1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:04,240 Megaprojects are large scale, complex projects which usually 2 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:07,560 involve massive capital investment and take years to 3 00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:09,760 build. They're often in sectors like 4 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:12,520 infrastructure, energy or transportation. 5 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:16,440 Examples include building new cities, airports, power 6 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:20,320 stations, high speed rail networks or massive buildings. 7 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:24,600 In today's video, let's look at some overly ambitious ideas that 8 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:27,520 made no practical sense and so failed. 9 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:32,040 Everything from sinking Man Made Island to cities no one wanted 10 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:35,920 to live in, to giant abandoned buildings or futuristic 11 00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:39,480 transportation solutions that made no sense. 12 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:43,360 First up we have Dubais, man made islands. 13 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:48,520 In the 1990's the government of Dubai decided to diversify away 14 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:52,760 from its reliance on oil to building a service and tourism 15 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:56,720 oriented economy. In 1991 there was just one 16 00:00:56,720 --> 00:01:01,800 skyscraper in Dubai. There were six in 1998 and today 17 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:06,240 there are 265. The property development boom 18 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:09,560 around the turn of the Millennium turned Dubai into one 19 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:11,960 of the fastest growing cities in the world. 20 00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:15,760 Apparently 25% of the construction cranes in use 21 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:19,080 worldwide are operating in Dubai today. 22 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:23,120 They built the world's tallest building, the world's largest 23 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:26,680 shopping mall, the world's largest fountain, and the 24 00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:29,920 world's tallest hotel. They're apparently developing a 25 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:34,040 theme park called Dubai Land, which is planned to be twice the 26 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:39,200 size of Walt Disney World but significantly less woke. 27 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:43,560 One of the problems Dubai identified in becoming a tourist 28 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:47,480 hotspot was its short coastline, especially if it was going to 29 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:50,560 become a beach resort. They built their first 30 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:53,960 artificial island for the Burj Al Arab Hotel, where 31 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:58,680 construction began in 1994. They then laid out plans for 32 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:02,880 three palm shaped islands, an archipelago of island shaped 33 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:06,360 like a map of the world, and another archipelago called the 34 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:10,759 universe in the shape of the sun, moon, Milk Way and solar 35 00:02:10,759 --> 00:02:13,480 system. Construction on the Palm 36 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:18,320 Jumeirah began in 2001. From above it looks like a palm 37 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:22,360 tree inside a circle. Unlike the Burj al Arab island, 38 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:27,000 this was built entirely from sand and rocks, with no concrete 39 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:30,040 or steel used. A mega project wouldn't be a 40 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:34,520 mega project without a monorail. So of course there's a 3.4 mile 41 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:38,040 long monorail running down the centre of the Palm and the 42 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:42,040 leaves are filled with homes and hotels, creating a sort of 43 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:47,160 suburb in the ocean. By late 2007, most of the 44 00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:50,880 properties were available to be handed over to their new owners 45 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:54,840 right as the global financial crisis hit, causing Dubai 46 00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:58,600 property prices to fall by around 60%. 47 00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:03,520 A list of notable residents on Wikipedia includes a who's who 48 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:07,880 of fugitives like a sanctioned Russian oligarch, 2 notable 49 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:12,080 narcotics traffickers and a few international money launderers. 50 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:16,600 My take away is that it's probably not wise to get into an 51 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:19,560 argument with your neighbors on the Palm Jumeirah. 52 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:25,280 In 2009, it was reported that NASA satellite data showed that 53 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:29,080 the Palm was sinking into the sea at a rate of about an inch 54 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:32,200 every five years, which isn't great. 