Dubai’s Island: Over the past few decades, Dubai has transformed from a small desert village into one of the most modern cities in the world. However, Dubai’s coastline has become just as fascinating with the addition of the world’s largest man-made islands. Some of these man-made islands are so large that they can even be seen from space, but how were these islands built? Are there more islands planned? And how are they not washed away by the tides before we move forward?
How Dubai builds it’s Man made Island
Let us know in the comments below if you would like to visit Dubai and its islands. The concept of man-made islands isn’t new to the world. Over 5000 years ago, the ancient Egyptians already used reclaimed lands to settle populations.
In the 15th century, the Aztecs used artificial islands known as chinampas or floating gardens to grow their crops without harming the environment. The birth of modern man-made islands began in the early 20th century when Harbor Island was completed in Seattle in 1909, which at the time was the largest man-made island in the world.
Many projects followed, such as Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay. In recent years, countries like the Netherlands and Japan have built huge airports or even entire cities on artificial islands. arguably the most ambitious project to build artificial islands was taken up by Dubai in the late 20th century.
The leaders of the United Arab Emirates initiated a push to diversify the country’s economy away from its oil reserves in the late 90s with an effort to attract more tourists. the city has undergone a massive transformation over the last three decades from the tallest skyscraper in the world the burj khalifa to the most luxurious seven star hotel in the world.
Dubai is now home to some of the most famous tourist attractions in the world besides all these attractions they had the idea to extend the flourishing tourism industry to the seas as a result. the plans for the palm islands were announced a cluster of three man-made islands so large that they are visible from space.
Palm jumeirah Island
In 2001, the construction of the first cluster, the Palm Jumeirah, started, unlike most other man-made islands, which are composed of metal and concrete. They wanted to build these islands just with rocks and sand, although the desert emirate is surrounded by billions of tons of sand.
The sand for this island was dredged from the bottom of the persian gulf this had to be done because the desert sand is not of the correct grain size and composition with the help of gps satellites the ships were able to spray the dredged sand at the exact points and thus shape the palm tree shape of the island however building something this big in the ocean without concrete and steel to hold it in place is a big challenge.
So how did they make sure that the sand would remain in position a breakwater crescent which mostly consists of rocks from the nearby hajjar mountains was built around the giant palm tree in addition to that they vibrated the sand with huge machines so that it would solidify and not give way later which is a process copied from nature that normally takes decades in total enough sand and stones were used for the palm jumeirah.
That it could form a two meter wide wall that circled the globe three times at an estimated cost of 12 billion dollars It is the most expensive project in Dubai and opened in November 2008 with an opening ceremony valued at 40 million dollars.
Of course, the show also featured the largest fireworks display in the world at the time. So far, it is Dubai’s only finished island with an active population of around 11 000 and a length of 80 kilometers. It also doubles the city’s current coastline while the palm jumeirah is doing great. Other larger projects have stalled due to the economic uncertainty that has affected the United Arab Emirates and Dubai after the 2008 financial crisis.
Palm Jabel Ali island
One of these halted islands is Palm Jabel Ali. The construction of the palm jebel ali began in 2002. Over 200 million cubic meters of rocks and sand were used to build the island, making it 50 percent bigger than the palm jumeirah at the peak of its construction.
30 thousand tons of rocks were transported on trucks from all around the United Arab Emirates to the construction site per day after the land reclamation process was completed in 2007.
The plan was to build an infrastructure for these islands; however, the project suffered a major setback due to the financial crisis in 2008; property prices fell as much as 40 percent, and the infrastructure plans for Jebel Ali were put on hold. The developer even ended up giving refunds to some investors in 2011.
There has been scattered progress at the site in recent years however the main developers remain confident that the project is still very much alive yet.
The palm Deira island
Another island project that has been stopped is the Palm Deira, which is by far the most ambitious. The island was announced in 2004 with plans to make it at least 10 times bigger than the Palm Jumeirah. The volume of sand to be dredged was 1 billion cubic meters, which almost equals the volume of this lake in Switzerland.
This is five times more than for the Palm Jubel Ali. By 2007, they had already completed 20 of the projects, but similar to the palm jabel ali, work on the project was suspended in 2008 in the wake of Dubai’s property market crash. In the meantime, the developers came up with a revised plan aimed at saving costs and time.
The project was renamed the Deira Islands, which would be a collection of four smaller islands with a reduced sand volume and rock footprint but an increased land area. The updated plans were unveiled in 2013, and the land reclamation process is already complete.
A five-lane bridge connecting the first of the four islands to the city was completed in 2016. Deira Islands was finally opened for guests in December 2020. A 1.9-kilometer-long night market claimed as the biggest night market in the world is set to open in 2021, but that’s not it.
The World Islands
Dubai had even more artificial islands planned in 2003. The World Islands Project was initiated, which was supposed to be a collection of 300 small islands based on the world map and placed at a distance of 100 meters apart from each other.Each island’s name and area are based on the country it represents.
The enormous project adds over 232 kilometers of new beachfront to Dubai’s coastline, which is more than three times the length of Dubai’s initial coastline. Sixty percent of the islands were sold to private contractors in 2008, but construction for most of these islands did not start due to the global recession. Only two of the 300 islands—Lebanon and Greenland—were completed by 2013.
However, the plans for the world’s islands were revived when the Kleindienst Group began developing the $5 billion Heart of Europe project, which includes six islands that offer visitors a world-class European experience.
These include the islands of Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, and Venice. A heart-shaped island inspired by the Maldives is also part of the project and will provide couples with the world’s most luxurious honeymoon getaway. Phase one of the project has already been completed, and the first people have been able to move in since December 2020, but there’s even more.
The universe island
a solar system-themed island The universe was also announced in 2008 and was supposed to be based on the shapes of the stars, the moon, and the Milky Way galaxy; however, the project was put on hold in 2009 and later removed from the developers website while the universe didn’t materialize.
The Blue Waters Island
The recent success of the Blue Waters Island shows the potential that Dubai’s man-made islands have as tourist attractions. Construction on Blue Waters Island started in 2013 with costs mounting to two billion dollars. The centerpiece of the development is the 210-meter tall Ein Dubai, or Dubai Eye, which is the tallest ferris wheel in the world.
The island was opened in 2018 and attracted more than 3 million visitors in its first year. Dubai’s man-made islands give a whole new meaning to luxury and getaway destinations.
Islands Create Environmental Issues
However, the pioneering real estate developments on the islands have also faced many difficulties. In 2009, the palm jumeirah was allegedly sinking at a rate of 0.5 centimeters every year. The project developer disputed these claims and revealed that it was actively working with their team of engineers to eliminate the dangers posed by the sea despite the efforts.
Multiple forecasts have predicted that these developments will be completely submerged in water as a result of the rising sea level in the coming decades. Another huge challenge for the mega projects is the shrinking demand in the property market and unstable oil prices.
Several construction delays were observed in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, and the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to derail these projects further.
The economic downturn has meant that many of the islands remain in search of investors to meet the real estate demands of these ambitious projects. The islands have also attracted criticism for being harmful to the environment.
The process of reclaiming land using modern infrastructure has caused an ecological imbalance. Some reports have shown that the construction of the man-made islands has eroded the coastal soil of Dubai and caused other long-term environmental issues.
Conclusion
The developers remain confident that the projects will overcome diversity and reshape the United Arab Emirates economy by making Dubai the prime tourist destination of the world. What are your thoughts on Dubai’s man-made islands?
Would you like to visit them? Let us know in the comments below if you enjoyed this article. Make sure to hit the like button and subscribe to Tech Crazy. Thank you very much for reading, and we’ll meet you in the next article.
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