Belgian dredging company Jan De Nul has won a contract worth almost 200 million euros to finish an artificial peninsula in Dubai (UAE) in the shape of a palm tree, a project that has been stalled for more than 15 years. According to urban planning lecturer Leo Van Broeck, the project is part of the ‘megalomaniacal megalomania’ prevailing in the United Arab Emirates.
The project, Palm Jebel Ali, involves an artificial island in the shape of a palm tree. Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, already boasts one such island, but construction on a second, larger ‘palm island’ was halted in 2008 during the global financial crisis.
Now Dubai is breathing new life into the project, the structure of which is already visible. Jan De Nul will spend the next two years dredging, reclaiming sand and constructing beaches so that construction can take place on the coastal island. By the first quarter of 2025, the first eight of 16 ‘palm leaves’ should be ready for construction.
The island will stretch over 13.4 square kilometres, with a total of 91 kilometres of beach. 80 hotels and several resorts will be built.
Environmental impact?
Leo Van Broeck, former Flemish Master Builder and lecturer in urban planning at Leuven University, doesn’t get excited about what he calls ‘the many megalomaniac projects’ in Dubai and questions the environmental impact. ‘The centre of Dubai is full of tall towers and shopping malls and the whole city is air-conditioned. There is even a ski centre: 50 degrees outside, snow inside.’
It all comes with a hefty ecological price tag. ‘If you see how much all this costs in energy. Even if all that technology runs completely on green power, it has a huge environmental impact. Dubai does not have a modest spatial footprint or a modest energy footprint.’
‘I haven't read anything at all about the environmental impact of the new palm island. There is talk of an eco-resort, but that could be greenwashing.’
According to Prof Van Broeck, the project is part of what he calls the ‘megalomaniacal megalomania prevailing in Dubai’.
