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RELATED ARTICLES: Pearl-Qatar applauded for environmental management | UDC Q1 net profits lift 25% as Pearl Qatar rises | Qatar deputy premier to open The Pearl DC plant
Qatar is attracting much attention as the fastest-growing country in the world, according to the International Monetary Fund.
A solid economy with a World Cup to plan, the attractiveness of the state was perhaps best suggested at last week’s Project Qatar exhibition, the biggest show yet, which revealed new depth to the demand to be part of the country’s growth and to compete for its innumerable projects.
Beyond the chatter of the early designs and tenders for projects for the World Cup it will host in 2022, one project deserves some of the big talk and great expectations.
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The Pearl Qatar is now into its seventh year of construction, and is not only the first artificial island development in the country, but could arguably be the boldest such development in the Gulf.
A $10bn development overseen by the publicly-listed United Development Company, the project is a statement of intent for the country’s expected population growth and the complementary demand for new living choices, hotels, shops, restaurants and office space.
It is situated around 20km north of downtown Doha, jutting out around 8km into the sea, with 40km of reclaimed coastline and 20km of beaches.
The project is divided into major sub-developments , with different emphases across retail commercial and residential, all at very different stages of construction.
Porto Arabia is the first of two marina developments, with shops, townhouses, hotels and apartments; Viva Bahriya is a family-targeted beachfront development with Moroccan-style townhouses and apartments; Costa Malaz will contain high-end villas with a single hotel, Marsa Malaz, on its own island; Qanat Quartier is a Venetian-style, self-contained district with canals and bridges running underneath townhouses and apartments; and Medina Centrale, the ‘town centre’ of the project, will be a low-rise development with shops and smaller units in which to live.
These are just a few of its current, or planned, sub-projects “Essentially every precinct has its own personality,” says Jerry Jackson, technical director, walking around the pristine scale model in the project’s oyster-shaped head office.
“The Medina Centrale, for example, has a completely different style, there are 500 apartments in this area and also has the major facility for district cooling.”
The most developed region is the first of two horseshoe-shaped marinas, the Porto Arabia, which can host up to 800 boats.
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FEATURED COMMENT
good project