For the glory of dates
Nakheel, the creator and general developer of all Dubai's artificial islands, refers to these projects as the "eighth wonder of the world." Indeed, they are unique. Firstly, because artificial land has never been created on such a scale, although in many countries the technology of creating bulk islands has already been used. Dubai's only early experience in this field was the construction of the famous Burj Al Arab Sail Hotel, located on a small island. Secondly, thanks to the very idea of exclusivity of everything related to these projects, because a house on a tropical island is considered a symbol of luxury living all over the world.
To date, the themes and architectural images of artificial islands created in different emirates and countries of the Persian Gulf are very diverse. However, the first and most famous of them was The Palm Jumeirah project. Actually, the very name of the Nakheel company translates from Arabic as "palm trees". The image of the palm tree was not accidentally chosen as a new symbol of Dubai - in addition to the traditionally reverent attitude towards this tree, which helped the Bedouins survive for many centuries, one cannot forget that the UAE is the sixth exporter of dates in the world – namely, the date palm served as the prototype of an architectural miracle.
And the shah created the earth...
The technology of creating bulk islands is one of the most advanced in modern construction. The main materials of the structure are sand and stone. 26 vessels use special pumps to collect sand from the bottom of the sea near the immediate site of construction and pour it onto a pre-laid stone cushion. In order for the sand not to wash away, it is immediately tamped with a hydraulic compressor, which is the most difficult. For the construction of only one island project, 22,000 tons of stone were transported daily by 400 trucks from the quarries of neighboring emirates. If 94 million cubic meters of sand and 7 million tons of stone were used to build The Palm Jumeirah, then 117 million cubic meters of sand were already used to create the next Palm Jebel Ali.
Such a large–scale artificial structure is admirable - but it is also the subject of constant debate. The developer talks about the absolute reliability and functionality of The Palm Jumeirah, doubters criticize both. The disadvantage of the first project is called the "bottleneck" effect, which is sure to occur when settling the "palm tree". The fact is that the island is connected to the mainland by only one road with a width of no more than five lanes in each direction. At the same time, the only bridge opens onto the main highway of the emirate – Sheikh Zayed Road, which is already loaded to capacity. However, Nakheel gave a decent answer to the doubters, announcing the creation of water taxis, which are supposed to run between the island and the coast, as well as the construction of a metro line, with a stop at The Palm Jumeirah.
No less worrying is the fact that since the announcement of the palm, the number of residential and hotel facilities on it has increased dramatically. This can be demonstrated by the example of The Atlantis Hotel, which is being built on a crescent moon framing the crown of The Palm Jumeirah. Initially, the estimated capacity of 1,000 rooms was doubled during the design process. The additional burden on Palm is due to the fact that when launching a unique project, it was not possible to accurately calculate its economy - due to rising real estate prices in the emirate, both the cost of building materials and the cost of labor increased, and the speed of work was not as high as we would like. In addition, in order to attract the first buyers back in 2001, almost no profit was included in the cost of villas and apartments.
As a result, according to estimates by the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, the potential population of Palma will be about 150,000 people. This figure takes into account all the residential and hotel projects announced today, not counting the staff. Such a concentration of people in a small space ceases to correspond to the idea of elite recreation in a closed environment for the elite.
Nakheel itself, in an official press release, indicates a different figure – 70,000 people. In addition, according to many experts, even this load will not be achieved, since the owners of villas and apartments will not permanently live in their possessions, and not everyone assumes renting them out. But it is still impossible to say unequivocally how the situation will develop in reality.
Another problem is environmental. Extensive underwater excavation has killed the already poor flora and fauna of the Persian Gulf in the construction sites. Its restoration and enrichment is one of Nakheel's tasks after the creation of the islands. The remains of several planes and barges have already been laid on the bottom of the sea around The Palm Jumeirah, which will play the role of artificial reefs. For the same purpose, unique concrete slabs have been laid on the bottom, shaped like the reefs of Bali, Palau, Maldives, Cayman Islands, South Africa, Belize and the Red Sea. Thanks to this, the coastal waters will have their own underwater world, and tourists will be able to fully enjoy the delights of diving.
Interest in the bulk islands continues unabated. While new projects continue to appear on the market, the day is getting closer when the first residents will be able to enjoy the comfort of their homes on the "eighth wonder of the world". Let's get acquainted with the history and features of each of the Dubai projects.
The Palm Jumeirah
As mentioned above, The Palm Jumeirah is the first project of its kind. The Palm is located exactly in the center of the coastline of the emirate. The first signs of future construction, in the form of buoys at sea, appeared in the winter of 2001, and sales began in the same spring. The cost of a typical Garden Home villa, with an area of about 464 square meters, at that time was $712,000, and the cost of exclusive Signature Villa villas, with a private pool, with an area of 604 square meters, was $1.26 million. However, there was no particular interest from buyers. Then the developer used a successful marketing ploy, blocking the sale of several branches and announcing that they had already been sold to celebrities such as David Beckham, Michael Owen, Elton John, Prince Albert of Monaco and the King of Brunei. The issuance in May 2002 of a decree granting foreigners full ownership of real estate further spurred demand. The closer the moment of delivery of the object, the more popular the real estate on it becomes. It is extremely difficult to find the mentioned villas for sale now, and if you are lucky, then do not be embarrassed by the price three times higher than the original one.
