Breathtaking new image of Dubai's future made public for the first time

It was released by Nakheel, the region's largest developer and a key force behind its most iconic developments, including world-famous man-made island The Palm Jumeirah.

The image was created by super-imposing renderings of the Nakheel's projects onto a recent satellite image of Dubai. It shows the changing face of Dubai's shoreline as the emirate's famous man-made islands - The Palm Trilogy and The World - grow into the Gulf while new residential and business districts expand the city into the desert.

Nakheel's release of the photo highlights the role these landmark projects are set to play in the region's future. Central to this are the three man-made islands which comprise The Palm Trilogy - The Palm Jumeirah, The Palm Jebel Ali and The Palm Deira. Between them, these three developments will add more than 400km of coastline to the shores of Dubai, and cover more than 60 square kilometres of land - more than the entire surface area of Manhattan (59 square kilometres). Alongside these is The World, an exclusive development of 300 islands in the shape of the map of the world, located 4km kilometres from the shore, and finally Nakheel's Waterfront development which will be a city for more than a million people.

Chris O'Donnell, Nakheel Chief Executive Officer, said:

"Ask anyone at Nakheel what they feel when they look at this new image and they'll say they feel extraordinarily proud - and they should. In the last six years, Nakheel has made excellent progress in building the vision of Dubai; from completing developments such as The Gardens, Jumeirah Islands and Ibn Battuta Mall to delivering the first residences at The Palm Jumeirah and International City. This vision is not exclusively about building icons, but developing a range of projects that cater to the differing demands of the market; from luxury waterfront villas built on landmarks to quality apartments at accessible prices.

"The satellite image demonstrates how we're continuing to turn the vision of Dubai into reality. If you fly over Dubai you can see projects such as The Palm Deira and The World taking shape; the future evolving right now in front of our eyes."