The Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) has completed the Masterplan of Waterfront City, a city to be built from scratch by Nakheel in Dubai. Waterfront City will form a vibrant centre for the larger 140,000,000 m2 Waterfront development. Waterfront is Dubai’s largest development to date providing homes for a prospective 1.5 million new inhabitants, effectively doubling Dubai’s population and creating one million jobs.

Located against Dubai’s western border, Waterfront will occupy the prime position between Dubai as the emerging metropolitan centre of the Gulf and neighbouring Abu Dhabi. OMA’s masterplan entails a total gross floor area of 11,800,00 m2 comprising of a central island surrounded by four neighbouring districts - the Boulevard, Madinat Al Soor, the Resort and the Marina.

Dubai-based developer Nakheel commissioned OMA in early 2007 to design a high density development that was free from dependency on the car. As a solution to this, Waterfront City is designed with the density of Manhattan in mind and offers a compact solution for a modern day metropolis. Commerce, retail, culture and private accommodation are programmatically overlapped to create a lively city centre within the Waterfront development. The inclusion of a central park, large mosque area and iconic landmark attractions will enable visitors and inhabitants to enjoy a vibrant city from street level.