Watch Rio Erase and Rebuild Its Entire Waterfront in 3 Minutes

Rio de Janeiro is in the midst of massively remaking itself in preparation for the 2014 World Cup, the 2016 Olympics and life beyond both as the international capital of one of the world's fastest growing economies. The process has been ambitious and controversial, with Olympic venues and all manner of new infrastructure envisioned atop a crowded landscape of existing favelas and old patchwork development.

The city is creating, of course, big new sports venues and an Olympic village, plans that will transform adjacent neighborhoods (and, hopefully, the transportation between them). But the urban metamorphosis that has most caught our eye is the reconstruction of the city's waterfront, a project that will run into the early 2020s. The city is planning to demolish the elevated Perimetral Highway that runs along the coast, while rebuilding the streetscape in its place and constructing a six-lane, 1.6-kilometer underground tunnel. The plans call for 650 thousand square meters of new sidewalks, 15,000 trees, new light rail infrastructure, three sewage treatment plants and a "Museum of Tomorrow."