PALM JUMEIRAH
What happens once a billionaire gets everything he wants? He
creates everything he wants. Sheikh Maktoum shared a vision to make Dubai a
leading luxury tourist destination by being able to diversify Dubai’s economy
away from oil. He wanted an island but a proposed circular island of only 7km
of beach was not good enough. He pushed for an island with over 70km of
beachfront development space forming the world’s first city at sea: The Palm
Jumeirah. Construction began in 2001 after numerous feasibility and
geographical surveys were conducted. Reclamation was used by Van Oord Dutch
specialists by extracting sand from the deep sea floor and relocating it to the
site of construction with the use of dredgers. The 11km breakwater that provides a barrier to sea was being
constructed simultaneously as the palm and its 17 fronds took shape. The use of
vibrocompaction in over 200,000 places on the palm was vital to compact and strengthen
the sand to provide a solid foundation for what comes next. It was not until
2006 until the handover of the first residential units which were all sold
within a mere 72 hours. However, over 28 five star hotels, 2 malls and even a
monorail would soon follow. It was evident that the Nakheel developer was
willing to pay the premium price of over 12 billion to maintain its upmost
quality. Even with the delay of two years against its original ambitious
timeline, a project like this would take nearly fifteen years in a western
country with high levels of beauracracy.
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