10 Biggest Megaprojects in The World
Summary
TLDRThis video explores 10 of the world's most ambitious mega-projects, including the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, and the futuristic 'The Line' in Saudi Arabia. It delves into the challenges faced during construction, such as the Petronas Towers' concrete issue and the labor shortages at Marina Bay Sands. It also touches on the economic and environmental impacts, like the potential of Tesla's gigafactories to revolutionize sustainable energy and the controversies surrounding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Each project is a testament to human ingenuity and ambition, showcasing the scale and scope of modern engineering feats.
Takeaways
- đïž The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, were the tallest buildings in the world from 1998 to 2004, standing at 1483 feet and featuring the world's highest two-story bridge.
- đ° Singapore's Marina Bay Sands is a 3.2 billion dollar integrated resort that includes a hotel, convention center, mall, museum, and casino, and is noted for its Sands Sky Park.
- đą Forest City in Malaysia, envisioned as a luxury living paradise, has become a ghost town with empty high-rises and deserted roads, despite its massive scale and investment.
- đïž Saudi Arabia's NEOM project, known as 'The Line', is a 110-mile long linear city designed to be sustainable and car-free, with a projected cost of 725 billion dollars.
- âïž Elon Musk's gigafactories are envisioned to be sustainable energy powerhouses, with the one in Reno, Nevada, aiming to be the largest structure in the world with a 15 million square feet footprint.
- đ Jubail Industrial City in Saudi Arabia, expanded with Jubail II, is a massive civil engineering project contributing significantly to the country's GDP and housing over 120,000 residents.
- đïž Lusail City in Qatar, built for the 2022 World Cup, includes the largest stadium in the Middle East and is expected to be a major residential and commercial hub.
- đ The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile aims to provide abundant electricity to Ethiopia and potentially export to neighboring countries, despite political disputes.
- âĄïž Hinckley Point C in the UK is a massive nuclear power plant project with a 25 billion pound budget, designed to provide low carbon energy for 6 million homes.
- đ§ China's South-North Water Transfer Project is an extensive engineering endeavor to divert water from the Yangtze River to arid regions in Northern China, costing 62 billion dollars.
Q & A
What are the 10 megaprojects mentioned in the video?
-The video discusses 10 megaprojects: the Petronas Towers, Marina Bay Sands, Forest City in Malaysia, The Line in Saudi Arabia, Tesla Gigafactories, Jubail Industrial City, Lusail City in Qatar, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Hinkley Point C nuclear plant, and China's South-North Water Transfer Project.
Why are the Petronas Towers significant in architectural history?
-The Petronas Towers were the tallest buildings in the world from 1998 to 2004 at 1,483 feet and remain the tallest twin skyscrapers. They represent a blend of modern architectural design with Islamic influences, a nod to Malaysia's culture and religion.
What was unique about the construction challenges faced by the Petronas Towers?
-The project faced a delay due to a bad batch of concrete, which caused concern that the weak concrete had compromised the structure. Luckily, it had only been used on one floor, which was torn down and rebuilt, but the delay cost approximately $700,000 per day.
How did Marina Bay Sands in Singapore come to be one of the most expensive resorts ever built?
-Originally estimated to cost $3.2 billion, Marina Bay Sands ended up costing $6.8 billion due to labor shortages and rising material costs. Despite this, it was successfully completed and became a significant landmark with features like a 2,500-room hotel, convention center, casino, and the iconic Sky Park.
What is Forest City, and why is it considered a failed project?
-Forest City is a $100 billion luxury city project in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, developed by Country Garden. Initially designed to attract 700,000 residents, it became a ghost town with only a few thousand inhabitants due to high costs and lack of interest.
What makes The Line in Saudi Arabia a unique urban development?
-The Line is a $725 billion project in Saudi Arabia that aims to create a 110-mile long, 1,600-foot tall mirrored city. It will be powered entirely by sustainable energy, with no cars and a high-speed train connecting both ends. The city is designed to house 9 million people and be controlled by AI.
What is Elon Musk's vision for Gigafactories, and how far along is the project?
-Elon Musk envisions Gigafactories powering the planet with sustainable energy. Tesla's Gigafactory in Nevada is set to be the largest structure by footprint once complete. However, it is only 30% finished as of now, with plans for completion and expansion still in progress.
How has Jubail Industrial City in Saudi Arabia contributed to the country's economy?
