UAE to host more than 5o% of Gulf's waterfront projects

Dubai: Waterfront developments in the Gulf will account for well over 50 per cent of the $500 billion (Dh1.84 trillion) worth of worldwide waterfront projects planned for the next five years, industry officials say.

The vast majority, far above 50 per cent, of this total will be in the UAE, said Gavin Boyd, director of development at Palm Deira.

Although no exact figure was revealed, it is clear that the UAE is by far the most notable country creating land in the sea.

Back in the early 1990s, Dubai had only 70 kilometres of coastline.

This is expected to exceed 1,000 km by 2015, especially with master developer Nakheel working on three palms, one waterfront, the Arabian Canal and The World islands, said Hamad Bin Mejren, executive director of business tourism at the department of tourism and commerce marketing in Dubai.

While residential versus land real estate will be equally split, waterfront properties will attract many more commercial buyers. This is mainly because waterfront projects, such as Palm Deira, will relieve the clogged traffic in Dubai's busiest areas, Boyd said.

Both local and international companies will "100 per cent" move their headquarters to waterfront destinations, said Boyd, speaking to Gulf News on the sidelines of the Urban Waterfront conference, which began on Sunday.

With recently opened Atlantis on the Palm Jumeirah, the 300-island World islands and the plethora of beach resorts in Dubai, Al Mejren said he expected waterfront developments to help boost tourism's 33 per cent contribution to Dubai's GDP.