55 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:36,440 The outer break water, unfortunately acts as a barrier 56 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:40,200 preventing the water within the palm from moving, which caused 57 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:43,000 it to become stagnant and to stink. 58 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:45,680 Well, that doesn't sound great either. 59 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:49,680 On the positive side, it keeps the plague of jellyfish that 60 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:52,760 surround the outside of the island from getting in. 61 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:56,440 And yeah, that's because there seems to be a plague of 62 00:03:56,440 --> 00:03:59,200 jellyfish. And really, a plague of anything 63 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:04,720 is usually not considered good. According to a 2009 New York 64 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:08,920 Times article, when you turn the faucets on in the hotels on the 65 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:13,360 Palm, only cockroaches come out. So you, you probably shouldn't 66 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:15,640 do that. It's it's probably best if you 67 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:18,000 bring a bottle of water along with you. 68 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:23,440 After launching the project, the developer, who must have No Fear 69 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:27,360 of the drug traffickers, money launderers and various other 70 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:31,400 island mobsters, increased the number of residential units on 71 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:35,920 the island, reducing the space between them to make up for some 72 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:40,160 of their losses, which didn't make the home buyers happy. 73 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:44,640 There were other problems reported too, like human waste 74 00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:48,680 being dumped in the water, not to scare off the jellyfish, but 75 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:52,040 because most of Dubai's development went ahead without 76 00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:55,040 proper sewage facilities, meaning that it has to be 77 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:59,040 trucked out of the city where the trucks reportedly wait up to 78 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:03,080 16 hours in line to deposit it in the city's only sewage 79 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:06,640 treatment plant. I should note that this is the 80 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:09,480 most successful of Dubai's man made islands. 81 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:11,760 The others are considered failures. 82 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:16,680 The Palm Jebel Ali is another artificial palm shaped island in 83 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:20,320 Dubai. It began construction in 2002 84 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:23,800 and was supposed to be completed by mid 2008. 85 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:28,920 It was badly located outside of the city in an industrial area 86 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:32,240 near the port. The project was put on hold when 87 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:36,680 real estate prices started collapsing in in 2007 and it was 88 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:40,680 relaunched last year. It was originally supposed to be 89 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:43,760 50% larger than the Palm Jumeirah. 90 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:48,280 The homes on this island, when built, will be arranged to spell 91 00:05:48,280 --> 00:05:53,640 out a poem by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashad Al Maktoum Reading 92 00:05:53,840 --> 00:05:58,080 Take Wisdom from the Wise. It takes a man of vision to ride 93 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:01,440 on water. Not everyone who rides a horse 94 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:04,840 is a jockey. Great men rise to greater 95 00:06:04,840 --> 00:06:08,760 challenges. He's not really a poet by by 96 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:10,840 trade. I think it's it's much more of a 97 00:06:10,840 --> 00:06:13,680 hobby for him and I'm sure he does other things which he's 98 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:18,840 really good at. Last May, the Palm Jabel Ali was 99 00:06:18,840 --> 00:06:22,000 relaunched with the announcement that it would now be even 100 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:26,080 bigger, twice the size of the Palm Jumeirah, which hopefully 101 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:28,600 means twice as many jellyfish too. 102 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:34,040 The project aims to house 35,000 families and they say something 103 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:37,600 about a master plan and renewable energy, which I'm sure 104 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:39,880 is great. A mega project wouldn't be a 105 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:45,080 mega project without some master plan and environmental claims. 