Waterfront wonder.

(From Gulf Construction)

Nakheel has recently launched the Dubai Waterfront project, which aims to be the largest of its kind in the world

Nakheel's recently-unveiled Dubai Waterfront project - considered to be the most ambitious waterfront project in the region - has already garnered interest from overseas and local investors and consortiums, according to Robert Lee, director (development), Dubai Waterfront

The project, once complete, will transform 81 million sq m of beachfront into a mixed - use development that will encompass more than 250 best-of-the-breed masterplanned communities and offerings

An unprecedented offering, Dubai Waterfront is bigger than Manhattan and Beirut, and forms the first phase of a larger effort, the Arabian Canal, a 75-km development envisioned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Minister of Defence. The Canal flows across the desert while the sweeping arc of manmade islands shelters the nearby Palm Jebel Ali. The harbour provides sea access for trade and entertainment activities and surrounding the harbour is a series of zones with mixed use, commercial, residential, resort and amenity areas

The masterplan of the Dubai Waterfront is based on a series of 10 zones which range from high and low rise residential, multi-use commercial zones, luxury resort plots, expansive retail and amenity areas. The first phase of Dubai Waterfront will focus on the Madinat Al Arab, a thriving urban downtown metropolis, including Al Burj, one of the world's tallest buildings

"Dubai Waterfront aims to the world's largest waterfront offering, and is located 35 km southwest of Dubai, bordering Abu Dhabi, on the last remaining coastal waterfront of the emirate," says a spokesman for Nakheel. "Considered the new gateway of Dubai, the project has been carefully crafted and developed by an international consortium of the world's best architects, planners and urban developers assembled by Nakheel last year, whose goal was to create a destination never before seen in Dubai, or the world." The project will entail 900 million cu m of excavation and the construction of some 370 km of internal canals/waterways. Other statistics that the project will boast of include: - 600 km of roads - further than the distance of Dubai to Bahrain (481 km); - 5 sq km of coral reef will be created; - An additional 850 km of new waterfront edge will be formed, which is equivalent to 12 times the existing Dubai coastline (excluding The Palm, Jumeirah)