-Jubail Industrial City is the largest industrial city in the world, contributing around 7% of Saudi Arabia's GDP. Its expansion, Jubail 2, aims to double its size and further enhance its role in the global energy market, with completion expected by 2024.
What role did Lusail City play during the 2022 World Cup, and what will it become in the future?
-Lusail City hosted the largest stadium for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Once fully developed, it is expected to house 450,000 people, featuring residential, commercial, and retail spaces along with Aqua Tar, the worldâs largest water park.
What are the key features of China's South-North Water Transfer Project?
-The South-North Water Transfer Project aims to address Northern China's water scarcity by diverting 44.8 billion cubic meters of water annually from the Yangtze River. Spanning three canal systems, the project will take around 100 years to complete and cost over $62 billion.
Outlines
đ Mega Projects: Skyscrapers and Casinos
This paragraph discusses some of the world's most ambitious mega projects, such as the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, which were the tallest buildings from 1998 to 2004. It also covers the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, a massive casino and entertainment complex that became the most expensive standalone resort property ever built. The paragraph highlights the architectural and cultural significance of these projects, as well as the economic motivations behind them.
đïž Visions of Future Cities and Sustainable Living
The second paragraph delves into futuristic urban developments, including the ambitious Forest City project in Malaysia, which aimed to create a luxury living paradise but currently stands as a largely uninhabited ghost town. It also discusses the 'The Line' project in Saudi Arabia, a 110-mile long linear city designed for sustainable living, and Elon Musk's vision for a world powered by renewable energy through gigafactories, with a focus on the gigafactory in Reno, Nevada.
đïž Industrial Expansion and Technological Advancements
This section covers the expansion of Jubail, an industrial city in Saudi Arabia, which became a significant contributor to the country's GDP and a hub for global energy and technology. It also touches on the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile, a project aimed at providing electricity to Ethiopia and neighboring countries, despite concerns over its impact on water availability downstream.
đ Global Energy Projects and Water Management
The final paragraph discusses the Hinckley Point C nuclear power plant in the UK, a project with a massive price tag aimed at expanding the country's low carbon energy production. It also covers the South-North Water Transfer Project in China, an extensive engineering endeavor to divert water from the Yangtze River to alleviate water scarcity in the north, illustrating the challenges and the scale of such mega projects.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄMega projects
đĄSustainable energy
đĄGigafactory
đĄMarina Bay Sands
đĄBurj Khalifa
đĄPetronas Towers
đĄNeo-M
đĄLusail City
đĄGrand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)
đĄHinkley Point C
đĄSouth-North Water Transfer Project
Highlights
Elon Musk's dream for a world full of sustainable gigafactories.
The 110-mile-long linear city called 'The Line' in Saudi Arabia, part of Vision 2030.
Patronus Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia were the tallest buildings in the world between 1998 and 2004.
The Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, built by Las Vegas Sands, is the most expensive standalone resort ever built at $6.8 billion USD.
Forest City in Malaysia, a $100 billion luxury city project, remains a ghost town with less than 5% of expected residents.
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is the largest hydropower dam in Africa, designed to power Ethiopia and neighboring countries.
Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant in the UK, set to provide low-carbon energy for 6 million homes until the 2080s.
Saudi Arabia's Jubail II, the largest industrial city expansion project in the world.
Lusail City in Qatar, built for the 2022 World Cup, will feature the worldâs largest water park, Aqua Tar, with the tallest water slide.
The South-North Water Transfer Project in China, which will divert 44.8 billion cubic meters of water annually from the Yangtze River.
The Burj Khalifa in Dubai, completed in 2010, remains the tallest building in the world at 2,717 feet.
The Marina Bay Sandsâ 1,100-foot Skyway connects all three towers, offering an infinity pool with stunning views of the Singapore skyline.
Teslaâs Gigafactory in Nevada, upon completion, will have the largest footprint of any structure in the world, running entirely on renewable energy.
Lucille Stadium, the largest of its kind in the Middle East, hosted the 2022 World Cup final.
The world's highest two-story bridge connects the 41st and 42nd floors of the Patronus Towers in Kuala Lumpur.
