Located on the western shores of Dubai, Waterfront will transform 1.4 billion square feet of empty desert and sea into an international community that is twice the size of Hong Kong Island. Waterfront has two main components: the mainland, covering an area of 13km by 7.5km; and the Waterfront Islands, a six island ‘archipelago' stretching 15 km into the Arabian Gulf and covering a combined area of 2,300 hectares.

An international city for an estimated population of 1.4 million people, Waterfront is being developed along 15km of natural coastline in Dubai and will provide more than 70km of coastline in total, including the development of 23 per cent of the Arabian Canal. Waterfront has been planned to create long-term growth and investment for not only the UAE, but for the region at large. The sheer scale of the project will create one million jobs around it.

Nakheel will provide the necessary governance required to design, construct and operate Waterfront as a sustainable city. Guidelines for design, planning and building Waterfront will extend to all third party developers to cover energy conservation, water use and quality, waste management, location of utilities, and construction resources. International benchmarking tools will be used to monitor all aspects of building a sustainable city.

A vibrant community for a population of 80,000 residents and employment opportunities for 345,000 people, this district is the anchor for the entire project. Following the example of some of the more successful Central Business Districts in the world, it will be characterized as being compact with the buildings in close proximity to each other, easily accessible with many modes of transport, while also encompassing all the entertainment, leisure and service facilities which creates a vibrant and dynamic community.