These Dubai Mega Projects Were Left For Dead – Now They’re Back

For almost two decades, Dubai's beachfront was something of a graveyard. Towards Abu Dhabi, you had the partially finished Palm Jebel Ali, which had been announced in 2002. Closer to the marina area, there was the struggling "The World" Islands, which dated to 2003. And towards Sharjah, Deira Islands (the 2004 project now known as Dubai Islands), seemed abandoned.

All three were victims of the 2008 financial meltdown.

Now the UAE has revived plans for them. Growth in Dubai's hotel openings has been slow in recent years and the aim is to attract interest from developers to build these out as more millionaires flock to the city and tourism goals keep ratcheting up.

"If Dubai is going to be able to satisfy a [new] tourist flow, it's going to be about beachfront hotels. And Palm Jebel Ali and Dubai Islands have got that," said Knight Frank partner and regional hospitality head Daniel Pugh.

Palm Jebel Ali was revived in 2023 and hopes for 80 hotels upon completion. Dubai Islands was resurrected in 2022, and also plans