Transcripts
from one of the world's most luxurious
casinos nestled along the Singaporean
coast and Elon musk's dream for a world
full of sustainable gigafactories to a
110 mile long linear City in the middle
of the Saudi desert and the largest
water park ever built home to the
planet's soon-to-be tallest water slide
here are 10 of the biggest Mega projects
in the world
thank you
between 1998 and 2004 the Patronus
Towers in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia were the
tallest buildings in the world at
1483 feet the Malaysian Twins were only
33 feet taller than the Sears Tower in
Chicago which then became the second
tallest building in the world or maybe
the third the Patronus Towers held that
title until the construction of Taipei
101 in Taiwan but then the Burj Khalifa
dwarfed everyone in 2010 standing
2717 feet tall still the Patronus towers
are the tallest twin skyscrapers on
Earth and home to National Petroleum
limited a Malaysian oil and gas company
commonly referred to as Patronus the 1.6
billion dollar Towers also feature the
world's highest two-story bridge between
the 41st and 42nd floors you can head up
to the observation deck on the 86th
floor for an even better view of the
Malaysian Skyline
argentinian-american architect Caesar
Peli went with a distinctive post-modern
style aiming to build a 21st century
icon for Kuala Lumpur Malaysia seeing
how the official Malaysian religion is
Islam Peli combined principles of Muslim
architecture and design to create a
structure that oozed with Malaysian
culture like most Mega projects
construction didn't come without its
hiccups a bad batch of concrete brought
construction to a grinding halt they
were worried the weak concrete had
infected everything they had built so
far luckily Builders only used it on one
floor they tore that floor down rebuilt
and kept moving still the delay caused
the project about 700 thousand dollars
per day
in the mid-2000s Singapore decided it
wanted in on the casino game they just
lifted a 40-year ban on gambling hoping
to bolster tourism and boost their
economy many world famous names competed
for one of two spots names like MGM
mirage and Wynn resorts in the end Las
Vegas Sands which owns the Venetian
Casino Resort in Vegas won the first of
two spots thanks to their vision of a
3.2 billion dollar gambling and
Entertainment District called The Marina
Bay Sands they put up nearly 4 billion
dollars to invest in the project that's
on top of the 1.2 billion dollars paid
for the 6 million square foot site but
thanks to labor shortages and Rising
material prices the total development
cost was estimated at 8 billion
Singaporean dollars as of 2009 or about
6.8 billion US dollars they called it
the most expensive Standalone resort
property ever built but unlike some Mega
project ideas they actually pulled it
off today the Marina Bay Sands Sports a
2 500 room Hotel a 1.3 million square
foot Convention Center a mall a museum
and several celebrity chef restaurants
including two Wolfgang pucks meanwhile
the casino floor is a gambler's Paradise
with 500 tables and 1 600 slot machines
the coup de grace if you will is the
Sands Sky Park a 1100 foot Skyway
connecting all three towers you can dive
into the infinity swimming pool while
enjoying a gorgeous view of the
Singapore Skyline
foreign
billion dollar luxury City a living
Paradise on Earth but as of today Forest
City Malaysia is a ghost town full of
empty roads and deserted high-rises in
2006 a Chinese development firm called
Country Garden announced their plans to
build the massive City it was a 20-year
project set in Johor beru a Malaysian
city north of Singapore according to
Bloomberg the Malay government saw how
successful Singapore was with tourism
and wanted to cash in the original idea
pitched by Malaysia was to build a new
Metropolis near the causeway connecting
Singapore to Malaysia then Country
Gardens stepped in with their 100
billion dollar Forest City idea which
involved building artificial Islands a
few hundred yards off the Singaporean
Coast Country Gardens sold the dream of
luxury apartments hotels offices golf
courses and Tech parks to eager Chinese
investors who sank thousands of dollars
into the soon to be built Apartments
developers anticipated that 700 000
people would quickly move into the new
city as of 2019 only 500 call at home
according to Business Insider the
population has supposedly grown to a few
thousand but it's still less than five
percent of the expected residents so if
you wanted to how much would it cost to
move to Forest City unfortunately prices
have skyrocketed in recent years in 2017
a Forest City Apartment only cost about
170 thousand dollars today they cost
about 1.14 million dollars you're better
off buying in Johor beru where the
average sale price is about a hundred
and forty one thousand dollars and there
are actual Signs of Life
foreign
down the Red Sea between Saudi Arabia
and Egypt when you suddenly see your
reflection along a 110 mile mirror but
wait a minute that's not a mirror
instead it's a 1 600 foot tall 660 foot
wide
