6 throwback photos which show Palm Jumeirah's incredible transformation

Time Out Dubai

20-05-2025

It's hard to imagine Dubai without the remarkable Palm Jumeirah.
The palm tree shaped man-made archipelago is an iconic symbol of Dubai built in the Arabian Gulf.
As any visitor to the impressive The View at The Palm will know, the original plans for the design of the archipelago was for it to look like a sun instead of a palm tree.
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But eventually the stylised tree design was chosen. The island has the shape of a palm with a trunk, a crown with 16 fronds (the leaves) and a surrounding crescent that acts as a breakwater.
The project then launched in 2001 to capitalise on the rapidly growing tourism industry in Dubai by growing the coastline for tourists and to not disrupt the existing ports in the emirate.
And actual construction got under way in 2003 by Nakheel, which was a newly-launched property developer at the time, and took just four years to be completed.
The early days of Palm Jumeirah construction (Credit: Nakheel)
Palm Jumeirah history: The Palm looks totally different back before there were any buildings on it (Credit: Nakheel)
According to IHC Dredging, the company behind the sand at Palm Jumeirah, the Dubai rulers requested that the island be built entirely from sand and rocks with no steel or concrete used in construction.
A total of 9 million tonnes of rocky material, obtained from 16 Dubai quarries, and 110 million cubic metres of sand was used to create the new land.
The final palm design means that it is home to more than 40km of shoreline and, in turn, a whole host of the city's most famous hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues.
By 2006, people had begun to move into some of the luxury residences on Palm Jumeirah.
Palm Jumeirah as it used to look (Credit: Nakheel)
Old Dubai: Palm Jumeirah pictured in 2008 looking a lot less busy than it is today (Credit: Shutterstock)
Nowadays, Palm Jumeirah is a bustling hive of activity with some of the best nightlife, entertainment venues and places to unwind in the city.
It is home to several of the city's most well-known hotels including both Atlantis, The Palm and Atlantis, The Royal as well as one of Dubai's best shopping destinations – Nakheel Mall.
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The Palm is full of life and is one of the busiest areas of modern Dubai. It's home to approximately 80,000 people these days.
It's instantly recognisable whenever you're looking on Google Maps for your next place to go.
One of the best ways to get around is by using the Palm Monorail which connects several key landmarks on the archipelago including Al Ittihad Park and Atlantis Aquaventure Waterpark.
(Credit: Nakheel)
(Credit: Nakheel)
So what of the future? Well, while new restaurants constantly open Palm Jumeirah, work is underway on another palm-tree shaped island.
Palm Jebel Ali was launched in 2002, a year after Palm Jumeirah was announced, but construction work stalled in 2008.
But after 15 years, work is back underway on the second of Nakheel's Palm Islands projects.
The island will span 13.4 kilometres of land with 10.5 million square metres of development, offering a total of 110 kilometres of coastline and 91 kilometres of beachfront, which will eventually be home to 35,000 families.
While work is back underway on the island, we're still a while away from seeing it filled up with luxury hotels, high-end restaurants and things to do.
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