106 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:49,720 1/3 palm shaped island was partially built, construction 107 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:53,040 was halted. It was then renamed twice and 108 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:57,240 the new master plan that's not my term upstairs seems to 109 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:00,880 involve it no longer being shaped like a palm, Instead 110 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:04,120 it'll be shaped like whatever it looks like now. 111 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:08,760 There will be 80 hotels on this thing, and no official opening 112 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:11,600 date has been announced yet. And I'm not sure that it really 113 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:14,800 matters anyhow. They're all slowly sinking into 114 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:18,880 the sea. Allegedly the most disastrous of 115 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:22,240 the artificial island projects in Dubai, other than the ones 116 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:25,760 that were quite wisely cancelled before construction, is the 117 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:30,320 World Archipelago, which cost around $10 billion to construct. 118 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:34,040 It's supposed to look like a map of the world, and it kind of 119 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:37,760 does if all of the countries got chewed up and spat into the 120 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:40,760 ocean. Unlike the Palm projects, it 121 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:43,640 doesn't even have a monorail or a Rd. 122 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:47,560 If you buy an island you then need to brave the jellyfish 123 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:52,240 infested waters in a boat. A street called Raining St. was 124 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:56,480 planned as part of the Heart of Europe project where artificial 125 00:07:56,480 --> 00:08:00,680 rainfall would occur whenever the outdoor temperature exceeded 126 00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:06,360 27°C, with the objective being to make a close copy of the 127 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:10,440 Southern European climate. The initial plan was that 128 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:13,760 utilities would be routed underwater, with pumping 129 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:17,080 stations providing freshwater to each of the islands. 130 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:20,040 Power was supposed to be provided through underwater 131 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:23,320 cables too. None of this was ever installed 132 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:26,720 and buyers instead have to provide their own power using 133 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:30,680 diesel generators. Wastewater and refuse systems 134 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:35,480 are the buyers problem too. Or at least it's more the buyers 135 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:38,679 problem than it is on the palm shaped islands. 136 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:43,360 Construction of the 300 islands that make up the World began in 137 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:49,240 2003 before being halted due to the global financial crisis. 60% 138 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:53,320 of the islands were then sold as is to private contractors in 139 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:58,080 2008, and development on most of the islands has gone nowhere. 140 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:01,720 The World Archipelago was initially pitched as the 141 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:05,600 ultimate in exclusivity, which sounds about right, as there's 142 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:08,880 nothing really more exclusive than being the only person 143 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:11,240 there. There are, of course, claims 144 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:14,480 that these islands are sinking into the sea too, which the 145 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:17,320 developers say are wholly inaccurate. 146 00:09:17,880 --> 00:09:21,760 Now, not all of these islands are entirely abandoned. 147 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:25,680 The world island called Lebanon was the first to offer a beach 148 00:09:25,680 --> 00:09:29,280 bar and sun loungers and the resort was opened on the 149 00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:34,320 Argentina island in 2021, possibly meaning that the Dubai 150 00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:38,040 versions of Lebanon and Argentina have more successful 151 00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:41,560 economies than the actual Lebanon and Argentina. 152 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:47,000 OK, so Next up on our list of failed mega projects we have 153 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:51,560 golden Finance 117, which is the dubious honour of being the 154 00:09:51,560 --> 00:09:54,120 world's tallest abandoned building. 155 00:09:54,560 --> 00:09:58,400 Construction on the skyscraper, which was planned to be the 5th 156 00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:03,120 tallest building in the world, began in 2008 and was scheduled 157 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:07,320 for completion in 2014. The building was designed to 158 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:11,920 resemble a walking stick, which in a way all skyscrapers kind of 159 00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:15,160 resemble, but this one would have a diamond shaped three 160 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:19,080 story tall observation deck at the top where people could eat, 161 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:22,200 swim, and oddly enough play polo. 162 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:25,480 I'm not really sure how the horses would get in and out, but 163 00:10:25,560 --> 00:10:28,000 that's not really my problem to deal with. 164 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:29,800 You're. Not taking that interval then. 165 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:34,520 We have