110 mile long building and there's
another running parallel on the other
side what you're currently looking at is
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's
neo-m project better known as the line
some may call it the sustainable city of
the future others think it sounds a
little dystopian the 725 Billion Dollar
City will run on nothing but sustainable
energy there won't be any cars either
instead the MBS imagines a high-speed
underground train that can get you from
end to end in 20 minutes flat residents
will enjoy a lush outdoor landscape
between the two mirrored buildings those
buildings idea really will house and
employ about nine million people the
line will also remain under the watchful
gaze of AI MBS says it's to use data
models to find ways to improve the city
but it sounds a little matrixy to us
it's all part of something called Vision
2030 which aims to make the oil-rich
country the world leader in sustainable
Innovation work began on the line in
late 2022 with Drone footage coming out
in October showing what looks like the
initial groundwork according to Saudi
officials you could be living in the
line as soon as 2023 or is it on the
line what about at the line
according to Elon Musk when the
gigafactory in Reno Nevada is complete
it will have the largest footprint of
any structure in the world bigger than
the Great Pyramid the Empire State
Building and the Burj Khalifa counting
multiple levels we're talking about 15
million square feet however every inch
will run on renewable energy now you've
probably seen Elon talking with Leonardo
DiCaprio about the gigafactory and its
environmental impact according to the
Tesla CEO's calculations it would take a
hundred gigafactories worldwide to power
the entire planet with sustainable
energy unfortunately the current
gigafactory in Nevada is about 30
percent complete Tesla finally announced
plans to expand the factory in 2022 but
the full-scale building is still a
distant dream elon's been thinking about
the gigafactory his whole life but
official plans didn't kick off until
2014 when Panasonic agreed to invest in
the 5 billion dollar project with a how
figured out it was time to determine the
where Tesla toured several locations
never once thinking about Northern
Nevada but after a little convincing and
several private trips Tesla finally
settled on the Tahoe Reno Industrial
Center or trick now while the Nevada
Factory is the biggest it's not the only
gigafactory Tesla owns Giga New York
located in Buffalo focuses on Power Pack
batteries and solar panels Giga Texas
the company's newest Factory in Austin
serves as Tesla HQ and acts as an
assembly site for model wise model 3s
cyber trucks and cyber semis two more
gigafactories exist outside the U.S one
in Shanghai China and the other in
Berlin Germany
jubail Saudi Arabia used to be an
ancient fishing Village on the Persian
Gulf it was full of deserted suburbs
until the mid-1970s when an American
engineering company called the Bechtel
Corporation broke ground on the largest
industrial city in the world spanning
more than
687 square miles upon its completion the
new site contributed to about seven
percent of Saudi Arabia's total GDP at
the turn of the Millennia the Saudi
royal family decided to expand
operations in jubail and jubail too was
born considered by many to be the
world's largest civil engineering
project jubail II sought to double the
city's original size the project
provided housing for one hundred and
twenty thousand new residents and built
a brand new 18 000 student University
today jubel is a major player in the
global energy Market attracting the best
and brightest Tech and business Minds
across dozens of countries when it's
done jubail too could make them the
major player during Peak working Seasons
the jubail 2 project employs 20 000
workers per month about four billion
dollars has been invested in
infrastructure which includes hundreds
of miles of Roads water and waste
facilities and utilities another 18
billion dollars will go toward building
the expansion itself in fact the project
is so big that they broke it into four
phases over 22 years the current
timetable has jubail 2 completed by 2024
but we'll see if any pandemic related
setbacks push that completion date off a
bit
foreign
is the second largest city in Qatar if
you watch the 2022 World Cup finals you
might recognize Lucille's Stadium the
largest of its kind in the Middle East
the Qatari government built the Lucille
and seven other stadiums specifically
for the World Cup costing about 6.5
billion dollars some experts estimate
Qatar spent some 200 billion dollars
over 12 years to make the World Cup
happen in the first place not to mention
the countless human rights violations
according to Bloomberg a chunk of that
change went toward building Lucille City
itself a mega project that costs some 45
billion dollars the area was still a
desert when Qatar won the World Cup bid
in 2010. they wanted to have it finished
before the event but according to ESPN
writer Mark Ogden the city feels more
like a dystopian scene straight out of a
