If someone asks you where do you want to live? Most of you might answer the Palm Jumeirah. Certainly I too would have given the same answer. It is the place where you can enjoy your life. Palm Jumeirah is one of the three islands called the Palm islands. The other two islands are Palm Jebel Ali and Palm Diera. It is located on the coastal area of Jumeirah in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is the smallest of all the three islands.
Do you know why these islands are Palm islands? It is because these islands are shaped like palm. Palm Jumeirah is also in the shape of date palm tree. It has three parts: a trunk, a crown with 16 fronds and a surrounding island that will form growing breakwaters. The island is 5 by 5 kilometers and total area is larger than 800 football pitches. The crown in connected to the mainland through the means of 300 meter long bridge and crescent is connected to the top of the palm by a subsea tunnel. The construction of the Palm Jumeirah Island began in the year 2001. This island used around 94,000,000 cubic meters of sand and 7 million tons of rock for its creation. The sand was poured into the 10.5 meter deep seabed. There is a curved breakwater which was made by using natural rocks in order to provide habitats for sea life. The Palm Jumeirah contains themed hotels; three types of villas such Signature villas, Garden Homes and Canal Cove, residential areas for building, coastal beaches, restaurants, cafes, marinas and many more. Many renowned hotels have been created in the Palm Jumeirah. Atlantis, The palm opened in September 2011, The Taj Exotica Hotel and Resort, Palm Grandeur, Hotel Missoni Dubai etc. There is a 5.4 kilometers long Palm Jumeirah Monorail for transportation. It connects Atlantis Hotel to the Gateway Towers. By the end 0f 2007 about 75% of the properties were handed over. See a list of famous buildings here. Here is my another post on another great construction Burj Al Arab. You can read this post too.
No doubt Palm Jumeirah is the world’s largest artificial island. This amazing island has been created using land renewal by Nakheel, a company owned by the Dubai government in United Arab Emirates. The Palm Island has been self declared “Eighth wonder of the World”. But there are lots of controversies associated with the Palm Jumeirah. It was said that Nakheel increased the number of residential units which increased the budget. There was huge delay in the completion of the project around two years. In 2009 it was reported that the Palm was sinking. This has been confirmed by the surveys. It is sinking at the rate of % millimeters per year but this could increase rapidly. But Nakheel opposed the statements by saying that there were no any reports of any structural problems. Sinking of Palm island by 5mm had been detected by satellite techniques but it is not possible as NASA’s laser altimeter have an accuracy of only + or – 50 millimeters. But keeping these controversies apart, Palm Jumeirah is the best place to spend your whole life.