It started towards the end of the last century. The United Arab Emirates began an ambitious project to build luxury artificial island complexes. The most ambitious project was “El Mundo”, an archipelago of almost 300 artificial islands. They recreated the shape of the seven continents as seen on maps. Time was not kind to the project. That’s why we now have the 300 abandoned islands of Dubai.
The idea is that interested buyers could choose an island that simulates the shape of a country. The investment was US$12 billion. They used almost 321 million cubic meters of sand and 386 million tons of stone. But the Top Luxury website has just declared it the “most useless mega project in the world.”
Disconnection
21 years after it began, barely a couple of islands were completed. From the sky they look like a series of deserted and abandoned points. On top of that, the islands have signs of erosion. The 2008 financial crisis helped the project collapse. Those who committed to buying the homes were left without resources to continue
One of its problems is that it has no physical connection to Dubai. There is no bridge to reach by car. This does happen with the other artificial island project: the Palm Jumeirah. It has 4,000 homes where nearly 25,000 people reside. Dozens of hotels and other attractions also operate there.
The business of artificial islands to create space for commercial urban development is risky. “Rising sea water levels make investing in an island risky. But if there is one thing that has characterized Dubai, it is that it takes risks. Even if they are expensive,” adds analyst Alastair Bonnett.
monumental failure
The construction of these complexes has a high environmental impact. He receives strong criticism for this reason. Greenpeace points out that the project is not environmentally sustainable. The construction of the artificial islands seriously affected the coral reefs near the coast of the emirate.
The government accepted that some marine ecosystems were affected by the development of the project. But he insists that a team of marine biologists had been hired to rebuild and rehabilitate the affected reefs. The 300 abandoned islands of Dubai, despite everything, are on their way to becoming a huge failure.
