structures, but as the architecture of a new social contract. Why this matters The relocation of wealth is reshaping how prosperity is lived. In the search for stability, vitality, and coherence, families are choosing places where life can unfold with greater resilience. From new urban hubs to residences designed for permanence and communities built around wellbeing, today’s migrations are already redrawing the cultural and emotional map of affluence. For the world of luxury, the implications are far-reaching. Wherever wealth establishes itself, it brings expectations of care, of environments that sustain health, education, and belonging. Luxury has long followed affluence, yet its relevance now depends on anticipating the values that guide these choices and shaping experiences that feel anchored in continuity rather than noise. It also invites reflection on a larger shift. For decades, population flows gravitated toward dense city centers, symbols of opportunity and cultural gravity. Today, the movement feels different. There is a search for nature, for order, for structures that sustain life in ways megacities no longer can. What once was central is being reconsidered, and what once was peripheral is finding new strength. The challenge for brands is clear: anticipate it, design for it, or risk irrelevance in the worlds now being chosen.

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Where the 1% is going — and what follows