to stay to kill them. At the time of planning, the 166 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:38,560 building was supposed to be the centerpiece of its Developers 167 00:10:38,760 --> 00:10:43,240 Golden Metropolan scheme. A1 square Mile High end 168 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:46,920 residential and business district about 5 miles from 169 00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:52,440 downtown Tianjin in China. The tower topped out in 2015 at 170 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:58,880 a height of 1957 feet tall. It has 128 stories above ground, 171 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:03,920 with 117 of them intended for housing, hotel and commercial 172 00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:08,120 space. The 117 occupiable floors gave 173 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:13,360 the building its name. Construction began in 2008 but 174 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:17,040 was halted twice. The first halt was in 2010 due 175 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:19,600 to fallout from the global financial crisis. 176 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:24,800 Work resumed in 2011 with the new estimated completion date of 177 00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:28,760 2018. In 2015, the Chinese stock 178 00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:33,680 market bubble popped and the developer shares fell 67%. 179 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:37,560 They were forced to suspend construction later that year 180 00:11:37,560 --> 00:11:40,120 while they reorganized their finances. 181 00:11:40,560 --> 00:11:44,920 The Golden Finance 117 failed for a number of reasons. 182 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:48,960 The primary reason was its location in the outskirts of a 183 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:53,640 secondary Chinese city, Tianjin, where the kind of people who 184 00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:57,280 could afford to live in a luxury building like this didn't live. 185 00:11:57,640 --> 00:12:00,760 The wealthy people who could afford to buy these apartments 186 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:04,040 probably wouldn't want to relocate to the outskirts of 187 00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:07,560 Tianjin, so there was no real market for this building to 188 00:12:07,560 --> 00:12:10,440 begin with. The other problem was that the 189 00:12:10,560 --> 00:12:14,920 developer, Golden Properties, ran into significant financial 190 00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:19,120 difficulties after the 2015 Chinese stock market crash. 191 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:24,480 In 2018, China passed a new regulation outlawing new 192 00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:28,080 buildings more than 1640 feet tall. 193 00:12:28,360 --> 00:12:33,720 By this point, Golden Finance 117 was already more than 300 194 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:38,520 feet taller than the new regulations permitted in 2016. 195 00:12:38,720 --> 00:12:42,680 The building drew a lot of media attention when a Russian couple 196 00:12:42,680 --> 00:12:47,240 filmed themselves climbing with no safety harnesses to the top 197 00:12:47,240 --> 00:12:49,840 of a construction crane on top of the building. 198 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:53,280 There was a warning on screen in their video that viewers 199 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:55,240 shouldn't attempt to imitate this. 200 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:59,760 Now, I don't think that that warning was aimed at me, as I've 201 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:03,280 had a light bulb out for over a year in my house because I've 202 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:06,120 been too lazy to stand up on a chair to change it. 203 00:13:06,680 --> 00:13:09,360 To be clear, I'm not afraid to stand on the chair, I just 204 00:13:09,560 --> 00:13:11,480 haven't got around to it, that's all. 205 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:16,400 When the building was put up for sale a few years ago as part of 206 00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:20,600 the liquidation of the developer Golden Metropolitan, it didn't 207 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:24,040 attract much attention and no attempts have been made to 208 00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:26,640 resurrect the building since 2018. 209 00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:31,760 Golden Finance 117 was simply a case of building a luxury 210 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:35,920 skyscraper in a location that couldn't support the demand for 211 00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:39,360 such a property. Next on our list of failed mega 212 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:42,120 projects we have Forest City Malaysia. 213 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:46,840 There are at least 50 ghost cities in China where around 214 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:49,920 65,000,000 properties are unoccupied. 215 00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:55,360 Chinese developers poured more concrete between 2011 and 2013 216 00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:59,200 than was used in the United States throughout the entire 217 00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:03,040 20th century. In the US, more than half of 218 00:14:03,040 --> 00:14:07,440 Americans invest in the stock market and around 65% own 219 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:11,080 property. In China, only around 7% of the 220 00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:14,920 population own stocks, but around 90% of property 221 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:20,160 investments in the 20 tens. As prices rose, Chinese citizens 222 00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:24,000 borrowed a greater multiple of their wealth than people did 223 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:26,960 anywhere else in the world to invest in property. 