Palm Islands
Encyclopedia
The Palm Islands are an artificial
Artificial island
An artificial island or man-made island is an island or archipelago that has been constructed by people rather than formed by natural means...

 archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...

 in Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...

, United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...

 on which major commercial and residential infrastructures will be constructed. They are being constructed by Nakheel Properties
Nakheel Properties
Nakheel is a real estate developer in Dubai and creator of several land reclamation projects, including the Palm Islands, the Dubai Waterfront, The World and The Universe Islands. Its residential projects include The Gardens, International City, Jumeirah Islands and Jumeirah Lake Towers. Its...

, a property developer in the United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...

, who hired Belgian and Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 dredging and marine contractor Jan De Nul
Jan De Nul
Jan De Nul Group is a family-owned Belgian company, with the financial headquarters in Luxembourg, that provides services relating to the construction and maintenance of maritime infrastructure on an international basis. Its main focus is dredging , which accounts for 85% of the turnover...

 and Van Oord
Van Oord
Van Oord is a Dutch contracting company that specializes in dredging and land reclamation. Van Oord has undertaken many projects throughout the world, including land reclamation, dredging and beach nourishment.-History:...

, some of the world's specialists in land reclamation
Land reclamation
Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, is the process to create new land from sea or riverbeds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamation ground or landfill.- Habitation :...

. The islands are the Palm Jumeirah
Palm Jumeirah
The Palm Jumeirah is an artificial archipelago created using land reclamation by Nakheel, a company owned by the Dubai government in United Arab Emirates. It is one of three islands called the Palm Islands which extend into the Persian Gulf, increasing Dubai’s shoreline by a total of...

, the Palm Jebel Ali
Palm Jebel Ali
The Palm Jebel Ali are artificial archipelago, and began construction in October 2002 and were expected to be completed in mid 2008 though as of 2011 construction is on hold. The Palm Jebel Ali is expected to accommodate 1.7 million people by 2020. Once it has been completed, it will be encircled...

 and the Palm Deira
Palm Deira
The Palm Deira is an artificial archipelago, part of the Palm Islands, Dubai. It was announced for development in October 2004. The first announced design was 8 times larger than the Palm Jumeirah, and 5 times larger than the Palm Jebel Ali, and was intended to house one million people. Originally,...

.

Each settlement will be in the shape of a palm tree, topped with a crescent, and will have a large number of residential, leisure and entertainment centers. The Palm Islands are located off the coast of The United Arab Emirates in the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...

 and will add 520 kilometers of beaches to the city of Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...

.

The first two islands will comprise approximately 100 million cubic meters of rock and sand. Palm Deira will be composed of approximately 1 billion cubic meters of rock and sand. All materials will be quarried in the UAE. Among the three islands there will be over 100 luxury hotels, exclusive residential beach side villas and apartments, marinas, water theme parks
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...

, restaurants, shopping malls, sports facilities and health spas.

The creation of the Palm Jumeirah began in June 2001. Shortly after, the Palm Jebel Ali was announced and reclamation work began. The Palm Deira, which is planned to have a surface area of 46.35 square kilometres, was announced for development in October 2004. Construction was originally planned to take 10–15 years, but that was before the impact of the global credit crunch
Credit crunch
A credit crunch is a reduction in the general availability of loans or a sudden tightening of the conditions required to obtain a loan from the banks. A credit crunch generally involves a reduction in the availability of credit independent of a rise in official interest rates...

 hit Dubai.

Construction

The Palm Islands are artificial peninsulas constructed of sand dredged from the bottom of the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...

 by the Belgian company Jan De Nul
Jan De Nul
Jan De Nul Group is a family-owned Belgian company, with the financial headquarters in Luxembourg, that provides services relating to the construction and maintenance of maritime infrastructure on an international basis. Its main focus is dredging , which accounts for 85% of the turnover...

 and the Dutch company Van Oord
Van Oord
Van Oord is a Dutch contracting company that specializes in dredging and land reclamation. Van Oord has undertaken many projects throughout the world, including land reclamation, dredging and beach nourishment.-History:...