Christopher Nolan movie when it's done
Lucille is expected to house about 450
50 000 people including two hundred and
fifty thousand residents a hundred and
ninety thousand office workers and sixty
thousand retail staff members one day
all of them will get to enjoy Aqua tar
the world's largest water park
considered to be the crown jewel of this
artificial City aquitar will feature 36
water slides and attractions alongside a
279-foot tower home to the world's
highest water slide when it's done the
park will cover about 300 000 square
feet they expected it to attract fifty
thousand visitors per day during the
World Cup but you can't ride a
half-built water slide can you
the Blue Nile River one of the two
primary Nile tributaries is a Lifeline
for Northeastern Africa it flows north
from Lake Tana in Ethiopia through Sudan
and into Egypt some 1 600 miles
Downstream in the early 2010s Ethiopia
announced plans to build a 5 billion
dollar Dam on the Blue Nile the project
underwent several name changes at one
time called the Millennium Dam but
Builders finally settled on the grand
Ethiopian Renaissance Dam or gerd in a
nutshell the point of the gerd was to
supply ample electricity to Ethiopia a
country that before gerd saw 60 of its
people living in darkness ideally the
gerd will produce so much power that
Ethiopia can sell electricity to the
surrounding counties like Sudan and
Egypt the dam was supposed to be opened
in 2017 but feuds between Ethiopia Sudan
and Egypt kept stalling the project
Egypt relies heavily on the Nile River
and believes the gerd will significantly
limit the amount of water available by
the time it reaches Cairo Ethiopia says
otherwise while Sudan has been stuck in
the Middle Prime Minister ABI Ahmed Ali
cut the grand opening ribbon that summer
the gerd is officially the largest
hydropower Dam in Africa and ranks among
the top 20 worldwide right up there with
the Three Gorges Dam in China
in January of 2008 the UK decided it was
time to expand its nuclear energy
capabilities after some negotiations and
budgetary conversations the idea for
Hinckley Point C was born joining the
ranks of Hinckley points A and B at the
time Hinckley B was the UK's most
productive nuclear power plant but it
closed in August of 2022 due to old age
thankfully plans for Hinckley Point C
were already underway plans that now
have a 25 billion pound price tag but it
wasn't always that expensive EDF is the
French Energy company spearheading the
project they wanted to have the plant
opened and operational by 2025 but
several setbacks and a global pandemic
kept pushing the completion date
according to the BBC The Limited number
of workers allowed on site during covid
cost the project more than half a
million days of critical work between
2020 and 2021. when it's done and paid
for Hinckley Point sees twin unit
reactor will be able to produce
3260 megawatts of low carbon energy for
the next 60 years by comparison a
typical coal plant only produces 600
megawatts of energy according to EDF
Hinckley Point c will provide enough
clean energy to power 6 million homes
until the 2080s
[Music]
the Yangtze River is the heart and soul
of China nearly one-third of China's
population about 400 million people live
along the River Basin or its tributaries
and rely on it every day but as it
stands Northern China's more
industrialized and arid regions struggle
with dry rivers and restricted access to
water it's been that way for well
forever then in the 1950s Mao Zedong
floated the idea of a massive
engineering project that could solve
China's water problem in a few short
years the idea was to build three Canal
systems one in the East one in the west
and one in the middle of course politics
and controversy kept the project in the
planning phase for about 50 years
construction began in 2003 and it's
expected to take another 50 years to
finish not to mention the 62 billion
dollar price tag fun fact that is more
than twice the cost of the three
gorgeous Dam when it's done the south
north water transfer project will divert
44.8 billion cubic meters of water
annually to drier areas in northern
China it'll also link China's four main
rivers the Yangtze the river the Hawaii
and the heihu if all goes according to
plan water diverted from the Yangtze
River near yangzhou city will travel
east along existing channels to the
weishan mountains of Shandong from there
it'll cross the Yellow River via a
tunnel and flow into Tianjin the central
route will divert water from the Han
River to flow up to Beijing they wanted
this leg finished in time for the 2008
Olympic games but only about a fourth of
the route was built finally the Western
route will divert 4 billion cubic meters
of water from three tributaries along
the Yangtze and send it about 300 miles
across the Bayan kala mountains and into
Northwestern China if you enjoyed this
video and want to see another just like
ticket be sure to click the link on
screen now with that thanks for watching
and be sure to tune in next time
[Music]
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