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Palm Jumeirah Project Management Report
Palm Jumeirah Project Management Report
Executive
Summary
This
report
gives
an
overview
and
analysis
of
the
Palm
Jumeirah
project
in
Dubai.
The
Palm
is
a
large
artificial
island
built
off
the
cost
of
Dubai
and
used
for
luxury
tourism,
leisure
and
housing
developments.
The
projects
main
aims
and
objectives
were
to
strengthen
Dubais
international
recognition
and
attract
foreign
investors
to
help
diversify
its
economy.
This
was
to
be
achieved
by
constructing
the
island
in
as
short
time
as
possible
and
then
allowing
multiple
investors
construct
their
own
developments
on
the
island.
Because
of
the
time
pressure,
Nakheel,
the
developer,
chose
to
fast
track
the
land
reclamation
and
development
stages
before
the
finalisation
of
earlier
research
and
planning
phases.
This
decision
led
to
a
mixed
outcom
in
terms
of
project
management
and
deadlines
because
of
changing
plans,
design
and
organisational
structure.
However,
the
project
was
highly
successful
at
achieving
its
socio-economical
objectives
and
is
now
a
key
feature
of
Dubais
international
prestige
and
economic
strategy.
Table
of
Contents
EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION
STAKEHOLDERS
&
AIMS
OBJECTIVES
&
STRATEGY
PALM
JUMEIRAH
TODAY:
PROJECT
OVERVIEW
EVALUATION
OF
PROJECT
DESIGN,
PLANNING
AND
LIFE
CYCLE
ORGANISATIONAL
STRUCTURE
CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1
2
2
2
3
4
4
5
6
6
Introduction
The
Palm
Jumeirah
is
a
large
artificial
island
built
off
the
coast
of
Dubai
comprising
villas,
leisure
and
entertainment
facilities.
Between
2001
and
2004,
it
was
the
worlds
largest
and
most
ambitious
project
of
its
kind,
involving
over
25km2
of
new
land
being
created
and
extending
Dubais
beaches
by
about
78
km.
The
Palm
Jumeirah
takes
the
shape
of
a
palm
tree
and
is
divided
into
three
main
sections:
the
trunk,
which
is
1.9km
long
and
500m
wide
is
considered
the
hub
of
the
palm
because
it
consists
mostly
of
commercial,
retail
and
hotel
infrastructure.
The
fronds
and
the
spine
are
attached
to
the
trunk
and
extend
into
the
sea
laterally.
They
vary
in
length
from
600m
to
2km
and
are
mostly
residential
villas.
Finally,
the
crescent
is
an
elliptical
shaped
island
surrounding
the
Palm
offering
shore
protection
on
its
outer
side
and
luxury
hotels
land
use
and
beaches.
The project was divided into three main phases: 1) Identification of goals 2) Project design 3) Project implementation a. Reclamation of land b. Building infrastructure c. Building development The most important objective of the project was to complete the construction of the island (reclamation of land) as soon as possible so as to achieve pioneer status and fame. This would then allow for the construction of hotels, villas and facilities which would involve as many foreign investors as possible to decrease cost for the local government and further improve international recognition of Dubai.
As a result, Nakheel used the following strategy: the first initial two phases (identification and project design) were led and implemented by Nakheel in as short time as possible. The responsibility of the land reclamation phase was given to a single contractor and started as soon as initial plans were ready with the main objective being time. Meanwhile Nakheel carried on with the project design, promoted the project to foreign investors and coordinated their involvement in the latter stage. The key features of the project as designed and planned in the early stages are summarised below: Area Construction start Land reclamation target Construction completion target Total estimated cost Number of housing units Number of hotels on crescent 5.6km2 2001 Beginning 2004 2008 4 6 bn $ 4000 22
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Evaluation of project
In view of its initial aims and objectives the Palm Jumeirah project has achieved both successes and failures. Successes: The land reclamation phase was completed 4 months prior to deadline and established new records in terms of size and volume. Meanwhile the land usage and housing developments sold out within days and was the target of much international attention and speculation. This peaked when several members of the UK national football team expressed interest and invested in the project. The global interest and demand for the Palm Jumeirah led to the development and construction of two larger islands off the coast of Dubai which started in 2004. As a result, the initial aims of achieving pioneer status while sparking foreign interest in the tourism and urban development industry in Dubai was clearly attained. Negative aspects: On the other hand, revisions of the plan and design of the building development caused many hotels, infrastructures and facilities to be completed behind schedule, some more than 2 years after. The Palm now comprises over 8000 housing units, twice the original number and costs overran to approximately $12.3bn. Property owners and developers complain about the Islands overcrowding and insufficient infrastructures. The mixed outcomes of the Jumeirah project lead to the analysis of how the project was carried out and how effective were the strategies put in place. This involves the design and planning, the overlapping of stages in the project lifecycle and the projects organisational structure.
