In a Dubai courtroom 11 years ago, a lawyer representing Nakheel, the state-run developer, faced accusations that its most ostentatious project was “dead”. Subsequent newspaper headlines gleefully warned: “Dubai fears end of The World”.
The collection of 300 man-made islands off the Gulf coast, arranged to resemble a world map and surrounded by a 27km breakwater, was announced in 2003 and intended to be the ultimate trophy real-estate project. Soon sand was being dredged, the islands…