224 00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:30,880 Chinese property developers didn't just build in China. 225 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:35,240 The country's largest developer, Country Garden, unveiled Forest 226 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:41,320 City in Malaysia in 2016, a $100 billion mega project under 227 00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:43,840 President XI's Belt and Road Initiative. 228 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:47,680 The Belt and Road Initiative, which is sometimes referred to 229 00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:52,160 as the New Silk Road, was launched in 2013 as one of the 230 00:14:52,160 --> 00:14:55,760 most ambitious infrastructure projects ever conceived. 231 00:14:56,080 --> 00:14:59,720 It was originally devised to link East Asia and Europe 232 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:02,840 through physical infrastructure like roads and ports. 233 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:07,120 It later expanded to Africa, Oceana and Latin America, 234 00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:11,720 significantly broadening China's economic and political influence 235 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:16,040 while also allowing the country to diversify the investment of 236 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:18,520 its vast foreign exchange reserves. 237 00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:23,360 In Malaysia, the plan was to build a futuristic eco friendly 238 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:28,160 metropolis featuring vertical green spaces, surveillance and 239 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:32,760 security drones, as that's what people seem to want, a golf 240 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:36,840 course, water park, offices, bars and restaurants. 241 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:41,880 The city would be built on four man made islands of course, and 242 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:46,120 the developer said that Forest City would eventually be home to 243 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:49,240 nearly 1,000,000 people. Now I'm a little bit 244 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:52,640 disappointed in this one, as I did a bit of Googling and can 245 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:56,120 find no evidence of even plans for a monorail. 246 00:15:56,440 --> 00:15:59,920 I'm not sure that you should go straight to the surveillance and 247 00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:04,080 security drones without first building a monorail, but there 248 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:07,200 were fortunately plans for solar roadways. 249 00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:10,720 A a megaproject just wouldn't really be a megaproject without 250 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:14,320 some sort of nonsense eco transportation promise. 251 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:18,880 Solar freaking roadways. In this picture you can see what 252 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:22,440 are quite possibly the vertical gardens, but it might also just 253 00:16:22,440 --> 00:16:26,080 be stuff growing on the outside of the abandoned buildings. 254 00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:28,240 It's it's sometimes hard to tell. 255 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:32,120 To a pessimist there are weeds in your gutters, while to an 256 00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:34,400 optimist they're hanging gardens. 257 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:39,200 Despite being marketed as an energy efficient, ecologically 258 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:43,760 sensitive, land conserving, low polluting offshore city, the 259 00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:46,960 development was built in the middle of a rank one 260 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:51,320 environmentally sensitive area and destroyed coastal wetlands 261 00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:54,600 and a mangrove forest. I'm not sure if building an 262 00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:58,440 artificial island should be counted as land conserving, but 263 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:01,000 I suppose we'll let them away with that one. 264 00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:06,760 BBC reporters who visited Forest City in 2023 describe seeing a 265 00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:10,319 children's train that someone forgot to turn off, doing 266 00:17:10,319 --> 00:17:13,599 endless loops around the abandoned shopping mall play, 267 00:17:13,680 --> 00:17:17,520 saying head, shoulders, knees and toes in Chinese despite 268 00:17:17,520 --> 00:17:21,720 there being no children inside. Residents told the reporters 269 00:17:21,880 --> 00:17:24,440 that they were desperate to escape the city, which they 270 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:28,800 called a lifeless husk that quickly erodes the sanity of 271 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:32,800 anyone trying to live there. They probably shouldn't put that 272 00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:37,160 in their real estate listing. Only one of the four man made 273 00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:40,040 islands originally planned was ever built. 274 00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:43,440 The plan was that when the first apartments were sold out, the 275 00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:47,080 next three islands would be built in 2014. 276 00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:51,120 Almost as soon as construction began, problems arose. 