This is a list of megaprojects. "Megaprojects are temporary endeavours (i.e. projects) characterized by: large investment commitment, vast complexity (especially in organizational terms), and long-lasting impact on the economy, the environment, and society". The number of such projects is so large that the list may never be fully completed.
Projects that cost more than US$1 billion and attract a lot of public attention because of substantial impacts on communities, environment, and budgets
Projects can also be "initiatives that are physical, very expensive, and public".
Megaprojects require care in the project development process to reduce any possible optimism bias and strategic misrepresentation. Examples of megaprojects include bridges, tunnels, highways, railways, airports, seaports, power plants, dams, wastewater projects, Special Economic Zones (SEZ), oil and natural gas extraction projects, public buildings, information technology systems, aerospace projects, and weapons systems.
This list identifies a wide variety of examples of major historic and contemporary projects that meet one or both megaproject criteria identified above.
Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, with 6 decades of service as a strategic nuclear bomber, it is one of the largest military aircraft ever built. Every other bomber produced in the US after the B-52 have been megaprojects; however, it has not been replaced nor will it be in the foreseeable future.
Boeing 2707 and LockheedL-2000supersonic aircraft projects, initiated in 1963 via a US government-funded competition to build the United States' first Supersonic Transport (SST), prototypes never built, ultimately canceled due to political, environmental and economic reasons in 1971.
Concorde, a supersonic passenger airliner, a product of an Anglo-French government treaty that combined the manufacturing efforts of Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation, first flown in 1969, Concorde entered service in 1976 and continued commercial flights for twenty-seven years.
Convair B-58 Hustler, an all-weather, high altitude supersonic bomber with a fixed delta wing and 4 engines. The Hustler was operational from 1960 to 1970 in the US Air Force's Strategic Air Command for the deployment of up to 5 gravity nuclear weapons.
General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark, a twin turbofan, multi-role supersonic fighter-bomber. It was active from 1967 to 2010 in the US and Australia with various roles, including nuclear deterrence and electronic warfare. Initially, it was meant to replace a wide breadth of aircraft in the US Navy and Air Force, but due to cost and suitability issues, it only was ever used as a bomber and jammer aircraft, though it performed very well in these roles.
Lockheed C-5 Galaxy was the largest and heaviest aircraft of any kind for over a decade (1970 to 1982). This military cargo plane has the dubious distinction of being the first development program with a billion dollar cost overrun.
Rockwell B-1 Lancer, a supersonic bomber with a variable-sweep wing built in the 1980s as a strategic bomber. It has since acquired conventional and multi-role capabilities.
Saab JAS 39 Gripen, a Swedish 4.5 generation Multirole jet fighter developed by Saab since 1978. Estimated project cost is US$19 billion.
Tupolev Tu-144, the first supersonic transport aircraft, made by the Russian aircraft company Tupolev, first flown on 31 December 1968 and entered service on 26 December 1970.
Tupolev Tu-160, the world's largest and heaviest combat aircraft, the world's largest supersonic aircraft, and the largest variable-sweep aircraft ever built. (The North American XB-70 Valkyrie had a higher empty weight and maximum speed but never entered production.)
Chengdu J-20, a fifth-generation, stealth, twin-engine fighter aircraft prototype developed by Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group for the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF).
Human Genome Project, investigation to determine human genetic sequence (1990-2003) - cost $14.5bn, but generated an output of $965bn, personal income exceeding $293bn and more than 4.3 million job-years of employment
Ground transportation systems like roads, tunnels, bridges, terminals, railways, and mass transit systems are often megaprojects. Numerous large airports and terminals used for airborne passenger and cargo transportation are built as megaprojects. Waterways and canals, and the locks that connect them, are frequently major undertakings as well.
The planned capital city of Nigeria, which was built mainly in the 1980s. It officially became Nigeria's capital on 12 December 1991, replacing Lagos, and has since witnessed a huge influx of people into the city. As at 2006, the city of Abuja had a population of 776,298, making it one of the ten most populous cities in Nigeria, with an estimated metropolitan population of well over three million. Abuja is currently amongst the four largest urban areas in Nigeria.
