Dubai’s Artificial Islands and Space Colonies
Dec 2nd, 2009 by Kirk Sorensen
Reading about the financial meltdown in Dubai prompted me to do some reading on the construction of the famous artificial islands in Dubai that have so greatly increased its shoreline:
The first of these, the Palm Jumeirah, consists of a trunk, a crown with 16 fronds, and a surrounding crescent island that forms an 11 kilometer long breakwater. The island is 5 kilometers by 5 kilometers and its total area is larger than 800 football fields. It is anticipated to contain over 4000 residences, most of which enjoy the wonders of a beachfront property due to the land arrangement.
The most ambitious project, The Palm Deira, is currently on hold but was to be the largest of the Palm Islands, with an expected population of 1 million people.
Such talk causes me to draw comparisons with the O’Neill-style space colonies I was so fascinated with in my youth. One of the most compelling arguments for me then for space colonization was the concept of a “release-valve” on Terran population growth. The resources and energy available in space seemed to make such growth possible forever.
Interior of a Stanford-torus space colony.
I don’t feel that way about space colonization or population growth anymore, but the Palm Islands are probably the closest thing I can think of on Earth to the ambitious engineering required to build a space colony.
Nah.
Kansai International is a much more suitable example.
The *really* useful example is the Chunnel. Now, where did I leave that lunar lava tube, or that Martian cavern?