Dubai, which was once considered a desert landscape, is metamorphosing into a hugely popular tourist destination given that it is the most daring reclaimed land project that has been undertaken till date. 300 new islands have emerged on the Arabian Gulf and size of these is so huge that they can be viewed from space!
This documentary takes us through the story of The World Islands and shows how the impossible had been turned into an amazing reality. After the construction of three decorative artificial islands, an archipelago dubbed The World will rimitate the world atlas and will include some 300 islands that will be primarily built using sand dredged from the sea bottom. The total development cost is going to be close to $14 billion. Developers are buying these islands, which range from 250,000 to 900,000 sq ft for prices starting at $6.85 million. More than 60% of the islands were sold by January 2008. Distance between the islands is going to be around 100m and travel should only be available by boat.
Due to the effects of the global financial crisis, The Times Online reported that the work on The World had been suspended in September 2009. And in February 2010, it was reported by The Daily Mail that the Islands had started sinking back into sea. This was later denied by Nakheel and independent technical reports as totally erroneous. The documentary further states that as of April, 2010, commercial and residential properties were not being constructed on purchased islands, the Dubai’s government announcement that it will provide $8 billion in support for Nakheel has risen the hopes of this daring structure to be completed.
