Did you know that there is a capital city that was built for millions of people but
remains practically empty?
And that the U.S. wasted $17 billion for a megaproject that was never even used and remains
completely useless till this day?
Today, we will explore 5 of the most useless megaprojects in the world.
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Share your thoughts about these megaprojects in the comments below!
Number 5: Interstate H-3, Hawaii
Let's start with a breathtakingly scenic highway in the Aloha state – Hawaii.
The 26-kilometer long Interstate H-3 passes through one of the most stunning landscapes
in the world.
It is so stunning that there were genuine concerns of motorists stopping and creating
traffic hazards.
However, the highway is as controversial as it is beautiful.
It was first proposed in 1960 with defense considerations in mind as the highway would
connect the Pearl Harbor Naval Base on the south side to the Marine Corps Air Station
on the east coast.
The announcement of its construction was immediately met with resistance from environmental groups
as well as native Hawaiians who were worried about the massive urbanization the project
would bring.
Environmental laws of the time and a change of route to protect the surrounding valleys
delayed the plans indefinitely.
26 years later, the environmental hurdles were removed when the congress exempted the
project from environmental laws and cleared the way for construction to finally begin
in 1989.
The highway was finally opened in 1997, almost 37 years after it was originally proposed.
Interstate H-3 is often considered an engineering marvel because of the difficult terrain it
is built on and the advanced technologies used in its construction.
In addition to the numerous high-tech tunnels, the highway runs almost exclusively over viaducts
to protect the local environment in the valleys below.
Decades of delays, route changes, and newer but more expensive technologies meant that
it was completed five times over the original estimated budget.
The total cost of construction was 1.3 billion dollars – which is about 50 million dollars
per kilometer - the most expensive cost per kilometer in the world.
Despite the enormous budget, this beautiful highway isn't useful for everyone.
Critics believe that it's a "road to nowhere" because the defense considerations of the
60s are no longer relevant and the highway has no direct route to downtown Honolulu.
Then there's the case of Native Hawaiians, a majority of whom refuse to use the H-3 to
this day.
They consider it to be "cursed" as many religiously significant cultural sites were destroyed
during its completion.
The interstate H-3 highway is certainly an achievement as far as Megaprojects go, However,
for certain native groups, it remains "Useless".
At least, it isn't completely abandoned like the next project on our list.
Number 4: Ciudad Real Central Airport, Spain
Spain is one of the prime travel destinations in Europe and that was a key consideration
when the idea for Ciudad Real Central Airport was conceived.
It was tipped to be the go-to destination for holiday travelers within Spain, as well
as international visitors.
The vision for this new airport was to make it an alternative to the already heavily overcrowded
main airport in Madrid.
The new airport had one of the top five longest runways in Europe and could serve 2 million
passengers a year.
That's a relatively low number compared to Madrid's 70 million passenger capacity.
However, expansion plans were already in motion to boost the capacity up to 10 million annually.
So when it finally became operational in 2009, the 1.3 billion dollar expense might have
seemed justified.
However, all these plans came to a grinding halt in 2012 when the company behind the project
filed for bankruptcy.
The problems began with the location of the project.
While it was called the Central Airport, it wasn't central in any way as it was located
200 kilometers away from Madrid.
This compounded problems as most of the passengers avoided traveling for hours to get to the
remote location and most big airlines preferred to carry out flight operations from the capital.
So within the first year of opening, the newly built airport was reduced to a single small-time
airline.
With no major airlines to attract passengers, the airport had accumulated a 350 million
dollar debt by 2012.
Unsurprisingly, it went into receivership and was put up for auction in 2013.
The airport was even popularized as an abandoned location by the hit British TV show Top Gear
in 2014.
After multiple auctions fell through, including an outrageous $12,000 offer, the airport was
finally sold to new owners
in 2019.
As businesses crashed and profits dwindled during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ciudad Real
Airport got a lifeline.
With little hope of passengers returning, the new owners reinvented the airport as a
home for grounded planes given its dry climate, long runway, and spaciousness.
