Nakheel plan for relaunch takes shape

* username: rupertbu

The somewhat clunky advertising slogan that used to accompany Nakheel’s marketing read: “Where the vision of Dubai gets built”.

The property developer’s Palm Jumeirah project certainly captured the global imagination as celebrity residents burnished the emirate’s allure through the years of stellar growth.

But the projects became increasingly outlandish: reclaimed islands depicting the universe alongside others created to depict the Earth, two extra Palms and a reclaimed city twice the size of Hong Kong island. The height of the hubris came at the end of 2008 – just as the global economy was sliding into recession – when Nakheel unveiled plans for the world’s tallest tower.