Such a vast land area with not that many big cities.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia#Demographics
https://www.reddit.com/r/geography/comments/jjh2id/why_doesnt_australia_make_cities_in_deserts_like
https://indaily.com.au/opinion/2019/05/02/why-isnt-australia-planning-new-cities/
https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-value-capture-and-what-does-it-mean-for-cities-58776
Deserts and Oceans...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad-Dahna_Desert
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ras_al-Jinz
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabian_Desert
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabian_Peninsula#Cities
| Area | 3,237,500 km2 (1,250,000 sq mi) |
|---|---|
| Population | 86,222,000 |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabian_Peninsula Like Australia, there are deserts and seawater. The Arabian Peninsula has 60 million more people than Australia and there is still plenty of room.
Cities can flourish in the desert, if properly planned or upgraded.
https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2019/02/fast-growth-in-desert-southwest-continues.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwestern_United_States#Cities_and_urban_areas
https://ryderwalker.com/blog/destinations/western-u-s-desert-southwest
Of course some parts of the world just don't have enough fresh water.
https://www.notesfromtheroad.com/desertsouthwest/
In a way, Australia has a wall of seawater around it.
https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/australia-population
So does Canada, except for the US Border.
https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/canada-population
https://thedigitallabyrinth.blogspot.com/search?q=the+desert
https://thedigitallabyrinth.blogspot.com/search?q=cities
https://thedigitallabyrinth.blogspot.com/search?q=Cities+in+the+Desert