. The sand is sprayed by the dredging ships, which are guided by DGPS, on to the required area in a process known as rainbowing
Rainbowing
Rainbowing is the process in which a dredging ship propels sand that has been claimed from the ocean floor in a high arc to a particular location. This is used for multiple purposes, ranging from building up a beach to prevent erosion to constructing new islands...

 because of the arcs in the air when the sand is sprayed. The outer edge of each Palm's encircling crescent is a large rock breakwater
Breakwater (structure)
Breakwaters are structures constructed on coasts as part of coastal defence or to protect an anchorage from the effects of weather and longshore drift.-Purposes of breakwaters:...

. The breakwater of the Palm Jumeirah
Palm Jumeirah
The Palm Jumeirah is an artificial archipelago created using land reclamation by Nakheel, a company owned by the Dubai government in United Arab Emirates. It is one of three islands called the Palm Islands which extend into the Persian Gulf, increasing Dubai’s shoreline by a total of...

 has over seven million tons of rock. Each rock was placed individually by a crane, signed off by a diver and given a GPS coordinate. The Jan De Nul Group started working on the Palm Jebel Ali in 2002 and had finished by the end of 2006. The reclamation project for the Palm Jebel Ali includes the creation of a four-kilometre-long peninsula, protected by a 200-metre-wide, seventeen-kilometre long circular breakwater. 210,000,000 m3 of rock, sand and limestone were reclaimed (partly originating from the Jebel Ali Entrance Channel dredging works). There are approximately 10,000,000 cubic metres of rocks in the slope protection works.

Palm Jumeirah

The Palm Jumeirah
Palm Jumeirah
The Palm Jumeirah is an artificial archipelago created using land reclamation by Nakheel, a company owned by the Dubai government in United Arab Emirates. It is one of three islands called the Palm Islands which extend into the Persian Gulf, increasing Dubai’s shoreline by a total of...

 ( Coordinates
Geographic coordinate system
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on the Earth to be specified by a set of numbers. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represent vertical position, and two or three of the numbers represent horizontal position...

:
25°06′28"N 55°08′15"E ) consists of a tree trunk, a crown with 16 fronds, and a surrounding crescent island that forms an 11 kilometer-long breakwater. The island itself is 5 kilometers by 5 kilometers. It will add 78 kilometers to the Dubai coastline. The first phase of development on the Palm Jumeirah will create 4,000 residences with a combination of villas and apartments over the next 3 to 4 years.

Residents began moving into their Palm Jumeirah properties at the end of 2006, five years after land reclamation began, according to project developer Nakheel Properties
Nakheel Properties
Nakheel is a real estate developer in Dubai and creator of several land reclamation projects, including the Palm Islands, the Dubai Waterfront, The World and The Universe Islands. Its residential projects include The Gardens, International City, Jumeirah Islands and Jumeirah Lake Towers. Its...

. This signaled the end of phase one of construction, which includes approximately 1,400 villas on 11 of the fronds of the island and roughly 2,500 shoreline apartments in 20 buildings on the east side of the trunk.

Nakheel Properties
Nakheel Properties
Nakheel is a real estate developer in Dubai and creator of several land reclamation projects, including the Palm Islands, the Dubai Waterfront, The World and The Universe Islands. Its residential projects include The Gardens, International City, Jumeirah Islands and Jumeirah Lake Towers. Its...

 will mark the arrival of the first residents by bringing one of the world's largest airships to Dubai. It has agreed to a deal with Airship Management Services Inc. for a 197 feet (60 m) long, 250000 cubic feet (7,079.2 m³) Skyship 600
Skyship 600
The Skyship 600 is a modern airship, originally designed by British company Airship Industries, and now owned and operated by Airship Management Services and Skycruise Switzerland AG.The first Skyship 600 made its maiden flight on 6 March 1984....

 dirigible.

According to Nakheel Properties
Nakheel Properties
Nakheel is a real estate developer in Dubai and creator of several land reclamation projects, including the Palm Islands, the Dubai Waterfront, The World and The Universe Islands. Its residential projects include The Gardens, International City, Jumeirah Islands and Jumeirah Lake Towers. Its...

 officials, the process of adding 78 kilometers of beach is under way, while eight of the 32 hotels on The Palm Jumeirah have begun construction, including the Taj Exotica Resort and Spa, which was planned for completion in late 2008 or early 2009, is delayed and now expected to open in early 2010. The first phase Atlantis, The Palm
Atlantis, The Palm
Atlantis, the Palm is a hotel resort at Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is a joint venture between Kerzner International Limited and Istithmar PSJC and was opened on 24 September 2008. The resort is modelled after the Atlantis, Paradise Island resort in Nassau, Bahamas...

