$5bn Dubailand project stuns local business

Dubai has launched one of the biggest construction projects in the world, the $5 billion Dubailand mixed-use theme park, a Middle East answer to Disneyland.

To be built on two billion square feet of land behind the Emirates Road stretching from the back of Emirates Hills down almost to The Creek, the theme park consists of 45 separate projects from a space exploration exhibition to full-size dinosaur enclosure.

Phase One with the core facilities will be completed within two years, while the progress of the rest of the project depends on the willingness of the private sector to participate in this immense project.

Announcing the project to the Dubai community Crown Prince General Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum sharply called on local businessmen not to keep their money in a bank account but to invest in Dubai.

Dubailand includes the biggest shopping mall in the world, The Mall of Arabia, several new five-star hotels including one built in sand dunes, an indoor ski-slope, a complex of sports stadiums, and an ecological dome to grow vegetation in the heart of the desert.

There will also be an equestrian centre, aviation display, modern art gallery, water amusement park, multi-cultural garden complex, the largest zoo in the Middle East, Pyramids and much more.

However, the most striking thing about Dubailand will be its immense scale. This is a huge area of land and the project will be almost as large as the present built-up area of Dubai.

Dubailand is designed to entertain and amuse the 15 million tourists a year Dubai intends to attract and will vastly add to the hospitality infrastructure of the emirate. This is to be nothing less than the leisure and entertainment hub of the Middle East, and a world-class tourism attraction similar to Disneyland in Florida.

Once again the vision of His Highness has stunned the Dubai business community. But this project has been two years in creation and there will be a spate of announcements about local and international groups' participation in Dubailand over the next few months.

For anyone who wondered what future guests staying in Dubai would do with their time, and how they would spend their money this is the answer. Dubailand is a bold vision of the modern Middle East and its own dynamic will be the key to its success.