277 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:54,640 Construction was halted for months after officials in 278 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:58,480 Singapore, a few miles across the Strait from Malaysia, raised 279 00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:01,360 concerns about the environmental destruction. 280 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:05,760 The real problem came two years later, however, when China, 281 00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:09,440 fearing the collapse of its currency, stopped citizens from 282 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:13,440 buying property abroad. While built in Malaysia, Forest 283 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:15,840 City was not built for Malaysians. 284 00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:19,760 It was instead built to be sold to Chinese property investors 285 00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:22,800 who had been priced out of buying apartments in China. 286 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:27,040 The prices were way too high for Malaysians, and if the Chinese 287 00:18:27,040 --> 00:18:30,720 could no longer buy real estate abroad, there was no real market 288 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:34,640 for Forest City. To make things worse, in 2018, 289 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:38,560 Malaysia's Prime Minister restricted visas for Chinese 290 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:42,840 buyers, citing his objection to a city built for foreigners. 291 00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:47,080 Next came the pandemic and then the bursting of the Chinese real 292 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:51,360 estate bubble. Finally, in 2023, the one road 293 00:18:51,360 --> 00:18:54,840 to Forest City collapsed in a giant sinkhole. 294 00:18:55,080 --> 00:18:58,280 I don't believe this was caused by overuse. 295 00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:03,560 Local Malaysian authorities, who have a 40% stake in Forest City, 296 00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:07,480 made efforts to revive interest in the project over the last few 297 00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:09,880 years. They promised to turn it into a 298 00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:14,200 special financial zone with a tax deal for the family offices 299 00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:17,720 of ultra wealthy investors hoping to attract them. 300 00:19:18,360 --> 00:19:22,440 According to the BBC, the biggest draw is the area's duty 301 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:25,360 free status. And people travel to Forest City 302 00:19:25,360 --> 00:19:27,880 to buy cheap cigarettes and alcohol. 303 00:19:28,040 --> 00:19:30,800 And that's really the kind of tourists you want, the ones that 304 00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:34,880 will travel long distances for cheap booze and cigarettes. 305 00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:39,040 They've also built attractions like a stairway on the beach, 306 00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:41,720 which is supposed to be a tourist attraction. 307 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:44,000 Apparently it's very Instagrammable. 308 00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:47,400 You know the way tourists will travel miles out into the middle 309 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:51,520 of nowhere to take a photo on the stairs and hang out on the 310 00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:56,440 crocodile infested beach? Oh yeah, I, I forgot to mention 311 00:19:56,440 --> 00:19:59,080 the crocodiles, didn't I? Yeah, there's, there's 312 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:01,800 crocodiles. In fact, that sign on the beach 313 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:05,400 near the Instagram stairs is there to warn you about the 314 00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:08,360 crocodiles. No wonder they call it the 315 00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:11,000 Stairway to Heaven. There's a good chance that 316 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:12,640 you're not getting out of there alive. 317 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:16,120 That photo might be your last Instagram upload. 318 00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:20,160 Sorry, we we seem to have taken a bit of a a dark turn here. 319 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:23,360 It's not that bad. Let's see what the BBC has to 320 00:20:23,360 --> 00:20:25,840 say about the attractions of Forest City. 321 00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:30,040 Well, they say that on the beach you'll find piles of discarded 322 00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:34,160 alcohol bottles and pockets of local drinkers who provide the 323 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:37,080 bulk of human activity in Forest City. 324 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:41,240 Yeah, I mean it, it doesn't sound great, but equally it 325 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:44,640 won't sound entirely unfamiliar to anyone who's taken a a day 326 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:47,840 trip from London to Brighton. I'll tell you, the people of 327 00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:51,560 Brighton really like a a can of special brew on the beach. 328 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:56,360 The BBC says that when night falls, Forest City becomes pitch 329 00:20:56,360 --> 00:21:00,040 dark and the empty streets become really creepy. 