Future of Dubai's Ambitious World Project in Doubt
The Times Online recently ran a story that gives a grim assessment of the status of Dubai's ambitious The World project. The World was intended to be a map of the world recreated as 300 islands. Instead, The Times says the project has stopped and all that remains are "sandy blots."
Mile after mile of breakwater built from boulders brought hundreds of miles by ship has been laid, but inside its man-made lagoon, work has completely stopped. The expected map of the world of 300 islands is instead a disjointed and desolate collection of sandy blots - a monumental folly just out of sight of Dubai's shore.
Those who bought into what was the world’s most ambitious building project were not celebrities. Many were more ordinary investors who put down 70 per cent deposits, some of them Anglo-Indians. John O'Dolan, who fronted a consortium that bought Ireland in 2007 for $38 million (£27 million), committed suicide earlier this year. The others have little prospect of seeing a return. Now The World has stopped they can't get off.
"The World has been cancelled. It doesn’t even look like the world. Basically there is one island that is maintained that is said to be owned by the Sheikh [Dubai's ruler] and the rest looks like a pile of muck," said one local property agent.
There are also reports - see here and here - that the island projects have led to environmental problems in addition to financial ones.
The New York Daily News also reports that $300 billion worth of construction to create the islands is on hold. With the economy still sputtering it is hard to see where that kind of money is going to come from to restart the project in the near future. There is one more positive article here that says Safi Qurash - the owner of the Great Britain island - plans to build something on it.