By August 2020, there were 65 airplanes parked on the airport with expansions underway to
provide a storage facility for over 300 aircraft.
This new storage approach gave the airport a much-needed business opportunity.
However, all the stored planes will eventually be gone once the pandemic is finally over
and the return of normal flight operations remains elusive.
This billion-dollar megaproject remains effectively useless, for passengers around the world.
Number 3: Naypyidaw, Myanmar
Next up is another megaproject that made it to Top Gear.
However, this isn't just a remote airport, it's the capital of Myanmar– a new capital
that was built from scratch.
Myanmar's former military leadership started building a new capital in secret in 2002.
The shifting of a country's Capital isn't unheard of as many countries including Brazil,
Egypt and Pakistan have done so in the past.
In November 2005, Myanmar's leaders announced his decision to the public but he kept the
name of the new capital a secret.
It was four months later when he finally revealed the name: Naypyidaw - which literally means
"The King's Residence".
The reasons for this sudden shift of capital weren't clear.
Some speculated that the military leadership was fearful of an attack from the sea while
others thought it was shifted on the advice of astrologers.
However, a lot of it had to do with the former capital Yangon.
Yangon is home to 7 million people, the city is said to have reached its infrastructural
limits and its population is set to double by 2050.
Moreover, the coastal city was established as the capital during British rule to benefit
the British Navy.
So, it made sense for Myanmar to shift the capital to a more central location.
The new project was built swiftly and to this date, the successive governments have poured
4 billion dollars into the city.
Naypyidaw seemingly has everything to attract visitors: a 20-lane highway, over 100 luxury
hotels divided into three hotel districts, golf courses, museums, and even a 99-meter
tall replica of a landmark originally situated in Yangon.
But there's one essential component that remains missing: The Population.
The new capital is home to less than a million residents, most of which reside in the suburbs
that were present even before the city became the Capital.
But why does no one want to live there?
A lingering gap in health facilities, lack of quality educational institutes, and economic
opportunities mean that most of the population is reluctant to make the city a permanent
home.
So the city often paints the picture of a deserted place and is often referred to as
a Ghost Town.
The incredible 20-lane highway is practically empty.
Traffic congestion is unheard of and at times a single automobile is caught drifting along
the tremendous road.
The city has an airport that can handle 3.5 million passengers every year, but on a busy
day, a dozen people will actually use it.
The shopping malls are visited only by the diplomatic staff on weekends, while the hotel
lobbies are mostly empty.
Despite the apparent barrenness, there's a silver lining for the "Royal Capital".
It's built as a city of the future and with the exploding population, Naypyidaw still
has time for an inevitable redemption.
For now, it's arguably the world's strangest capital and remains useless for much of the
country's population.
Number 2: Forest City, Malaysia
We talked of an apparent ghost city, and next on our list is a green futuristic smart city
that would rise from reclaimed land on four artificial islands and will be built around
an artificial forest ecosystem.
Forest City's location makes it an appealing bet for investors who are aiming to profit
from its proximity to the independent city-state of Singapore.
Singapore has the world's 2nd busiest port and a thriving economy.
The developers have already linked Forest City with Singapore through the second link
bridge, shortening the distance between the cities to just 20 minutes.
Forest City will also have its own customs facility, enabling residents to move freely
to Singapore and back.
The design is advertised to incorporate many green innovations.
Forest City will feature buildings with green rooftops and vertical gardens, providing a
jungle experience.
City streets will have a multiple-layered design with the lower layer for traffic and
parking spaces while the upper layer will feature parks, sports facilities, and transport
hubs.
The city will be powered exclusively with renewable energy and will be completed by
2035 at a cost of 100 billion dollars.
One of the four proposed islands is close to completion with 50 apartment buildings,
golf courses, swimming pools, and beaches on board.
However, it's not all smooth sailing for this highly ambitious project.
A multitude of economic and political hurdles are already hindering its progress.
The project is being funded mainly through China and Chinese residents virtually had
a free pass to the city in the first few years of its construction.
