World

Saudi Arabia dominates: the cost and environmental questions around The Line, the threat its 105-mile structure could pose to migrating birds, and the rapid rise of the Jeddah tower towards a new height record. China’s giant hydropower dam in Tibet and another record-breaking hydroelectric approval widen the view.

An older entry, an A to Z of Englishness, sits here too and offers a lighter counterpoint. For the megaprojects, read the environmental pieces alongside the engineering ones to get a balanced picture. The Saudi stories are best read together, since The Line and the Jeddah tower raise similar questions of cost, speed and impact on the desert environment.