Utilities (power/water/internet) would be funded like any other real estate development.
The cities revenues come from real estate taxes. I do think that most cities spend their money in a wildly inefficient manner, and if they were run as for-profit businesses they could provide all the essential services and turn a profit.
But the major upside for the investors in the city corporation would be if the city owns far more land than the initial development. If you buy ten square miles of undeveloped land for $10k an acre, then a city of 25k grows up in one square mile of it, that remaining nine square miles is far, far more valuable than the original purchase price.
The cities revenues come from real estate taxes. I do think that most cities spend their money in a wildly inefficient manner, and if they were run as for-profit businesses they could provide all the essential services and turn a profit.
But the major upside for the investors in the city corporation would be if the city owns far more land than the initial development. If you buy ten square miles of undeveloped land for $10k an acre, then a city of 25k grows up in one square mile of it, that remaining nine square miles is far, far more valuable than the original purchase price.