Azerbaijan had grand plans for the £75 billion Khazar Islands project, which would have included the world’s tallest building, but it turned into a disaster when the oil market crashed and funding dried up.
The ambitious project, which began construction in 2011, was touted as an engineering marvel that would put Azerbaijan on the map and at the forefront of architecture.
However, today, the Khazar Islands are largely deserted. Originally planned to be a network of 55 artificial islands connected by over 150 bridges, they were supposed to provide housing for one million residents.
The plan also included 150 schools, 50 hospitals, daycare centres, parks, shopping malls, cultural centres and even a university campus.
The project’s ambition didn’t stop there; it aimed to host a Formula 1 race around the £1.5 billion Azerbaijan Tower, the centrepiece of the islands intended to be the tallest building in the world.
Formula 1 did come to the streets of Baku in 2016, but the ambitious megaproject remains a desolate wasteland.
The concept was first proposed by Azerbaijani businessman Ibrahim Ibrahimov in 2010, aiming to compete with Dubai’s luxurious Palm Islands.
The businessman’s idea quickly materialised, with him telling reporters at the time of announcement that there was significant interest in the project.
He optimistically hoped that the “new Venice” would be completed by 2023 and promptly got to work.
However, despite construction beginning in March 2011, his ambitious project soon fell apart.
The primary source of income for Azerbaijan is oil, and when its price plummeted in 2015, it caused significant issues for the architectural venture.
Numerous delays ensued, with Ibrahimov maintaining that work would be finished between 2020 and 2025.
Even in April 2017, when progress had been stagnant for two years, he insisted things were moving forward.
Unfortunately, this was not the case, and the dream of paradise islands for Azerbaijan was shattered. To this day, the land remains deserted.
