Dubai's $14 billion gigaproject finally accepting visitors 14 years after falling into 'coma'

The whole world is a stage, but when it comes to Dubai, that stage has been neatly shrunk down and turned into its own beach that bakes in the 96°F heat. It seems that bigger really is better in the Middle East, with countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates throwing trillions of dollars at colossal builds.

However, just like we've seen Saudi Arabia struggle with its ambitious project known as 'The Line', and it looks like the world's biggest hotel will never be fully open, Dubai has similarly hit more than a few bumps in the road with its archipelago known as 'The World Islands'.

Like how Saudi Arabia's Neom project is said to be on the brink of collapse, there were once fears that the World Islands would never welcome visitors. A pretty concerning fact, considering construction on the 300 islands supposed to make up an aerial view of our own planet first started back in 2003.

It's not that the World Islands aren't there, and if you've flown into Dubai International Airport, you might've seen them out there, some three miles off the coast and stretching across 232km of shoreline.

Having cost a jaw-dropping $14 billion, people were rightly worried that the World Islands were sunk when the financial crash of 2008 hit them hard.

By this point, 60% of the islands had been sold, although by 2012, only one was inhabited. More than this, overseer Nakheel Properties battled allegations that the islands were sinking, and in 2011, a lawyer for Nakheel claimed the project was 'in a coma'.

According to The Telegraph, it's a very different story in 2025.

The project has also dealt with people connected to islands who ended up behind bars, as well as further setbacks from the COVID-19 pandemic.

While most of the World Islands remain as uninhabited lumps of sand, a slew of tourists are finally vacationing there. The outlet explains how there is more activity than ever, with Austrian developer Josef Kleindienst still tinkering away on his 'Heart of Europe' resort.

Having initially bought the Austria island, Kleindienst went on to purchase Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, Monaco, and St Petersburg in hopes of developing a chain of high-end private residences and hotels that are connected by waterways.

20 years later, the Heart of Europe might be referred to as a 'work in progress' but is finally taking shape. Journalist Robert Jackman talks about a 200-room hotel inspired by Monaco, a private Swedish palace that has a roof shaped like a Viking boat, and a sunken sci-fi villa.

Four miles to the west, there's the Anantara World Islands resort that first opened its doors in 2020 and has been welcoming guests ever since.

Still, Jackman warns that parts of the World Islands are still a ghost town: "Travelling back from the Heart of Europe by boat, I’m struck by just how many of the sheer number of empty landmasses we pass.

“Looking back, it seems incredible that anyone spent $14bn (£10.6bn) on dredging these things up in the first place."

Dubai-based party venue Soho Garden has set up shop on what used to be Chile, while property developer Zaya has started selling private villas on the rebranded Zuhha Island.

Despite Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum once being a lone resident on the World Islands when he commissioned his own palace on the Greenland island back in 2011, it looks like the neighborhood is getting a little busier these days.

We hope he has a welcome basket of muffins ready.