As a consequence, wealthy Chinese investors who couldn't afford the soaring prices of
apartments in their own country rushed to Forest City.
By 2019, 80% of the property owners were Chinese.
Even the street signs were in Mandarin and the few schools that opened in the area were
offering Mandarin courses.
The native Malaysians simply can't afford to buy these apartments as the property prices
are set with only the Chinese markets in mind.
This influx of Chinese investors caused a public outcry with opponents of the project
calling it a new form of colonialism.
So after a change of leadership, the returning Prime Minister Mahatir Mohammad banned foreigners
from owning property in the forest city.
Many foreigners started leaving the city and new investors were discouraged.
The next major setback came in the form of the pandemic and the worldwide travel bans.
Malaysia's movement control order meant that no new investors could move in.
Lots of existing investors opted out of the project due to the uncertainty.
So by the start of 2020, less than 500 people were actually living in the residential developments
which is not a lot considering that Forest City is designed for 700,000 people.
The project has remained in flux ever since with some salespeople claiming that fewer
than 10 homes were sold at Forest city since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Moreover, Country Garden laid off more than 1000 of its Malaysian workers in the past
year signaling the epic downturn in the project's fortunes.
Forest City was probably too ambitious to begin with, too futuristic to truly achieve
and is too politically challenged to succeed anytime soon.
It is safe to assume that despite the billions invested, Forest City is currently a useless
megaproject.
Number 1: Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository
We'll conclude this list with a megaproject that was planned in view of a sensitive global
issue.
Nuclear waste isn't talked about as much as other environmental problems.
However, if not stored properly, it can be deadlier than anything ever witnessed since
the advent of civilization.
As of now, nuclear waste is stored aboveground near the power plants where it came from.
However, the scientific community agrees that the safest, permanent disposal solution is
to store this hazardous waste deep underground.
In the 1980s, the U.S authorities set about finding a permanent solution to this growing
waste problem.
In 1987, Yucca Mountain in Nevada was identified as the best available option.
It was close to the USA's most used nuclear testing site and was away from any population
centers.
The plan was to deposit the waste from all over the country in a tunnel complex about
300 meters under Yucca Mountain.
In addition to the isolated location, Yucca Mountain is made up of volcanic ash formed
millions of years ago.
It allows the Yucca mountain to absorb any radioactive waste without crumbling or cracking.
Yucca mountain seemed like a great location for a repository on paper but Nevadans were
having none of it.
The United States has over 100 operational and closed nuclear reactor sites in 34 states,
but none of them were in Nevada.
So the Congressional representatives and the general public vigorously opposed the idea
of being the only nuclear dumping site of the whole country.
Furthermore, question marks were raised over the official hydrological and geological surveys
of the Yucca mountain.
Opponents believed that the site was unsuitable for a repository as it runs the risk of contaminating
a nearby water source.
The water source flows into Amargosa Valley and is used by Native Americans who have lived
in the area for centuries.
Despite the opposition, the project won approval in 2002 and the Department of Energy resumed
construction.
However, Nevada's opposition only grew stronger.
They contended that routine exposures during transportation will stigmatize Nevada's residents
and affect tourism in the state.
For the opposition, the only reason Nevada was getting the repository was because of
its lower population and a smaller representation in Congress.
By the time Barack Obama took office, the whole project had become highly politicized
and in 2010 the Obama administration deemed the project unworkable and stopped funding
it.
Three years later, a federal court ordered its resumption yet again but there has been
little progress since.
The Biden administration has clearly stated that Yucca Mountain isn't a part of the country's
plans anymore.
Nevada seems to have won the battle after four decades.
Decades of planning, legal troubles, and over 17 Billion dollars have gone into the Yucca
Mountain project, but after all is said and done, it has never been used and remains a
"useless" megaproject.
So what do you think of these megaprojects?
Do you think any of these have a shot at being useful in the future?
Let us know in the comments down below!
If you want to see more about similar projects, you can watch our video about “The Biggest
Megaprojects Never Finished”.
Thank you for watching, and we will see you in the next video!