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Dubai: Promoters call it a "true city-within-a-city." A look at the project's development plans shows the statement to be slightly misleading.
In sheer size it will be a new city in its own right, and not a city within anything. Being developed on an area of 140 square kilometres, Dubai World Central (DWC) will add 900,000 inhabitants to the city's current population of 1.35 million.
The government launched DWC in May last year with the aim of making Dubai a global aviation and logistics hub serving two billion people in neighbouring regions.
Officials point out that most major cities in these regions are within a distance of three-to-four flying hours from Dubai.
Initial development cost estimate for the entire project is about $33 billion. There is no deadline for finishing the project, but the main facilities will be operational within 10 to 15 years.
The central part is an international airport, 40 kilometres from the existing Dubai International Airport, that will have a capacity to handle 120 million passengers and 12 million tonnes of cargo per year.
"Dubai does not have to worry about passenger and cargo capacity for the next 50 years and beyond," Michael Proffitt, chief executive officer of Dubai Logistics City (DLC), told reporters during a recent site tour to show construction progress.
DLC is another key part of DWC and a Kuwaiti firm has been awarded a Dh1.5-billion contract for the main buildings.
Work on the first 4.5-kilometre runway is almost half complete.
The Dubai World Central International Airport (JXB) will have six parallel runways and as many concourses. A 92-metre high control tower is set to become another aviation landmark in the Middle East.
Main components
Airport: It will be the world's biggest passenger and cargo hub. It will have an annual handling capacity of 120 million passengers and 12 million tonnes of cargo.
Logistics city: The logistics zone will benefit from its proximity with the Jebel Ali Free Zone and Jebel Ali Port. It is designed to become the region's leading logistics hub catering to some two billion people living in the Middle East, South Asia, Africa and Central Asia.
Commercial city: This section will be DWC's business and finance hub featuring more than 850 towers, from 6 to 75 storeys in height. The city, expected to employ 130,000 people, will also have 25 hotels.
Residential city: It will have a mix of two-storey villas and luxury apartment blocks ranging up to 24-storeys in height. Up to 250,000 people are expected to live in the area.
Golf resort: It will feature two 18-hole golf courses, practice facilities, driving ranges, putting greens, a luxury clubhouse with restaurants and a pro-shop.
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