Reclaiming the Ocean - The Palm Islands

Abstract

As the human race continues to populate all reaches of our planet, the amount of land available for inhabitation becomes drastically decreased. This is particularly relevant in the case of premier property locations on the coastlines of tropical regions. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a small Arab country on the Persian Gulf located approximately 24 degrees north of the equator. This country is faced with the problem of limited coastline availability for residence to live upon and have taken a future orientated approach of reclaiming the land out of the sea to solve their problem. The three palm islands and other Dubai reclamation projects are developed by the company Nakheel and consist of the Palm Jumeirah, Palm Jebel Ali, Palm Deira, The World, The Universe, and the Dubai Waterfront. The reclamation projects on the Dubai coastline are in various stages of completion and will increase the available coastline length immensely. In recent years the projects have faced financial difficulties as well as engineering difficulties in dealing with rising sea levels and erosive ocean activity. This paper will focus on the history and background of the creation of the palm islands, the struggles and successes of the project, and what the future holds for other ocean reclamation projects.