330 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:02,360 OK, so it's it's a bit of a tough sell. 331 00:21:02,360 --> 00:21:05,920 Let's see if I can find a more uplifting mega project for the 332 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:09,520 next one. OK, so Next up we have the 333 00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:11,080 Hyperloop. That would be good. 334 00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:13,840 At least there won't be jellyfish and crocodiles 335 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:15,880 everywhere. That's the good thing about the 336 00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:20,080 CGI based megaprojects, the designers can usually keep the 337 00:21:20,120 --> 00:21:24,760 wildlife out of them. The Hyperloop was reinvented by 338 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:28,760 Elon Musk, a man whose hand gestures are so awkward that he 339 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:33,440 had to put a special steering wheel in his cars back in 2013 340 00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:38,800 when he wrote the 53 page long white paper on what he called a 341 00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:42,840 fifth mode of transport. Now the idea of the vacuum 342 00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:46,000 train, which is what the Hyperloop is, has been around 343 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:51,520 since at least 1799, when George Menthurst patented an 344 00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:56,080 atmospheric railway that could convey people or cargo through 345 00:21:56,080 --> 00:22:01,200 pressurized or evacuated tubes. But Elon Musk also invented it 346 00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:05,440 in 2013. Musk's Hyperloop capsules were 347 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:09,720 supposed to float on a bed of air within a vacuum tube, and 348 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:13,320 the entire system was supposed to generate more power than it 349 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:16,760 used through the use of solar panels on the outside of the 350 00:22:16,760 --> 00:22:19,760 tube. The first Hyperloop was supposed 351 00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:23,800 to run from Los Angeles to San Francisco, meaning that it would 352 00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:28,800 require a 400 mile long airtight tube and pumps that could pull a 353 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:33,480 2,000,000 cubic metre vacuum, which is 50 times the volume of 354 00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:36,400 the largest vacuum chamber ever built. 355 00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:40,880 Musk claimed that the pods would travel at twice the speed of an 356 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:46,080 airplane and trips would cost $25 per ticket, apart from the 357 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:49,560 near impossibility of maintaining a vacuum tube that 358 00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:54,000 would be hundreds of miles long. The plans involved pods of 14 359 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:57,240 people launched every two minutes, which would involve 360 00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:01,240 rapidly repressurizing and depressurizing the tube as the 361 00:23:01,240 --> 00:23:04,560 pods were loaded. There are hundreds of videos on 362 00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:07,880 YouTube explaining why this system couldn't work. 363 00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:11,160 For example, if there was a small hole in the tube, the 364 00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:14,680 whole system would implode, killing everyone inside. 365 00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:17,960 And actually, actually almost everything you can think of that 366 00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:21,400 could cause problems in a vacuum train would not only cause 367 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:24,800 problems, but the problems would kill all of the passengers, 368 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:26,920 which is not really what they would want. 369 00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:31,320 Nonetheless, hyperloops were announced for the United States, 370 00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:35,800 India, Saudi Arabia, Italy and Canada, despite the whole idea 371 00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:39,160 having been thoroughly debunked by scientists and engineers. 372 00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:42,480 From the day of its announcement, Hyperloop One 373 00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:47,440 managed to raise about $450 million from investors and build 374 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:49,920 a small test track near Las Vegas. 375 00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:55,560 Another start up named Hyperloop TT secured $108 million in 376 00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:57,800 investment, according to Bloomberg. 377 00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:02,160 Hyperloop 1 employed more than 200 people at its peak, but laid 378 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:06,360 them all off in December 2023 after failing to reinvent 379 00:24:06,360 --> 00:24:09,240 transit. Its biggest investor, Dubai 380 00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:13,480 Ports, apparently owns the remain intellectual property. 381 00:24:14,120 --> 00:24:17,920 Carlo van der Weyer of the Technical University of 382 00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:21,880 Eindhoven described the Hyperloop as a very complicated 383 00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:25,240 solution in search of a problem that doesn't exist. 384 00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:28,800 He went on to say that putting money into a Hyperloop as a 385 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:32,720 serious transportation system was a stupid idea from the 386 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:35,640 beginning. The number of people that could 387 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:40,240 be transported per Hyperloop tube would be tiny relative to 388 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:42,680 conventional trains or airplanes. 