FX.co ★ World’s most ambitious urban development projects

Todtown is a 264,000-square-meter mixed-use development in Shanghai with the price tag of $1.5 billion. The mega-project was created by Hong Kong-based studio Lead 8 and by Chicago-based architecture firm Goettsch Partners. The development will feature apartment units, a shopping and cultural center, and mini parks, which would be another contribution to the greening of the city.

In 2016, Paris began constructing Europa City, an 800,000-square-meter cultural and recreational facility. The boulevards of Europa City will pass through six areas themed as various regions of Europe, including Barcelona, London and Paris. It will be combination of open walkways, expansive green spaces, a golf course, artificial ski slopes, swimming pools and two theaters. The development will have an integrated transit system.

It took more than 18 months to clear away the debris after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001. Today, New York City is redeveloping the site with much of the project being completed, including the tallest skyscraper in the city known as the Freedom Tower, 4 World Trade Center, 7 World Trade Center, the 9/11 memorial, the museum and a park. Construction is set to be finished by 2020.

Tokyo is preparing for the 2020 Summer Olympics, constructing various buildings. At least 45 new skyscrapers will be built by 2020, seven of which will be part of the Shibuya Station Area Redevelopment project. Six skyscrapers will be used for retail stores and offices, and one will be a condo building.

In the next few years, New Cairo Capital will appear east of downtown Cairo. It is designed to be a new administrative and financial capital of Egypt with state ministries and departments, as well as foreign embassies housed there. A 700,000-square-meter residential hub will be inhabited by five million people.