bian Gulf (the Jemirah Coast) is an excellent locus for realizing the innovative ideas of this project. Stive (1) attributes the initiative for developing the project to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai and a key leader in spurring economic development and growth in the area.
At issue in this analysis is a discussion of the architectural aspects of the project, with special emphasis on its environmental and ecological impacts, both immediate and long-term. It will be demonstrated that Dubai and Nakheel are aware of the potential for environmental ill effects and are taking steps to offset these effects while pursuing meaningful economic development. As part of Dubai's ongoing development initiatives, these structures reflect a combination of modernism and traditionalism that characterizes the entire region (Gilles and Hazir 2)
The project consists of three island complexes: Palm Island Jumeirah, Palm Island Jebel Ali, and The World. Palm Island Jumeirah, the first to be developed and the first to be finished, in 2006, measures approximately four by five kilometers and is shaped, as is Palm Island Jebel Ali, as a stylized palm frond that is enclosed by a broken circular breakwater structure that allows water from the Arabian Gulf to enter and exit the interior of the open palm structure. The Jabel Ali Island is six by seven kilometers and The World is the largest of all these manmade structures at seven by nine kilometers (Stive 2).
Overall, the structures are expected to increase the coastline of Dubai by a total of 520 kilometers. Dubai's determination to become a global financial center is reflected in this and other building initiatives (Everett-Heath 4). The World is being constructed at a cost of $14 billion and will ultimately consist of 300 individual islands that are arranged to stylistically represent the continents and land masses of the globe. Each island will rang...