Azerbaijan to build world's tallest tower for $2bn
Azerbaijan is planning to build a kilometer-high tower that will be the world's tallest under an ambitious multi-billion-dollar project, AzerTac state news agency reported.
Avesta Group of Companies, which will build the facility, promises that the 189-story Azerbaijan Tower, as the project is called, would rise 1,050 meters to dwarf both the Burj Khalifa (by 220 meters or 722 feet) and the Kingdom Tower currently planned for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (by 50 meters or 164 feet).
Construction of the Azerbaijan Tower is set to break ground in 2015 and will continue onto completion in 2018-2019 at a cost of $2 billion.
Like all of the city's other structures, the tower has been designed to withstand up to a 9.0 magnitude quake.
The Azerbaijan Tower will be the crowning centerpiece of the Khazar Islands, a city of 41 artificial islands that will spread 2,000 hectares over the Caspian. The buoyant metropolis is being planned for 1 million residents, who will be housed in endless rows of high-rises ranging for 25 to 60 stories in height with access to over 150 schools, 50 hospitals and daycare centers, plus numerous parks, shopping malls, cultural centers, university campuses, and even a Formula 1 racetrack. The city will be equipped with a robust network of "innovative" bridges and infrastructure that will link outlying islands to the urban core, while a large municipal airport will provide access to and from the radiant city.
The Khazar Islands are scheduled to be ready by 2022.