 Resort, is scheduled to be completed by December 2008. Atlantis, The Palm
Atlantis, The Palm
Atlantis, the Palm is a hotel resort at Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is a joint venture between Kerzner International Limited and Istithmar PSJC and was opened on 24 September 2008. The resort is modelled after the Atlantis, Paradise Island resort in Nassau, Bahamas...

 opened on 24 September, 2008.

The "Golden Mile", the strip of land located along the center of the trunk overlooking the canal, is set for completion in the first quarter of 2008. The tenants started moving in 30 April 2009. Construction has also begun on the Palm Jumeirah Monorail
Palm Jumeirah Monorail
The Palm Jumeirah Monorail is a monorail line on the Palm Jumeirah island in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The monorail connects the Palm Jumeirah to the mainland, with a planned further extension to the Red Line of the Dubai Metro. The line opened on April 30, 2009...

, which will take three years to complete and will serve as a transit system between the Gateway Station at the trunk of The Palm Jumeirah and the Atlantis Station on the crescent. (Emirates News Agency, WAM).The Monorail opened May 6 2009 only using Atlantis Hotel and Gateway Towers Stations.

Palm Jebel Ali

The Palm Jebel Ali Umar began construction in October 2002 and was expected to be completed in mid 2008. Once it has been completed, it will be encircled by Dubai Waterfront
Dubai Waterfront
The Dubai Waterfront was expected to become the largest waterfront and largest man-made development in the world. The project is a conglomeration of canals and artificial archipelago; it will occupy the last remaining Persian Gulf coastline of Dubai, the most populous emirate of the United Arab...

. The project, which is 50 percent larger than the Palm Jumeirah, will include six marinas, a water theme park, 'Sea Village', homes built on stilts, and boardwalk
Boardwalk
A boardwalk, in the conventional sense, is a wooden walkway for pedestrians and sometimes vehicles, often found along beaches, but they are also common as paths through wetlands, coastal dunes, and other sensitive environments....

s that circle the "fronds" of the "palm" and spell out an Arabic poem
Arabic poetry
Arabic poetry is the earliest form of Arabic literature. Present knowledge of poetry in Arabic dates from the 6th century, but oral poetry is believed to predate that. Arabic poetry is categorized into two main types, rhymed, or measured, and prose, with the former greatly preceding the latter...

 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum , also Sheikh Mohammed, , is the Prime Minister and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates , and absolute monarch of Dubai.-Personal life and education:...

:
As of early October 2007, construction of the island was on schedule. The breakwater was completed in December 2006, and infrastructure work began in April 2007. Major construction will not begin until most of the infrastructure work is complete.

One of the first buildings on The Palm Jebel Ali is already known. Nakheel invited several architects to design a building on a 300,000 m2 area. The winning design was a building by Royal Haskoning, who also worked on several other projects in Dubai. The building can be seen here.

In the first signs of a slowing Dubai property market, the prices of properties being sold on the Palm Jebel Ali were reported to have fallen by 40% in the two months to November 2008, with the fall being attributed to the Financial crisis of 2007–2010.

In 2012, the first phase of four theme parks will open on the Crescent. These parks, which together will be called "World of Discovery," will be developed and operated by the Busch Entertainment Corporation. The parks include SeaWorld
SeaWorld
SeaWorld is a United States chain of marine mammal parks, oceanariums, and animal theme parks owned by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. The parks feature captive orca, sea lion, and dolphin shows and zoological displays featuring various other marine animals. There are operations in Orlando,...

, Aquatica, Busch Gardens
Busch Gardens
Busch Gardens is the name of two amusement parks in the United States, owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, a division of Blackstone Group. One of the parks is in Williamsburg, Virginia, and the other is in Tampa, Florida...

 and Discovery Cove. The World of Discovery will be located at the top of the Crescent, which will form into the shape of an orca
Orca
The killer whale , commonly referred to as the orca, and less commonly as the blackfish, is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family. Killer whales are found in all oceans, from the frigid Arctic and Antarctic regions to tropical seas...

