The extraordinary Palm project involves the creation of the world’s largest two man-made islands known as The Palm, Jumeirah and The Palm, Jebel Ali. Located just off the coast of the city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, the two palm tree shaped islands are expected to contribute to the city’s position as a premier global tourist destination.

The project is part of the Nakheel portfolio of properties and will increase Dubai’s shoreline by a total of 120km while also creating a large number of residential, leisure and entertainment opportunities, all within a unique and inspiring setting.

“The creation of The Palm is an extraordinary project of grand proportions. Each island will be comprised of approximately 100 million cubic meters of rock and sand,” said The Palm’s chairman, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem.

Between the two islands there will be over 60 luxury hotels, 5000 exclusive residential beachside villas, 5000 shoreline apartments, marinas, water theme parks, restaurants, shopping malls, sports facilities, health spas, cinemas and extensive dive sites.

The vision of The Palm was conceived by His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE defence minister.

Talking about the construction of the project Saeed Ahmed Saeed, managing director, projects for Nakheel said, “Construction commenced in June 2001 after many years of research and planning. Each island will take approximately two years to be completely raised from the sea. A further two to three years will be required to complete the infrastructure and the buildings. The end-result will be the creation of two virtually self-contained communities within the islands”.

Mr Saeed continued, “Currently all fronds are in place underwater for the first of the two islands and we have now passed many of the critical stages reclamation on this island. 2003 has been and continues to be a busy yet exciting year for the project and we hope that by the end of the year we will be able to present satellite photos displaying the first completed island”.

According to Mr Saeed, some plots on the residential fronds and crescent are ready for infrastructure and construction to commence, and there are plans to begin building model villas on the top two fronds this year. “We have experienced and dedicated teams in place taking care of all aspects of the projects construction from the villas to bridges and everything in between. We are aiming to move from phase one into phases two and three as quickly as we possibly can,” he continued.

Since its launch, The Palm project has caught the attention of the worldwide media and made headlines across the globe including in the UK, Germany and the US. The project has been viewed as an ambitious endeavour for Dubai, yet one that will undoubtedly strengthen Dubai’s place on the world map. Residential buyers have been quoted as saying that they have chosen holiday homes on The Palm over Aspen, Florida and Monte Carlo.

A satellite image of The Palm, Jumeirah – March 2003

An artist’s impression of The Palm, Jebel Ali

An artist’s impression of the public areas on The Palm, Jumeirah

A water home on The Palm, Jebel Ali