Dubai may not seem like the most likely place for a “miracle garden” but the first phase of the 721,000 square foot flowerfest was unveiled at Dubailand earlier this year. And now Dubai Properties Group (DPG) has announced that they will grow the world’s largest vertical garden and one of the world’s largest butterfly gardens as part of the project’s second phase.
Really, this shouldn’t surprise us. After all, this is the same Emirate that built the towering Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building when it first broke ground, and a ski slope (populated by live penguins, no less) in the middle of the desert.
Miracle Garden has been a huge success so far, according to Arabian Business. Only a few months old, the garden of 45 million flowers has already attracted 400,000 visitors, and the new attractions are expected to increase traffic to the improbable site.
(Bear in mind that Dubai and the other six Emirates have virtually no freshwater resources. All of the nation’s water supply is sucked up from the Arabian/Persian Gulf and then processed in energy-intensive desalination plants.)
In order to complete the next phase, DPG has partnered with Akar Landscaping & Agriculture Company to expand the existing Miracle Garden to include the massive vertical garden, though no specific details have been announced, along with an edible garden, where people will be encouraged to pluck their own fruits and vegetables.
There will also be a breeding station, where 10,000 live butterflies representing 40 different species will be hatched.
When the entire Dubailand project is complete, it will comprise a total area of 107 square miles, 45 “mega projects” and 200 sub projects, according to Wikipedia.
That is double the size of Walt Disney World Resort.
Organized in a series of worlds, namely Attractions and Experience World, Sports and Outdoor World, Eco-Tourism World, Themed Leisure and Vacation World, Retail and Entertainment World, and Downtown, Dubailand’s developers have already attracted $55 billion in private investment funds.
Vertical gardens are important and we look forward to seeing this one, but shouldn’t Dubai be a little more concerned about food security? Or something else a little less bombastic?
Author: Tafline Laylin
As a tour leader who led “eco-friendly” camping trips throughout North America, Tafline soon realized that she was instead leaving behind a trail of gas fumes, plastic bottles and Pringles. In fact, wherever she traveled – whether it was Viet Nam or South Africa or England – it became clear how inefficiently the mandate to re-think our consumer culture is reaching the general public. Born in Iran, raised in South Africa and the United States, she currently splits her time between Africa and the Middle East. Tafline can be reached at tafline (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
Dubai is governed by a social elite, so they created an elite garden.
This was their answer when they were told they should be ‘going green’….
Half of the city is covered in irrigation-intensive municipal plantings, along roadsides and intersections. It’s always struck me as a tragic missed opportunity to create a real visual statement and unique identity by planting climate-appropriate species; instead of trying to make Dubai look like a twee English village in late spring.