Hot on the heels of The Palm comes a series of man-made islands off the coast of Dubai shaped like a map of the globe. Ben Smalley reports.

Having already stunned the world in 2001 with the announcement that two giant palm-tree shaped islands were to be built off the emirate's coast, Dubai's next incredible revelation proved even more earth shattering - a series of islands strategically positioned to resemble a map of the globe.

As the first palm island nears completion, reclamation work has now begun to create the 260 islands, which will comprise 'The World' - a development that will literally rise from the seabed four kilometres off the Jumeirah coast, at a point halfway between The Palm, Jumeirah and Port Rashid.

Local developer, Nakheel Corporation, which is also behind The Palm project, says local and international investors will be able to buy their own islands, or even continents, to develop into exclusive resorts or their own private retreat.

But they will not be able to declare a republic, set their own laws, or appoint themselves the new King or Queen of 'England' when The World is completed in 2008, as the islands are still within the territorial waters of the United Arab Emirates.

Speaking recently, His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Defence Minister, explained the vision behind The World, which will literally re-write the map of the UAE - again!

"This project is part of our strategy and vision for the future of Dubai in the coming years," Sheikh Mohammed said. "It is also in line with our continued efforts to boost the tourism sector, which we hope will play a major role as part of our policy to diversify sources of income away from oil.

"This is the first time in the world that an island project of this size and magnitude has been undertaken and I expect it will be a strongly sought after investment."
According to Nakheel, the land and infrastructure will be sold to investors and it will then be their responsibility to construct the buildings they require on their islands. It is thought that many investors will choose to develop their island in a theme reflecting the actual country that the island's shape is based on, with some including replicas of monuments and landmarks from the specific countries.

Each island will range between 250,000 and 900,000 sq ft and there will be approximately 50-100 m of water between each of them. In total the $1.8 billion development will cover an area 9 km in length and 6 km in width, and will be surrounded by an oval shaped protective breakwater.

Access will be by marine transport only, adding to the privacy and exclusivity of the development.

Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Chairman of Nakheel, said: "With only 260 plots of land available for sale, we will be offering them to a selected group of investors only. These investors can then choose to utilise the island for private or commercial use.
"The construction of the islands is expected to take two years, and then the infrastructure will be put into place before Nakheel hands the land over to the investors to develop to their individual requirements, under Nakheel's supervision."

The construction process will be similar to The Palm, Jumeirah - which used dredgers to drop the sand comprising the island into place, piling it at a specific angle to ensure it holds its position. After the initial dumping of sand, a dredger then brought the sand level to the surface through a process called 'rainbowing', which literally sprays the sand into position, while the protective breakwater surrounding the development was built from the bottom up, beginning with sand, small rocks and then medium-sized rocks once above water.

Nakheel says the exact placement of the islands comprising The World will be carefully measured using satellite navigation systems to ensure they are in proportion and scale to the map of the globe, with the Dh 850 million contract to construct the islands having been awarded to Van Oord ACZ, a Dutch dredging and marine company, who were also the main contractors for The Palm, Jumeirah.

Van Oord Chief Executive, Koos Van Oord, said: "This project will be more complicated than The Palm, Jumeirah due to its shape and the number of curves it has. However, we will once again utilise our very reliable digital geographical position systems (DGPS) to create the exact shapes."

The depth of the seabed at the location of The World varies between 11 m and16 m and, once complete, the development will comprise 25 million tonnes of rock and 200 million cubic metres of sand.

Van Oord said that due to the depth of the water, the company will be able to utilise a 'Jumbo Trailer Dredger' to transport the sand - the first time it will be used in the Middle East. The dredger, which was only introduced to the market five years ago, can handle 20-25,000 cubic metres of sand at any one time, compared with the maximum 8,000 cubic metres handled by the dredgers used to create The Palm, Jumeirah.

Environmental groups have expressed concern that the creation of artificial islands like The Palm and The World will have a negative impact on the marine eco-system, but Nakheel says it is taking its environmental responsibilities very seriously.
"Every development, whether onshore or offshore, has an effect on the local environment," a company spokesman said. "Nakheel's policy is to analyse thoroughly the potential effects of any development, to mitigate any negative effects and to enhance the existing environment where we can.

"We have dedicated substantial resources to this end and are the only property company in the UAE that currently has its own Research and Development department which carries out substantial pre and ongoing studies in this area."
The cost of owning your own paradise island has not yet been revealed, but market sources say a 250,000 square foot island is likely to have a price tag of around $25 million.

Nakheel's operations director, Wahid Attalla, says the project has caught the imagination of investors and 'a few' of the islands have already been reserved - with the boundaries of imagination being the main limiting factor in what future owners can eventually do with them.

"Investors have the opportunity to create their own dominion - from private homes, estates and palaces to luxury hotel resorts, marinas and hotel apartments,' he said. "Whether investors are looking to develop the perfect secluded beach resort in Greenland or the first desert island in Central Africa, we'll listen to their proposals as The World in Dubai presents the perfect location to turn your real estate vision into reality."