T h e B igge s t I n f r a s t r uctu r e P r oject s of 2 0 1 4
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Khazar Islands (Azerbaijan)
Just south of the Azerbaijani capital of Baku lies the developing Khazar Islands, a $100 billion 41-island mega-project that will span 3,000 hectares over the Caspian Sea. It is a city planned to house one million residents, contain 150 schools, 50 hospitals and daycare centers, numerous parks, shopping malls, cultural centers, university campuses, a Formula 1 quality racetrack, and the Azerbaijan Tower which is expected to be the tallest in the world, toppling the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The company behind the construction of the artificial islands is Avesta, which expects the project to be complete in the first half of the 2020s. The first island’s construction is well underway and scheduled for completion in 2016, and will boast a congestion and industrial emissionfree space, contributing to many sectors of the country’s economy. A series of bridges will connect the islands together, with the furthest being seven kilometres from the coast.
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