Since its inception in 2006, MeXvi has pioneered the assisted self-construction of homes in rural and semi-urban areas in over 13 states of Mexico, improving the quality of life of thousand of Mexicans.

FORBES: MeXvi: Enabling Families To Have A Home

Syria is the only Arab country that is self-sufficient in food, but the main construction activity in the past two decades has been the extension of slums around Damascus.

ECONOMIST: Syria hates the war, but is too weak to play the spoiler

MeXvi is the leading housing disaster relief agent in Mexico and has constructed approximately 4, 900 homes via its assisted self-construction program and has collaborated in the reconstruction of many devastated communities, improving the lives of approximately 25, 000 individuals.

FORBES: MeXvi: Enabling Families To Have A Home

Also Thursday, the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to withdraw from 10 percent of the West Bank, a much larger area than expected, if Arafat's self-rule government quietly accepted construction of the Jewish housing development.

CNN: Arafat: Housing plan violates peace process

It enables the construction to function as a self-managing ecosystem with less need for external energy.

CNN: Green walls: the growing success of 'vegitecture'

The most common self-employed occupations are taxi drivers, farmers and construction workers.

BBC: Recession 'boosts self-employment'

The high standards of product testing required for the aerospace industry meant that the self-healing composites were not likely to be found in airplane construction any time soon.

CNN: The emerging world of self-healing materials

The sixth self-made female Chinese billionaire is He Qiaonv, who founded landscape architecture and interior construction firm Beijing Orient Landscape.

FORBES: How China's Self-Made Women Billionaires Earned Their Fortunes

Around the same time as "The Thousand and One Nights, " Matisse was overseeing the construction of the so-called Matisse Chapel on the French Riviera and the artist's self-proclaimed magnum opus.

WSJ: Matisse's The Thousand and One Nights in Pittsburgh