number of residential units sold on the Palm was increased from 4000 to an estimated 8000. Plans and infrastructure were changed multiple times which led to significant setbacks. In this case the overall construction phase fell behind schedule for two main reasons: The building development and infrastructure stages were happening in parallel, meaning changes in one directly impacted the other creating major perturbations in supply schedules and resource usage. Because of Nakheels strategy, which aimed to attract foreign investment, over 50 different contractors were involved in the latter stage of the Palm Jumeirah. The resulting complexity made it impossible to deal with the design and planning changes efficiently.
Organisational
structure
As
Nakheel
changed
the
project
scope
and
design
during
the
3rd
phase
to
comply
with
its
financial
and
foreign
investment
objectives,
it
also
changed
the
projects
organisational
structure
multiple
times.
The
structure
evolved
from
A
single
project
manager
overseeing
consultants
for
each
section
of
the
project
A
global
project
director
and
project
management
team
and
multiple
individual
project
managers
for
different
sections
each
overseeing
consultants
and
contractors
Project
organisational
structure
during
phase
3
As the project became increasingly more complex with the addition of new contractors and investors, so did the organisational structure. This led to a confusing hierarchy where the position and authority of different parties was unclear and confusing. As an example, local project management teams overseeing the construction of hotels would sometimes refer directly to Nakheel instead of their direct superior in the structure because the developer was considered a more reliable source of authority. The program direction and management team were therefore left outside the information
chain and Nakheel would make decisions without them. This resulted in multiple decisions, plans and allocations of resources being made simultaneously, which considerably slowed down the project and created confusion and frustration amongst the various contractors.
Conclusion
From
a
project
management
perspective,
the
Palm
Jumeirah
suffered
from
a
lack
of
initial
R&D
and
planning,
which
translated
into
multiples
changes
of
design
and
organisational
structure.
The
strategy
to
start
the
building
and
development
phase
3
before
the
completion
of
the
two
initial
phases
led
to
a
mixed
outcome.
On
one
hand
the
land
reclamation
stage
was
a
striking
success
in
time
and
scale
because
it
was
assigned
to
a
single
contractor
under
a
clear
project
structure.
On
the
other
hand
the
later
stages
gave
rise
to
an
increasingly
complex
project
with
multiple
hierarchies
and
contractors,
which
were
unable
to
cope
with
the
fast-tracking
strategy.
Nevertheless,
we
can
argue
that
the
Palm
Jumeirah
successfully
achieved
its
main
objectives,
which
were
to
improve
Dubais
international
standing
and
open
its
economy
to
foreign
investment
and
luxury
tourism.
The
interest
and
demand
for
the
Palm
was
such
that
Nakheel
soon
launched
two
bigger
artificial
islands
projects:
Palm
Jebel
Ali
and
Palm
Deira.
Moreover,
Dubai
is
now
a
global
business
and
tourism
hub
and
has
opened
its
economy
to
large-scale
foreign
investment.
Bibliography
Reports
and
Thesis
Darmaki,
I.
A.
(2008).
Globalisation
and
Urban
Development:
A
Case
Study
of
Dubai's
Jumeirah
Island
Mega
Project.
PHD
thesis,
University
of
Southampton,
School
of
Geography.
Orrill,
A.
R.
(2006).
Strategies
to
Overcome
Challenges
on
Multi-cultural
Construction
Projects
in
the
UAE.
Collaboratory
for
Research
on
Global
Projects.
Web
2daydubai.
(n.d.).
Dubai
Palm
Jumeirah.
Retrieved
03
20,
2011
from
2daydubai:
http://www.2daydubai.com/pages/dubai-palm-jumeirah.php
Hanlon,
M.
(2006,
08
08).
The
biggest
building
site
earth.
Retrieved
03
20,
2011
from
dailymail.co.uk:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-399673/The-biggest-building-site- earth.html
Moye,
C.
(2005,
08
20).
Palm
before
a
storm.
Retrieved
03
20,
2011
from
telegraph.co.uk:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/3344183/Palm-before-a-storm.html
oord,
V.
(n.d.).
Project
selector:
Palm
Jumeirah.
Retrieved
03
20,
2011
from
Vanoord.com:
http://www.vanoord.com/gb- en/our_activities/project_selector/palm_deira_developments/index.php
Other
Discovery
Channel:
Really
big
things:
Palm
Jumeirah
[Motion
Picture].