Dubai Marina vis-à-vis Greater Dubai

......................................click map to enlarge
Dubai Marina (encircled area left of the Palm) is part of what is sometimes referred to as the New Dubai. The Dubai Marina borders Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai's main artery, which runs the length of the coast to Abu Dhabi. (SZR can be faintly seen in the map, roughly 1-3 km inland.) Dubai's most important sites and landmarks line this highway.

Starting just left of Dubai Marina is Ibn Battuta Mall, the largest shopping mall in Dubai, until Mall of the Emirates (next on the map) opened in September 2005. This mall features the world's largest indoor ski slope. The mall will keep its title as Dubai's and the Middle East's largest until the Mall of Dubai opens at the Burj Dubai Tower around 2008.

The Burj Dubai Tower, 18 floors and counting, will be the tallest building in the world when completed. It is to be surrounded by smaller towers and a new development called Old Dubai. Further along the highway is the former singnature landmark for Dubai, the Dubai World Trade Center, built in 1979. Between the Burj Dubai and the WTC is a wall of towers lining either side of SZR (see photo). If there really is such a thing as New Dubai and Old Dubai, then this area might be referred to as Dubai Now. It's the most happening part of the city--traffic wise!

After the World Trade Center, Sheikh Zayed Road fans out into different branches depositing drivers into the different districts of the real old Dubai. The large waterway, known as Dubai Creek, will be extended at some point, winding its way back down to SZR and ending at what will be called Buisiness Bay--sure to be another claimant for the title of New Dubai.

At far right on the map above is the Dubai International Airport. When traffic is light (pre-dawn hours and Friday daytime) it takes only 20 minutes to travel between the airport and Dubai Marina via SZR. Under normal traffic conditions it takes about 40 minutes.

Offshore are the island developments. The only one pictured above is the Jumeirah Palm. A more photographic current map would clearly show the Jebel Ali Palm and parts of The World and Deria Palm. Next in line to rise from the Arabian (aka Persian) Gulf is the Dubai Waterfront, which will be a landmass in the shape of a large crescent moon, partially encircling the Jebel Ali Palm. The Waterfront will reach inland, stretching along the banks of a river--to be constructed. This will complement the soon to be dug out Jumeirah Lake (opposite Dubai Marina on SZR), Jumeirah Islands (already visible on newer maps) and a host of other water-themed developments.

Illustrated map revealing all major offshore developments:

Dubai Waterfront, Jebel Ali Palm, Jumeirah Palm, The World & Deira Palm.
Still more, there will be the massive Dubai Land project and neighboring developments that will fill most of the inland desert area below what is now the present city of Dubai. Complementing all of this will be several new and expanded expressways, interchanges, overpasses, bridges and tunnels (some already completed and most presently under construction), as well as a two line metro with connecting monorails, tram lines and a building-to-building personal transport system, along with new bus lines (including the world's first a/c bus stands), water taxis and ferries, and last but not least--to complement the presently under-construction massive Dubai Int'l Airport's Terminal 3--a whole new international airport at Jebel Ali.

What exists of Dubai today is about one third of what will exist in the near future and about 1/3 of all the new construction is taking place now! As a result, the metropolis is presently a mess, but what is yet to be seen will be quite simply amazing. It's easy to be skeptical that any city or state could pull off such an ambitios plan, but when one visits Dubai and sees all the towers rising--currently over 200--the land reclamation in progress and all of the roadworks, it is hard to remain skeptical.

Return to site later for a better quality map. Closer and more detailed maps of Dubai Marina visible at earlier posting.

See latest DM Map posts. Go to Dubai Marina Communities or MAG 218 Community homepage.

Westside Marina, aka Dubai Marina (1998)

An early view of the Dubai Marina masterplan, submitted to Emaar in 1998 by Canada's H.O.K. and W.A.T.G. architects of Newport Beach, California.


More images at the heading link (above).

Dubai Marina - Concept Master Plan Dubai, United Arab Emirates - 1998

These illustrations are part of a concept package produced during a two week period in September 1998 for Emaar Properties, PJSC - Dubai, United Arab Emirates. This competition was a collaborative design effort with HOK - Toronto, Canada, as executive architects and WATG Architects Newport Beach, CA.

A City with in a City, Westside Marina was conceived to be a community of over 150,000 residents containing the best elements of urban living in the 21st. Century. Like many of the great cities throughout history water played a central role in the planning. The concept involved the building of a Grand Canal that provides a focus for each element of the plan. The Waterway and marinas comprise approximately 20% of an 1,140 acre site to the South of the City of Dubai.

Design Consultant to WATG Architects:

Responsibilities included Lead Design for WATG Architects during the competition phase of the project working closely with the HOK design team assisting in the development of the central themes of the concept. This role involved the development of the concept Hotel Sites along the beach and extended peninsulas as well as around the Main Basin and Urban Center. Support of this effort included the overall Concept Illustration.

See latest DM Map posts. Go to Dubai Marina Communities or MAG 218 Community homepage.

Masterplan in Miniature

This image portrays a larger Marina community which would have the Jumeirah Beach Residences located within the pink area at image top and Jumeirah Lake Towers across Sheikh Zayed Road in the orange area at image bottom.

The total area pictured could be thought of as a new Dubai central district, housing perhaps as many as 400 towers and over 200,000 residents. (It is likely that this is an earlier plan for the Dubai Marina before either JBR or JLT were envisioned.)

See latest DM Map posts. Go to Dubai Marina Communities or MAG 218 Community homepage.

Photos & Illustrations

Dubai Marina Building Plots

The diagram of the Dubai Marina below (found at a Skyscrapercity.com forum) illustrates the location of each building either built, under constrution or proposed. The MAG 218 plot can be seen at the bottom left corner of the block of towers found on the right side of the diagram. (The block is disected by a "t" shaped green area.)


See full-sized image.

Dubai Marina Overview



The Larger Picture



This combination photo/illustration shows off Dubai's incredible coastal developments. Dubai Marina though hard to see from this level is just to the right of the middle, Jumeirah Palm. On the far right is the Deira Palm, the largest and newest of the 3 palm islands. To the far left is the Jebel Ali Palm surrounded by the latest and most ambitious mega project, the Dubai Waterfront, built in the shape of a crescent moon. Unlike the other developments it covers a huge swath of inland territory in additon to the large seaward extention. Finally, in the midst of all the palms is The World--a collection of hundreds of small islands arranged to depict a map of the world. All these developments are man-made and represent both the vision and daring of Dubai's rulers.

The small central Palm is nearly complete, the left side Palm about half constructed, the right side Palm and World islands just beginning to emerge above water and the crescent moon Waterfront yet to be started. Each will play host to a multitude of resorts and high-end residences, while the Dubai Waterfront will add various theme resorts and attractions, a city center and a residential/commercial tower as high or higher than the Burj Dubai tower closer to the center of Dubai--already expected to become the tallest building in the world and presently under construction.

See latest DM Map posts. Go to Dubai Marina Communities or MAG 218 Community homepage.