389 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:46,280 Well, the good thing is that people have now worked out that 390 00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:48,960 the whole idea made no sense whatsoever. 391 00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:52,920 After spending more than half a billion dollars, the longest 392 00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:57,440 Hyperloop ever built was just 420 meters long, providing 393 00:24:57,440 --> 00:25:00,480 neither transportation nor a solution. 394 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:04,680 Wait a minute, hold on, it's not over yet. 395 00:25:05,120 --> 00:25:08,800 I guess based on that huge success, Elon Musk announced 396 00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:12,920 just a month ago that he could build a tunnel from the United 397 00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:16,840 States to Europe with a Hyperloop in it and that it will 398 00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:20,080 be affordable. Well, as far as I'm concerned, 399 00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:23,800 there's no reason to doubt him. After all, he is successfully 400 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:27,720 building a human colony on Mars. I believe the Rockets will be 401 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:31,440 leaving any day now. I'm sure that the Boring Company 402 00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:34,680 learned a lot from those small tunnels that they dug under a 403 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:38,760 parking lot in Las Vegas, and I can't see how tunneling under 404 00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:42,480 the Atlantic Ocean would be any more complicated than that. 405 00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:46,840 The Atlantic Ocean doesn't ever get much deeper than about 5 406 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:48,680 miles. I'm actually a little bit 407 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:50,720 surprised that no one's done it already. 408 00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:54,040 It's kind of crazy that people are getting in airplanes rather 409 00:25:54,040 --> 00:25:57,600 than digging a simple 5000 mile long tunnel. 410 00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:02,360 Apparently the boring machines that Musk has developed make 411 00:26:02,360 --> 00:26:06,320 bricks out of the soil that they dig so that they can actually be 412 00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:08,600 sold and make a profit from tunneling. 413 00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:14,680 And then we were making bricks out of the dirt, and these are 414 00:26:14,680 --> 00:26:17,480 bricks that are made by compressing the dirt at 415 00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:20,760 extremely high pressures, adding a little bit of the small amount 416 00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:23,680 of concrete. And we have bricks that are 417 00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:26,160 rated for California seismic loads. 418 00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:31,800 And then these bricks we're actually, we can sort of sell 419 00:26:31,800 --> 00:26:33,920 the bricks for like $0.10 a brick or something like that. 420 00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:37,520 And then we, we do some fun things like make life-size Lego 421 00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:43,360 kits with where you can like order a set and like, well, you 422 00:26:43,360 --> 00:26:45,960 know, anything like, I think we was like thinking of starting 423 00:26:45,960 --> 00:26:50,160 with the Egyptian pantheon. OK, so there are a few things 424 00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:53,000 that seem to sum up to being a bad mega project. 425 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:55,960 Artificial islands may not work that well. 426 00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:59,200 New cities in the middle of nowhere where no one wants to 427 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:03,480 live may not be a winner either. Skyscrapers in out of the way 428 00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:05,600 areas don't seem to work that well. 429 00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:09,640 And until Elon has completed his tunnel to Europe, which is 430 00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:13,680 probably only a year or two away, I wouldn't bet on projects 431 00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:17,280 that involve a Hyperloop. Now, there's one project in 432 00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:21,280 Saudi Arabia, Arabia, the Line, which combines pretty much all 433 00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:24,160 of these features. But as I said in my video last 434 00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:27,200 year, I'm actually a big believer in that project. 435 00:27:27,360 --> 00:27:30,600 And the respected journalist Johnny Harris even went out 436 00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:33,960 there a few months ago and filmed a bunch of dump trucks, 437 00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:37,680 which means that the project is definitely going ahead and that 438 00:27:37,680 --> 00:27:40,960 it will definitely be successful. 439 00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:45,040 If you haven't seen it yet, I'll put a link in the show notes to 440 00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:47,800 my YouTube video on Neon the Line. 441 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:51,480 Have a great week and talk to you in the next podcast. 442 00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:51,920 Bye.