12 Masdar City

• Client: Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar)
• Sector: Real Estate
• Stage: Execution
• Budget: $22bn
• Completion date: Q1 2018
• Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE

The scheme to build a zero-waste, zero-carbon and car-less city in Abu Dhabi is one of the most ambitious projects in the region. On completion the city, being developed on a 6 sq km site, is expected to be home to 50,000 people and 1,500 businesses. It will have low-rise buildings with solar panels on the roofs and traditional local building methods will be used to create low-energy buildings with natural air conditioning from wind towers. There will be automated travel pods to allow residents to move around the city and a light rail system linking Masdar to nearby Abu Dhabi city.

13= Downtown Burj Khalifa

• Client: Emaar Properties
• Sector: Real Estate 
• Stage: Under construction
• Budget: $20bn
• Completion date: Q1 2020
• Location: Dubai, UAE

Named after the world’s tallest skyscraper that lies at its centre, the Downtown Burj Khalifa project is located at the first interchange on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai. The mixed-use development covers an area of 2 sq km previously used by the Dubai military and also includes The Dubai Fountain, Burj Park, Emaar Square and The Dubai Mall. Some elements of the scheme have already been completed, including the main tower, the mall and some residential buildings. However, other parts of the scheme are currently on hold, such as the Standpoint Towers and Burj Place.

13= Duqm New Town

• Client: Oman Tourism Development Co; Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Eng Co
• Sector: Real Estate 
• Stage: Planned
• Budget: $20bn
• Completion date: Q4 2020
• Location: Oman

South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Company and its joint-venture partner are redeveloping the existing port city, located 450km south of Muscat, into a tourism, business and industrial hub. The plans include the creation of a marine resort, business centres, a hospital, shopping malls, hotels and residential units. The project is part of the wider economic strategy for the country, called Vision Oman 2020, which is aimed at reducing the country’s reliance on oil revenues over the coming decade.

13= Nuclear Power Plant

• Client: Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation
• Sector: Power & Water 
• Stage: Under construction
• Budget: $20bn
• Completion date: Q2 2020
• Location: UAE

In December 2009, the UAE awarded the contract to build its first nuclear power plants to a South Korean consortium, surprising many observers who had expected the French or US-led teams to prevail. The four 1.4GW plants will help to meet the anticipated sharp increase in power demand in the coming decades – the UAE expects its electricity requirements to rise from 15.5GW in 2008 to 40GW in 2020. As yet, the financing arrangements for the plant are unclear, but it is likely to be a combination of private and public funding.

13= Taweelah Chemicals Industrial City

• Client: Tacaamol
• Sector: Industry
• Stage: Front-end engineering and design
• Budget: $20bn
• Completion date: Q3 2015
• Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE

This industrial city will have 12 plants, including facilities for the production of aromatics, olefins and fertilisers. The aromatics plant alone is estimated to have a budget of $2.5bn. The city is located in the new industrial zone being developed close to Port Khalifa in the Taweelah area of Abu Dhabi. An engineering, procurement and construction award is due by the third quarter of 2011. Tacaamol is a joint venture of Abu Dhabi National Chemicals Company (Chemaweyaat), which owns 51 per cent, and International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), which holds the remainder.

17 Downtown Jebel Ali

• Client: Limitless/Nakheel Corporation
• Sector: Real Estate
• Stage: Under Construction
• Budget: $19bn
• Completion date: Q4 2015
• Location: Dubai, UAE

Limitless, part of the Dubai World group, is developing the area between Jebel Ali Free Zone and the new Al Maktoum International Airport into a mixed-use residential and business district. Downtown Jebel Ali is designed to cover more than 6.5 sq km and house a population of 200,000 people once complete. The project comprises four areas, each divided into business, residential and entertainment districts. Each zone will also have its own metro station. However, while some areas, such as The Galleries are now being leased, a significant portion of the project is on hold.

18 Sudair Industrial City

• Client: Saudi Industrial Property Authority (Modon)
• Sector: Industry
• Stage: EPC bid
• Budget: $15.97bn
• Completion date: Q4 2029
• Location: Saudi Arabia

The industrial park in Sudair, 120km north of Riyadh, will cover 264 sq km, making it 70 per cent bigger in terms of area than King Abdullah Economic City. The city will accommodate about 1 million residents once complete and is designed to alleviate growing congestion in Riyadh and reduce migration to the capital city. It will include commercial, residential, technological, sports and leisure areas, and will be intersected by several key services, including the north-south railway and the country’s main east-west oil pipeline. Work has already begun on the first phase of the project.

19 Al-Raha Beach Development

• Client: Aldar Properties
• Sector: Real Estate
• Stage: Under construction
• Budget: $15bn
• Completion date: Q4 2029
• Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE

Al-Raha Beach is a residential, business and entertainment complex stretching along 11 km of coastline in Abu Dhabi, close to the city’s airport. Once it is complete, the area will provide homes for up to 120,000 people in a series of 11 districts. The Al-Dana business precinct, currently on hold, will be home to Abu Dhabi’s new World Trade Centre building. In addition there are a series of residential districts, including Khor al-Raha, Al-Rumaila and Al-Lissaily. The development is one of the first areas in the emirate where non-UAE nationals can invest in leasehold property.

19= Mina Zayed Port Redevelopment

• Client: Aldar Properties
• Sector: Real Estate
• Stage: Design
• Budget: $15bn
• Completion date: Q1 2018
• Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE

With the planned relocation of most of Abu Dhabi’s shipping traffic to the new Khalifa Port & Industrial Zone near Taweelah, the emirate has the opportunity to redevelop its existing port, Mina Zayed. The port covers an area of just over 5 sq km at the northern tip of Abu Dhabi island, close to Saadiyat Island and development plans include the construction of hotels, residential districts and commercial and retail centres. It will also be home to the Twofour54 media park, which will act as a hub for media companies in the emirate and will cover 600,000 sq m of the area.

19= Upper Zakum Full Field

• Client: Zakum Development Company (Zadco)
• Sector: Oil & Gas
• Stage: Front-end engineering & design
• Budget: $15bn
• Completion date: Q4 2017
• Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE

Zadco is carrying out a three-stage project to increase oil production at the Upper Zakum field to 750,000 barrels a day (b/d), from its current 500,000 b/d. The first phase involves the construction of an early production facility to increase production capacity by 100,000 b/d by 2015. Phase two covers permanent production facilities to boost production by a further 150,000 b/d by 2016. The third phase covers a number of smaller projects to sustain production at 750,000 b/d. Paris-based Technip is carrying out the front-end engineering and design studies for all three phases.

19= Fourth Refinery

• Client: Kuwait National Petroleum Company
• Sector: Oil & Gas
• Stage: Front-end engineering & design retender
• Budget: $15bn
• Completion date: Q4 2016
• Location: Kuwait

The scheme to build a new refinery at Al Zour, in the south of Kuwait, has been planned for years but has repeatedly suffered delays. Kuwait National Petroleum Company awarded the five main contracts in 2008 to South Korean, US and Japanese contractors. However, before building work could begin, the deals were cancelled on instructions of Kuwait’s Supreme Petroleum Council after questions in parliament over the way the contracts were awarded. If it goes ahead, the project for a 615,000-barrel-a-day refinery will be the largest facility of its kind built in a single phase.