Work has started on the 20 million sq ft City of Arabia project, one of the leading private sector projects in the Middle East, following the official ground-breaking ceremony last month.

Located on a site close to the Emirates Road, the first phase of City of Arabia – which is the anchor project in Dubailand – is due for completion in 2008.
The City of Arabia – which is situated on Emirates Road next to the Global Village – will be a new suburb of Dubai with around 40,000 inhabitants. It will include the Mall of Arabia, the Restless Planet dinosaur theme-park; the Elite Towers, which consist of 34 high-rise buildings for mixed commercial and residential use; and the Wadi Walk, a series of low-rise apartments alongside a flowing waterway, served by small electric water-taxis.
 Speaking at the ceremony, Ilyas Galadari, chairman of the Ilyas and Mustafa Galadari Group, the developer, commented: “The groundbreaking celebrates the beginning of a unique development for Dubai, offering a combination of retail, leisure, commercial and residential elements that will attract both local and international investment. The Restless Planet dinosaur theme attraction is already being compared with top theme parks in America and with an international team of experts guiding the project, is set to become an icon for Dubai that will be recognised around the globe.”
Middle East Foundations, which has won the piling contract, has started on boring the 13,000 piles that will form the foundations for the Mall of Arabia, one of the world’s largest malls and an important part of the City of Arabia.