When completed, Mohammed Bin Rashid City in Dubai, also called the Mall of the World, will be the biggest of its kind. This city-sized enclosure will measure 4.5 million square meters.
This massive project was unveiled in July by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the ruler of Dubai and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates. The project is to be located between Sheikh Zayed Road, Al Khail Road and Emirated Road. A key feature of this massive structure is its energy efficiency.
The conditions inside of the MBR city will be partly controlled by a retractable glass dome. It can be closed in summer to avoid overheating, and will be opened during winter to ensure that the inside temperature stays cool. This small metropolis will also follow the green guidelines of the Smart Dubai model with its use of solar power.
Proposed Construction of Dubai’s “Mall of the World”
The structure will have parks, trees, and plants which will be irrigated by grey water treatment plants. Aside from using solar energy, the Mall of the World project will also follow other green guidelines to ensure that all the buildings constructed are environment friendly.
The Mall of the World is actually a revival of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Gardens project that was announced in 2008. Its master plan originally costs $60 billion and covers an area of about 74 square kilometers. The announcement made by the Sheikh indicated that the MBR City’s park would be 30 percent larger than the Hyde Park in London.
The planned Mall of the World project is said to be even bigger than the Dubai Mall. There will be about 100 hotels in this structure and the developers of the project are projecting around 80 million visitors per year.
Universal Studios, a film company in the United States, is part of the development team. They are building a Universal Studios theme park inside the mall. This theme park is to be located in the proposed Dubailand theme park. However, that plan has been on hold, and it is not sure if it will be incorporated within the mall.
It was also announced that there would be a number of golf courses under well-known international names. This is in lieu of the stalled plan to build a golf course in Dubailand which is to be called The Tiger Woods.
The Mall of the World will also be connected to the rest of Dubai by means of a “Cultural Crossing.” The project organizers envision this avenue to be filled largely with art galleries.
Components of the Mall of The World
There are four basic components of the Mall of the World project. The park, hotels and Universal Studios comprise one component. There will also be a retail component and an art component. The fourth component will be “a unique area that will provide an integrated environment for entrepreneurship and innovation in the region,” according to the developers of the Mall of the World project.
A specific timetable for the project is not yet available. However, the announcement of the Mall of The World project made mention of the projected 90 million passengers passing through Dubai Airport every year by 2018.
