Featured Image Credit: NASSER YOUNES / Stringer / KARIM SAHIB / Contributor / Getty
Dubai has long been known for it's impressive architecture and futuristic endeavours, with some astonishing construction projects all over the city.
It's home to the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa (opened in 2010), as well as a range of other massive malls and developments.
But what about the World Islands?
Lots of people have heard about them, but don't know much else.
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They were initially built as part of Dubai's plans to show that basically anything was possible if you spent enough money on it - completely man-made islands, around two miles off the coast of the city, laid out in a rough approximation of the seven continents.
They've been covered a lot on social media, most recently in a video by YouTubers Yes Theory, where they delved into the islands in real detail.
There's 260 islands in total, and each one is big enough to play host to a seriously lavish mansion or home.
Initially, there were many ambitious plans for the islands, including dreamed-up luxury hotels, resorts and more to make the island archipelago a haven for the rich.
However, not much has ever materialized, and the islands still remain mostly abandoned.
Despite this, they're completely empty, and there are a few attractions on the handful of islands that have been built upon.
This includes beach clubs and fine dining, but they're far from self-sufficient.
Most of the buildings there are apparently ran by diesel generators, which means fuel has to be shipped in every single day to keep things running.
Fair to say it's not the most sustainable setup.
Reports also indicate that the sand shipped in to create the islands has been eroding over time, meaning they might not be as permanent as you'd hope.
The project didn't come cheap, and apparently cost a staggering $12 billion - so you can understand if it didn't quite live up to expectations.
Despite being left untouched for quite a while, Dubai's tourist authority still maintains on its website that there's a wave of construction planned on the World Islands.
This apparently includes plans for new residences and mansions.
Plenty of sources have labelled it a massive failure, too, with Elite Traveller magazine calling it a "sandy ghost town", and Top Luxury labelling the islands one of "The Most Useless Megaprojects in the World".
Who knows what will happen next.
