'Future City' in making: Dubai gearing up for Mall of the World

The design work for phase one of the Dh25 billion Mall of the World is underway, a senior Dubai Holding executive has said.

“We are into the detail design of the mall and the focus is currently on the phase one,” Dubai Holding Chief Executive Officer Fadel Al Ali said during last week’s launch of Dh1 billion Marasi Business Bay project.

“We have already coordinated with all the authorities such as Road and Transport Authority, Dubai Electricity and water Authority and Dubai Municipality,” he stated, adding the project will be built over a period of 15 years with the funding spread over the same period.

In December 2015, Emirates 24|7 reported that Dubai Holding expects to commence work on the mall in 2017.

“It is expected that work on the implementation of the project will begin after the completion of obtaining the necessary approvals from government agencies concerned which is expected to be obtained by late 2016,” Ahmad bin Byat, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of Dubai Holding, said.

The mixed-use development will span a land area of 1.7 million square metres in the centre of Dubai and will be built in two phases. It is expected to take the project, which extends over 1.7 million square meters and includes almost 278 building implementation, 10 to 15 years.

The new master plan is focused on providing visitors and residents with connectivity to the surrounding city, with seven modes of transportation: a network of 33 roads, 152,500 square metres of walkways and plazas, bicycle routes, availability of bus and shuttle services, metro and tramlines as well as gondola rides.

The Mall of the World will have five components - retail, residential, office, hospitality, and entertainment – comprising 278 buildings across 3,525,000 square metres.

The layout and design includes shaded parks, sidewalks, temperature controlled arcades, malls and bridges in short distances in order to provide maximum comfort to pedestrians.

In September 2015, Morgan Parker, Chief Operating Officer of Sufouh Development, the new company set up to oversee the development of Mall of the World, told Emirates24|7 that they were aiming to build the Mall of the World as a 'future city' of Dubai.

Read: Dubai's Dh25bn Mall of the World will now be a 'future city’

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