Dubai’s beaches to grow fivefold: from 21 to 105 kilometres by 2040

One of the most-quoted items in Dubai's 2040 master plan is a fivefold increase in the length of public beaches. Here is what the figure is made of.

The arithmetic

• Today: about 21 km of coastline with public beaches, concentrated mainly on Jumeirah.
• By 2040: 105 km — an increase of 84 kilometres.

Where the length comes from

Palm Jebel Ali supplies more than half of the increase, on the order of 54 kilometres. Dubai's second palm has been officially restarted and is being built out in phases. The concept here is stated as different from Palm Jumeirah's: mangroves are planted along part of the shoreline for erosion protection and marine habitat, with cycle and pedestrian paths, water-sports facilities and recreation zones. An ecological approach rather than a purely resort one.

Al Mamzar is the programme's second large territory, where construction and residential sales are already under way.

What it means for the market

• Coastal housing becomes less scarce. The premium for proximity to water in Dubai is high precisely because there is little coast. An eighty-kilometre increase gradually erodes that logic — not cancelling it, but taking the edge off.
• A public beach nearby is a plus and a minus at once. It raises a district's appeal to live in and simultaneously brings traffic, parking pressure and noise. For a quiet villa that is not always an improvement.
• The horizon is 2040. Years separate a line in a plan from a built beach. Buying for a future shoreline is only sensible where the date is confirmed by contract.