A peninsula development located in Asokoro district, in Abuja. The mixed-use development is approximately 60 hectares of land, located at the shores of Pendam Lake. Its residential development ranges from apartment buildings to villas. They are majorly luxury properties with private balconies, mezzanines, floor-to-ceiling windows, swimming pool and sun terrace etc. The commercial and work section presents hotels, offices, shopping malls, business and primary schools.
A planned city of Lagos State, Nigeria, being constructed on land reclaimed from the Atlantic Ocean. The project broke ground in 2007 and is being spearheaded by South Energyx Nigeria Ltd. Upon completion the project anticipates at least 250,000 residents and an additional daily flow of 150,000 commuters.
In 2014, The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development signed deal with the New Festac Property Development Company, to develop the second phase of Festac Town. Since the award, the company has been carrying out extensive preliminary project development activities including surveys, field studies, site investigation, environmental impact assessment, and town planning for the project.
A peninsula city which is 755 square kilometres. Lekki Phase 1 has been completed and it currently houses several Estates and gated residential developments; other phases of the project include, areas allocated for a Free Trade Zone, with an airport, and a sea port under construction. The proposed land use master plan for the Lekki envisages the Peninsula as a "Blue-Green Environment City", expected to accommodate well over 3.4 million residential population and an additional non-residential population of at least 1.9 million.
Project is being developed on 384,000 square metres (0.148 sq mi) of land, intending to create a total built-up area of over 1,700,000 square metres (0.66 sq mi) consisting of hotels, apartments, offices, commercial outlets and entertainment.
The Saudi government is reportedly paying as high as 500,000 Saudi riyals (around $133,000) per square meter to the owners of the buildings close to the mosque in return for the expropriation. This brings the total figure to around $100 billion. Slated to Completed by 2020.
Will host both commercial and residential development including homes, hotels, and offices. The centerpiece of the development project will be Jeddah Tower, a tower planned to become the tallest in the world.
It occupies a total land area of 2,500 ha (25 km2), of which 1,700 ha will be claimed for development. The island holds the Yas Marina Circuit, which hosts the Formula One United Arab Emirates Grand Prix since 2009.
Will be world's largest Retail and Entertainment World, twice the size of Walt Disney World Resort, it include 45 mega projects and 200 sub projects. Currently, there are 22 projects under development.
aims to connect Gwadar Port in southwestern Pakistan to China’s northwestern autonomous region of Xinjiang, via a network of highways, railways and pipelines to transport oil and gas. The economic corridor is considered central to China–Pakistan relations and will run about 3,000 km from Gwadar to Kashgar. Other than transport infrastructure, the economic corridor will provide Pakistan with telecommunications and energy infrastructure. The project also aims to improve intelligence sharing between the countries.
Pak-Us Knowledge Corridor (PUKC) is a minister-proposed mega project. This project was proposed by Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal, the term US-Pakistan Knowledge Corridor, he used to boost cooperation between Pakistan and America in education sector.
Conceived as a global manufacturing and trading hub, the project is expected to double employment potential, triple industrial output and quadruple exports from the region in five years. The total employment to be generated from the project is 3 million, the bulk of which will be in the manufacturing/processing sectors. The project initially aims to create seven smart cities distributed along the backbone of the dedicated freight corridor between Delhi and Mumbai.
The green and sustainable city is to be built on a 4,700 hectares piece of virgin land located several kilometres northeast of Karachi. Upon completion, the new city which is still under development is anticipating at least 250,000 residents and a daily flow of 50,000 commuters.
Mubarak Center and new Central Business District at Gulberg
A new Central Business District for the city of Lahore to be built at land previously occupied by Walton Airport which will provide Lahore with a modern set of skyscrapers while the city itself retains most of its original architecture and historical character.
LDA City is the biggest housing society project ever undertaken by LDA, and is the largest housing society in Punjab, Pakistan. The city is to be built on a 3,059 hectares (7560 acres) piece of virgin land located several kilometres south of Lahore.
Sprawling over an area of 70,000 acres, the RRDZ project entails high-quality residential, commercial, institutional, cultural and recreational zones along both sides of the river at a stretch of 33 km. The riverfront will be dotted with highrise condominiums, modern piers, boardwalks and 70 per cent area dedicated to trees to make it environment friendly. Around 25,000 acres of riverfront would be sold to investors for business, cultural and lifestyle activities.
