The Palm Islands are a group of artificial islands being built off the city of Dubai using land reclamation techniques. The company responsible, Nakheel, is owned by the Dubai government.
The Palm Islands consist of three main groups of islands. The Palm Jumeirah is the smallest and the original of three Palm Islands, and is nearly complete; the others are Palm Jebel Ali and Palm Deira, which are still being developed. The original concept design dates to 2001, and the first housing units on Palm Jumeirah were handed over to occupants in late 2006.
Palm Jumeirah is shaped as a single palm tree – with a two-kilometer-long trunk and 17 fronds – partly surrounded by a semi-circle, or crescent, made up of three islands stretching 11 kilometers. It also has two islands on either side of the tree’s trunk. The crescent is in part artistic, and in part practical – it functions as a breakwater, able to withstand waves up to four meters, and the divisions in the crescent means the waters surrounding the fronds and trunk of the Palm won’t stagnate. The Palm is connected to the mainland by a bridge, and the crescent is connected to the top of the palm by an underwater tunnel. A monorail is expected to open later in 2008 to transport people on and off the islands. (Palm Jebel Ali and Palm Deira have slightly different design concepts, though still based on a single palm.)
The immense undertaking is visible from space. According to the PalmSales website, each island will add 60 kilometers of shoreline to Dubai, increasing the UAE's beachfront by 166%. The rocks forming the base of the islands are being brought from quarries throughout the UAE, and the Palm comprises approximately 100 million cubic meters of sand and rock. If all the fill materials used to build one Palm Island were placed end to end, a wall two meters high and half a meter thick could circle the world three times. As for the 12,000+ real palms that will be on the Palm Islands, they are being grown in a nursery in Dubai.
The islands include commercial and residential developments. Commercial developments include marinas, restaurants, cafés, retail outlets, and beachfront hotels and resorts. One of the hotels has a famous history – it’s the former Queen Elizabeth 2, which was sold by Cunard Line for use as a floating hotel. Some others include the 1,539-roomed, ocean-themed Atlantis (whose sister-hotel in the Bahamas will be known to some people), the five-star hotel/residence Kempinski Hotel Emerald Palace, the Fairmont Palm Hotel & Resort, and the Trump International Hotel & Tower. All hotels are expected to be open by the end of 2009. Housing units include apartments, villas, townhouses, water homes (basically homes on piers).
