At the end of the last century, the United Arab Emirates began an ambitious project to build luxury complexes on artificial islands.
Although it was not an original idea – in Lake Titicacabetween the Peru And the Boliviathere are artificial islands dating back several centuries – the project attracted attention, among other things, for presenting a design of elaborate and symmetrical forms that can be appreciated from above.
One of these projects, perhaps the most ambitious, was called “The World”: it included A Archipelago It consists of about 300 artificial islands that reshaped the shape of the seven continents, as shown in the picture maps.
This plan was launched by the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates himself, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, in 2003.
The idea was that interested buyers could choose an island that mimicked the look of a country or region – from United kingdom And the we to green land.
With an investment of US$12 billion (about R$63 billion at current prices), as well as the use of approximately 321 million cubic meters of sand and 386 million tons of stone, the goal was to create islands that could be transformed into luxury properties for tourists. The richest people in the world.
“The UAE wanted to find a way to replace its dependence on oil as its main source of resources. The choice was the real estate sector,” explains Professor Alastair Bonnet, a geographer at Newcastle University in the UK. And the author of the book Elsewhere – A Journey to Our Time of Islands (“Another Place – A Journey to Our Island Age”, free translator).
He pointed out that “the model of artificial islands, which was copied by other countries such as Nigeria, has achieved successes and failures.”
And it seems that this project in the United Arab Emirates is one that did not flourish as planned: the Top Luxury portal has just declared that “O Mundo” is “the most useless giant project on the planet.”
The reason is simple: 21 years after the initiative began, only a few islands have been fully built. Moreover, from the sky it looks like a series of deserted and deserted points that do not constitute a map of the world.
“None of the described plans have been implemented yet. In the current situation, most of the islands that make up the 'world' are deserted and form empty sandy lands,” the portal describes.
The prognosis is even bleaker. With 60% of the project sold and with the promoters themselves ensuring that the plans remain in place, several investigations indicate that the islands are already showing some signs of erosion.
But how did a project supported by an expanding state turn into a ghost complex?
The palm tree and the world
In 1999, the United Arab Emirates presented itself to the planet as a modern and cosmopolitan country.
In the same year, the Burj Al Arab Hotel was opened, which would redefine the concept of luxury in the world.
Moreover, the Sheikh of the United Arab Emirates also announced the construction of the “Palm Jumeirah” project, a residential and hotel complex that will be built on an artificial island that, as the name suggests, will be in the shape of a palm tree.
This project achieved good sales performance and encouraged construction plans for other similar projects.
In 2003, Al Maktoum himself gave the green light to build The World, a network of 300 islands off the shores of Dubai that attempted, on a much larger scale, to replicate the success of Palm Jumeirah. .
“The project was more ambitious: it was a complex of islands called ‘The Universe’, where spaces such as the Milky Way, the Sun and the Earth were also designed,” Bonnet recalls.
The plan was large-scale, but it also brought simplicity: it mainly consisted of installing about 300 artificial islands, so that the wealthy could have a “piece of the world” and build whatever they wanted.
As Oliver Wainwright, a correspondent for the British newspaper The Guardian, points out, “The projects on each island were also quite remarkable: a Chinese billionaire has drawn up plans to reshape the Shanghai skyline on his island, with a replica of the city’s famous TV tower.” “.
Wainwright adds that a company called Opulence Holdings has acquired a patch of sand the size of Somalia, “with the ambition of sculpting it into the shape of a seahorse, where residents can play golf from their balconies.”
But in practice, only a few complexes have been built.
One of them, in the form of Greenland, got a kind of “model house” and showcased everything that the project will include in the future – not only residential spaces, but also resorts and restaurants.
Among other developments, a house, already fully built, was donated to seven-time Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher.
However, the 2008 financial crisis accelerated the project's collapse.
Many investors who had committed to buying homes were left without the resources to pursue further,
Thus, initial plans remain in place, although not much progress has been made.
Bonnet adds: “One of the big problems that the O Mundo project faces is that, unlike Palmira, it has no physical connection to Dubai. There is no bridge or any communication between the islands.”
Nakheel Real Estate Company, currently responsible for the project, has indicated on several occasions that the “world” continues, and that it is looking for resources to move forward.
Other projects
But the failure of “The World” to progress as expected does not mean that the idea of transforming Dubai into a center for real estate business has faltered.
Palm Jumeirah currently includes about 4,000 homes, and about 25,000 people live there. Dozens of hotels and other attractions also operate there.
But despite performing well, creating artificial islands to create space for new urban commercial developments is somewhat risky.
Professor Bonnet adds: “Rising sea levels make investing in islands risky. But if there is one thing that sets Dubai apart, it is taking risks, even if it is expensive.”
Moreover, the construction of Jumeirah and other complexes such as “The World” or the huge “Deira Island” – the construction of which was also halted due to lack of resources – had an environmental impact that was strongly criticized.
Greenpeace confirmed that the project is unsustainable and that the construction of artificial islands has seriously affected the coral reefs located near the coast of the United Arab Emirates.
Although Nakheel Properties acknowledges that some marine ecosystems will be affected by the development of the project, it has appointed a team of marine biologists to rebuild and rehabilitate the damaged coral reefs.
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