 (reminiscent of Shamu
Shamu (SeaWorld show)
Shamu is the stage name given to the SeaWorld orca shows and to the "star" of those shows, beginning with the original Shamu in the late 1960s and early 1970s...

).
25°00′14"N 54°59′02"E

Palm Deira

The Palm Deira was announced for development in October 2004. No timetable for completion has been announced. The first announced design was 8 times larger than the Palm Jumeirah, and 5 times larger than the Palm Jebel Ali, and was intended to house one million people. Originally, the design called for a 14 km (8.7 mi) by 8.5 km (5.3 mi) island with 41 fronds. Due to a substantial change in depth in the Persian Gulf the farther out the island goes, the island was redesigned in May 2007. The project then became a 12.5 km (7.8 mi) by 7.5 km (4.7 mi) island with 18 larger fronds. It will be located alongside Deira
Deira, Dubai
Deira is an area in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates bordered by the Persian Gulf, Sharjah and Dubai Creek. Historically, it has been the center of Dubai, but has been losing its importance during the past few decades due to recent development along E 11 road and areas further down the...

.

By early October 2007, 20% of the island's reclamation was complete, with a total of 200 million cubic metres (7 billion cubic feet) of sand already used. Then in early April 2008, Nakheel announced that more than a quarter of the total area of the Palm Deira had been reclaimed. This amounted to 300 million cubic metres (10.6 billion cubic feet) of sand. Since the island is so large, it is being developed in several phases. The first one is the creation of Deira Island. This portion of the Palm will sit alongside the Deira Corniche
Deira Corniche
The Deira Corniche is a waterfront promenade in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The Deira Corniche, sometimes also referred to as the Dubai Corniche lies in northeastern Dubai, in Deira...

 between the entrance to Dubai Creek
Dubai Creek
Dubai Creek or Khor Dubai is a saltwater creek located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates . It ends at Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary. Some sources say that the creek extended as far inland as Al Ain, and that the Ancient Greeks called it River Zara. Historically, the creek divided the city into two...

 and Al Hamriya Port
Al Hamriya Port
Al Hamriya Port , also known as Port Al Hamriya or Mina Al Hamriya, is a port-locality in Dubai, United Arab Emirates . Al Hamriya Port is one of the smaller ports in Dubai; it is located in Deira, off the northeastern coast of the city. Al Hamriya Port is bordered to the south by Al Waheda and...

. Promotional materials state that Deira Island will act as "the gateway to The Palm Deira" and help to revitalize the aging area of Deira. By early April 2008, 80% of Deira Island Front's reclamation was complete.

A new redesign was quietly introduced in November 2008, further reducing the size of the project.

25°20′00"N 55°16′05"E

Geo Links

Ideally Geo Links should be integrated into the main article. Satellite view of The Palm Islands The Palm Jebel Ali Palm Jumeirah

See also

  • The World
    The World (archipelago)
    The World or World Islands is an artificial archipelago of various small islands constructed in the rough shape of a world map, located off the coast of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The World islands are composed mainly of sand dredged from Dubai's shallow coastal waters, and are one of several...

    , another artificial island project in Dubai.
  • The Universe
    The Universe (Dubai)
    The Universe is a planned artificial archipelago in the shape of the Milky Way and Solar System, that would be built off the coast of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The project was announced in January 2008 by the developer Nakheel, which also built the Palm Islands and The World archipelago...

  • Dubai Waterfront
    Dubai Waterfront
    The Dubai Waterfront was expected to become the largest waterfront and largest man-made development in the world. The project is a conglomeration of canals and artificial archipelago; it will occupy the last remaining Persian Gulf coastline of Dubai, the most populous emirate of the United Arab...

    , will become the largest man made waterfront project in the world when completed.
  • Nakheel, the real estate developer of Palm Islands
  • Tourism in Dubai
  • Ocean colonization
    Ocean colonization
    Ocean colonization is the theory and practice of permanent human settlement of oceans. Such settlements may float on the surface of the water, or be secured to the ocean floor, or exist in an intermediate position....


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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