Dubai: Today The World. Tomorrow the Universe?

Despite the downturn, anything that is built in Dubai always has to be bigger and grander than the last one.   It’s been breaking records for the world’s tallest buildings, most expensive hotels and most unique structures  on Earth for the past 20 years…

First it was Jumeirah Beach Hotel, built in the shape of a wave. Following the Wave came the world’s first seven star hotel -  The Burj al Arab, complete with its own private helicopter pad that also made a great Tee for Tiger Woods.  Then the plan was to create new islands in the shape of Palm Trees a few kilometres offshore by dumping millions of tonnes of rock and sand onto the sea bed. The first of three Palms is now complete with private homes and the 5 star Atlantis Resort just some of its attractions.

Not content with building the world’s first man made islands a decision was made to then build the “world” consisting of 300 islands in the shape of the world’s continents adding 232 kilometres of new beachfront to Dubai’s coastline.

And now it’s The Universe, which will partially surround The World and presumably annoy those investors in the Southern Hemisphere who thought they were getting great views of the Dubai coastline!  The Universe will stretch from the Palm Jumeirah part way to Palm Deira, between The World and the Jumeirah coast. Land area is expected to be about 2500-3000 hectares (25-30 sq km), which is three times the amount of land in The World.  Completion date of The Universe was expected to be sometime between 2023 and 2028, but given the current economic environment that touches even Dubai, work on The Universe has been delayed and restricted to preliminary engineering studies.
When (and if) it does get underway you can bet that it will be like nothing the world has ever seen, even by Dubai standards.  Dubai is moving at an incredible pace when it seems the world is slowing down or even moving backwards and it will leave any visitor overwhelmed by the innovation and sheer audacity of all it has to offer.

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