The deadline for commissioning the first facilities on the Palm branches is December of this year. However, happy owners are unlikely to have to count on a quick settlement, because construction work on the "trunk" of the "palm tree", through which the main path to the villas lies, will be finally completed only by 2009-2010. Active construction is also underway on the crescent arch, where several of the planned 22 hotels are already being built - Taj Exotica, Kempinski, Atlantis and Fairmont.
The Palm Jebel Ali
The second "palm tree" is one and a half times larger than its predecessor, despite the constant number of "branches". It is located to the left of The Palm Jumeirah, in the Jebel Ali district of the same name. The concept of the project has not changed, but new details have been added – houses on the water, painted with an ornate chain on the sea surface in the form of a poetic saying. The highlight of the project will be the "Sea Village", an entertainment center with the only marine aquarium in the region.
The start of construction was announced around the end of 2002, but the serious scale of the work did not allow us to hope for their completion earlier than 2008. Now it should be recognized that, despite the fact that the skeleton of the "tree" already exists, the delivery of the first houses will not follow until 2010. Accordingly, the prices for The Palm Jebel Ali are not so high. And yet, the cost of the same Garden Home villa on the site rose from the initial $726,000 to $1.068 million, and the value of Signature Villa increased from $1.4 million to $1.918 million.
The Palm Deira
If the first "palm trees" are considered elite housing for the elite, then The Palm Deira, with a length of 14 km and an area equal to Manhattan, experts and buyers rightly attributed to the category of mass construction. 8000 villas are to be located on 41 branches, and $9.5 billion was supposed to be invested in the project in the first five years alone. The initial cost of housing was equal to the current prices of The Palm Jebel Ali.
At the time of the project presentation, in October 2004, Nakheel announced that it would deliver the first houses on the site by 2010. But after only a small part was filled out, the work was frozen indefinitely. Optimists name a new date - 2015, pessimists talk about the impending cancellation of the project.
The World
Perhaps the most romantic of allartificially created islands, The World in terms of represents a miniature copy of our world. It has no connection with the "mainland" and is located 4 km from the coast. This project was originally conceived as a long-term one, its concept differs from the three "palm trees". Three hundred islands, ranging in area from 2 to 8 hectares, are currently being sold only to large investors, entire "continents" and "regions", the transaction amounts exceed hundreds of millions of dollars. So, the Australian government invested in "its" region, the United States acquired a part of "itself". In the near future, it will be possible to buy one of the many "Russian" islands on The World – our country, as it should be, "owns" a significant share of the project territory.
At the moment, work is underway to create the islands themselves and lay the infrastructure, a demonstration model of a villa with a palm grove and a marina is already ready on one of them.
Dubai Waterfront
The launch of this, the largest and so far the last, Nakheel island project took place in early 2005. According to the plan, Dubai Waterfront will be located 35 km southwest of the city, on the border with the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. At the first stage of construction, 10 diverse areas and zones will be laid in the waters of the Persian Gulf, which will subsequently house residential and hotel complexes. The total building area of the future project will be 81 million square meters, which will make it the largest artificial island in the world. As a matter of fact, Dubai Waterfront can already be safely called a "city within a city".
The master plan, with all the details, has been developed for three years. According to experts, the construction work will take up to 10 years. It is planned to allocate about 150-200 land plots only for luxury hotels, although in the future it is possible to merge some hotels into large resorts, and then the real number of hotel buildings will decrease. In total, the project will be able to become a home and a place of work for 400,000-750,000 people. It should also be noted that this is the first project in the history of Dubai in which up to 49% of the shares will be given to foreign investors.
Sea on land
In creating artificial islands, Dubai turned out to be a kind of trendsetter for the entire Middle East. Now, when the emirate is trying to realize its gigantic plans, other countries, despite kilometers of undeveloped desert territories, have already begun to create projects similar in design and scale to Dubai. Qatar has been most successful in this - with the Pearl of Qatar complex. Bahrain is in a hurry to develop natural islands and fill artificial ones. Even the capital of the Emirates, Abu Dhabi, which absolutely does not need either the tourism industry or additional kilometers of beach, decided to create several small islands to improve the coastal area.
If bulk islands are still a curiosity for the Gulf countries, and for the rest of the world they are generally a "wonder of the world", then in Dubai they are already in the order of things. Moreover, in the near future, the construction of a marine canal in the desert is another way to increase the length of the coastal zone! The project was named the Arabian Channel, and areas such as Dubai Lagoons, Business Bay, Jumeirah Village, etc. will be built on its shores.
