‘The Line’ started out as an ambitious project with the aim of surprising the world, but as with many other projects of this nature, the real surprise will come if they come to fruition. Let’s not predict events because the project continues despite serious cuts in the budget.

But it doesn’t hurt to take a look at the newspaper library and see how such multimillion-dollar projects turn out. We don’t need to go far.

An isolated world. In 2003, Dubai launched the “World” project. The complex, consisting of 300 artificial islands off the coast of Dubai, forming the silhouette of the world map, formed separate islets where millionaires who invested in them could build their mansions.

The idea was quite self-explanatory and appealed to a certain megalomaniacal impulse, because millionaires could build their mansions on the island of Spain, Greenland or the United Kingdom and become the sole inhabitants of this “country”.

A crazy idea that came true. The project was implemented with an initial investment of 12 billion dollars and more than half of the islands were sold. It consisted of small islands ranging in size from 1.4 to 4.2 hectares, covering an area of ​​approximately 54 square kilometers, for which 321 million cubic meters of sand and 386 million tons of stone were used in its construction. The island complex is protected by a huge breakwater that surrounds it to prevent erosion caused by waves.

A future beyond oil. Dubai’s goal of realizing this project resonates again with every NEOM presentation: to decouple the country’s future from fossil fuels and ensure long-term sustainability when demand for oil and gas declines. “The vision of the United Arab Emirates was to find a way to eliminate its dependence on oil, its main source of resources. And the choice was real estate,” geographer Professor Alastair Bonnett of Newcastle University confirms to the BBC.

A project in dry dock. The outbreak of the great property crisis in 2008 meant that the project had been on hold for years, with no one likely to make the move to live there, even though 60% of the complex had been sold. There are only four developed islands, and one of them is the pilot project house donated to football player Cristiano Ronaldo. Michael Schumacher also received a fully equipped house on one of the islands as a reward.

The other side of the coin: Jumeirah Palm. Very close to the complex of uninhabited artificial islands is another project based on artificial islands: “The Palm Jumeirah”, a project that takes space from the sea by building a giant sand palm tree. Palma Jumeirah was planned from the beginning as an entertainment area, with the construction of marinas, resorts, 4,000 residences, large hotels and shopping malls.

Beyond the difference in commercial use, the key to the success of the La Palma Jumeirah project that survives today is the bridge that connects the palm tree to the mainland and allows its guests to move freely on paths that run throughout the entire area. complicated.

Travel between the “World” islands and the mainland (or any other island) must be by sea, which seriously affects mobility. The rulers of the United Arab Emirates learned their lesson and the new island, Jumeirah Bay Island, was connected to the mainland by a bridge.

‘Palma Jumeirah’ island is a commercial success connected to the mainland by a bridge

Climate change puts this business plan at risk.The current problem of the complex is that this lack of use hastens the appearance of the first signs of erosion in the channels surrounding the islands and their skylines, turning them into desolate sand terraces.

Climate change and rise in sea levels are controlling this type of construction and increasing the risk of extinction. According to Greenpeace data, the “Earth” islands are sinking at a rate of 5 mm per year.

in Xataka | Dubai has a new island for super millionaires: luxury mansions with beaches for 27 million euros

Image | Google Earth

Image by McKay Savage