The smart city is being built as a global financial hub to provide world class infrastructure for the Indian financial industry to grow. When completed, it will outclass France's La Défense, Tokyo's Shinjuku and London's London Docklands in every aspect. It is expected to be finished by 2017–2018.
The 9,450-hectare master-planned property will be the Philippines’ most modern and the first technologically-integrated city with a mix of residential, commercial, agro-industrial, institutional and information technology developments. Modeled after South Korea's Songdo City, with sustainable buildings and efficient power and energy use operated by Singapore's SSR C-Solar power plant.
Situated at Laguna's 2290 hectare land, Nuvali is the second largest township development in the Philippines. To date, approximately 50 percent of the total land area of NUVALI has already been developed, along with the road networks surrounding the commercial and residential developments. It has its own Educational intitutions, Shopping area's, Hotel, Soccerfield and a bike trail.
Ongoing 2,000 hectare township project in the buzzling province of Cavite. Touted to be a full pledged city, Lancaster New City has its own transport terminal, several campuses throughout the project, a 25 Hectare BPO center, a Church, Multiple club houses and retail strip complex. Future expansions are on going with Zones 3, 4 and 5 that consists of low rise residential complexes.
Ancol Dreamland is currently the largest integrated tourism area in South East Asia with an area of about 600 hectares, boasting an international championship golf course, a theme park,an oceanarium,a convention centre,beaches,hotels and other recreational facilities.
Lippo Cikarang is an industrial park with an area of 332 hectares, which also has apartment, hotel, office, shopping center, retail, school and university, hospital, convention center and other supporting facilities.
A complex of four skyscrapers, each about 240 metres high, located on one of Madrid's most expensive avenua, La Castellana. The towers were built on Real Madrid's former Ciudad Deportiva, and were completed in 2008. The tallest building is Torre Cepsa, designed by world-famous architect Norman Foster, and has a height of 249 metres, making it Spain's tallest structure.
In the 1990s, the city began a desindustralisation process, which radically changed its image. After closing several factories and decontaminating the city's river, several megaprojects were built. A whole new airport, designed by Spanish world'-amous architect Santiago Calatrava, a metro system designed by British Lord Norman Foster, a recovery of the city's old fashioned tram network changed the city's public transport system. The Iberdrola Tower, which is Bilbao's tallest building, the Alhondiga, the Zubizuri bridge and several other significant buildings changed the city center's polluted past. The whole renovation process started because of the construction of The Guggemheim Museum Of Bilbao, the city's landmark and main museum.
The widest bridge in the world (until the Bay Bridge's east span recently opened), the bridge east of Vancouver, B.C., which opened in 2012, remains the second-longest bridge in North America. The cable-stay bridge uses an impressive 288 cables to reach a total bridge length of 6,866 feet.
Recovery from the September 11 attacks. One, Four, and Seven World Trade Center Towers completed 2006-2014. Two, Three, Five World Trade Center Towers are either nearing Completion or are Currently On Hold.
South-End Viaduct Replacement Started 2008 and Completed 2014. SR 99 Tunnel started 2011 set for Completion in 2021. Mitigation Projects started 2008 set for Completion in 2019. Other Miscellaneous Projects started 2007 and set for Completion in 2023.
Concrete floats quite nicely in Seattle, where engineers have devised a 7,710-foot-long floating bridge, the longest in the world. The new State Route 520 bridge replaced the previous world's longest Evergreen Point Floating Bridge across Lake Washington, connecting Seattle to points east. The new structure, rising 20 feet above the water, opened to traffic in spring 2016.
Recovery from earthquakes in 2010–2011. Rebuild of central business district, demolition and remediation of several residential neighbourhoods now deemed unsuitable for building. Infrastructure upgrades and addition of commuter rail. Entire project to be completed by 2020.
At the close of the 20th century, Brasília held the distinction of being the largest city in the world which had not existed at the beginning of the century. Construction cost for Brasília in 1957 was about $2.5 Billion.
One of the most ambitious projects in Latin American history. Includes building over 60 skyscrapers, 500 highrises, 3 new CBDs, a subway system, and a smart city near Usaquén. The project is meant to establish Bogota as the financial, industrial, and technological capital of Latin America.