6 of Dubai's mega-projects that we can't wait for: MGM Island to open in 2028
Over the last few decades, Dubai has created some world-famous masterpieces, from the Burj Khalifa to Palm Jumeirah.
But the best is yet to come – there are some mega projects in the pipeline that you definitely need to know about.
Some are still in the planning stages, with others taking a little longer than expected, or changing into something even better.
So without further ado, here are Dubai's uncompleted projects that we're seriously excited to see.
Al Maktoum International Airport
Plans for Al Maktoum International Airport (Credit: Dubai Media Office)
First opening in 2010, there are plans to make Al Maktoum International Airport the largest capacity in the world.
Beginning with cargo flights only, the first phase of the airport started humbly, but in 2024, the Dubai government confirmed the long-term goals of this major project.
As part of the plans for the airport's expansion, Dubai South will become something of an aerotropolis with new neighbourhoods and residential developments in the pipeline.
As for the airport itself, eventually it will have capacity for a whopping 260 million passengers annually.
The interior of the planned new look for Al Maktoum International Airport (Credit: Dubai Media Office)
Plans released in 2025 outline that there will be three key phases in developing the project, which is set to be five times the size of DXB.
Eventually, the airport will be home to more than 400 aircraft gates, have five parallel runways, five passenger terminal buildings and an underground train system.
Current indications suggest that we'll have to wait until 2050 for this project to be completed.
You can find everything you need to know in our guide to Al Maktoum International Airport here.
Dubai World Islands
Dubai World Islands
The Dubai World Islands is a pretty cool design. Who wouldn't want to take a trip to Europe that only takes 20 minutes from Dubai?
Designed to look like a map of the world, the project first began in 2003, but work paused around 2008.
Dormant for some time, the islands saw a surge of life in 2014 when the Kleindienst Group launched the Heart of Europe development. The Anantara World Islands resort then opened in December 2021, making it the first resort to do so on World Islands.
The Raining Street can be found in the Heart of Europe (Credit: Supplied)
Although not all the islands have been built on, you can visit the Raining Street in the voco Monaco Dubai Hotel.
More projects are planned for World Islands, including a Danish-style hygge hotel, a Maldives-inspired Honeymoon Island and the Marbella Resort Hotel.
All oozing in luxury, the destination is set to make for a fabulous stay-cay over the coming years. There looks set to be more developments at World Islands in the years to come.
Palm Jebel Ali
How Palm Jebel Ali should look once completed (Credit: Dubai Media Office)
Construction paused on the project for more than 15 years following a break in 2008, which has left the island lying dormant for the better part of two decades.
But, last year, it was announced that property developer Nakheel was coming back to the table to breathe new life into the white elephant.
While the foundations have been laid, several practical infrastructure developments still need to be completed.
The man-made island is twice the size of Palm Jumeirah, but there are no completed projects on it.
However, in 2023, plans were revitalised by Nakheel to bring hotels and resorts, beach clubs and even a 'celebration village' to the islands.
Futuristic buildings of the Gateway Bridge on Palm Jebel Ali plans
The island spans 13.4 kilometres of land with 10.5 million square metres of development and 16 distinctive fronds offering a total of 110 kilometres of coastline and 91 kilometres of beachfront, which will eventually be home to 35,000 families.
No specific date has been provided for when work can be expected to be completed, but some real estate developers have provided a handover date of 2027 for property on the island.
The Island
The Island (Credit: Mirageglobal.com)
The Island was first announced in 2017, and is still yet to be completed, after originally being rumoured as a home for the first UAE casino.
In 2023, it was confirmed that Ras Al Khaimah would instead be home to the UAE's first casino, but the Dubai Vegas-style island will still go ahead without the gaming.
Now under construction, the island is being built out into the sea next to Jumeirah, and will boast three iconic hotels, the MGM, Bellagio and Aria.
As well as views of the Burj Al Arab and an extended beachfront, guests and visitors will be able to enjoy cafes, restaurants, lagoons and even a huge in-house entertainment venue.
An earnings call in July 2025 revealed that the MGM Island project should be open in the second half of 2028.
Six Senses Dubai Marina
Credit: Select Group
Announced in 2024 as the latest addition to Dubai Marina, the tower will be the world's tallest residential building upon completion.
The first part of the skeleton structure has already been constructed, and design images of the project have shown the new building standing well above the likes of Marina 101 (425m) and Princess Tower (414m).
Expected to have 122 floors and a series of 251 luxury apartments, the building will have a wellness theme, with a crystal sound healing room and a huge 25m lap pool.
Credit: Select Group
If you're lucky enough to call this place home, residents will benefit from amenities such as its Sleep With Six Senses bedrooms filled with everything wellness, including bespoke features like a wellness wardrobe (yes please) stocked with home fitness equipment and mood-enhancing sensory art.
If you like reading this: Why you need to know about these skyscrapers coming soon to Dubai
Construction for this one is expected to be completed by 2028.
Therme Dubai
Therme Dubai is set to be located near One Za'abeel (Credit: Diller Scofido + Renfro)
Therme Dubai will feature a massive interactive park, the world's largest indoor botanical garden and three 18-metre waterfalls.
The Dhs2 billion project will be built in Zabeel Park, one of the largest parks in Dubai, and is slated to open in 2028.
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed described the Therme Dubai as 'an iconic addition to Dubai's skyline.'
The project, designed to host 1.7 million visitors every year, will be set over a 500,000 square feet area and have a building height of 100 metres.
In other Dubai news
Al Karama to become car-free zone: Dubai's Super Block initiative explained
And three other neighbourhoods will also get the same transformation
Drive in Dubai? What you need to know about Salik (and how it could cost you)
The toll gate rules have just been updated
Here's what the colour of your Dubai taxi roof actually means
There are seven colours and they all have different meanings
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You know that feeling when you go camping and everything works out really well? No, me neither. But as a broke single dad, summers invariably used to involve at least one week sitting in a cheap tent somewhere in Yorkshire waiting for the rain to stop. The summer of 2014 was particularly memorable as my seven-year-old and I were joined in Robin Hood's Bay by, drum roll, Ex-Hurricane Bertha! Yes, I did eventually manage to catch up with the tent as it blew down the hill. No, I didn't notice the huge tear until I'd put the wretched thing up and unloaded the car. Yes, I had left the coolbox full of food at home on the kitchen table. No, I didn't cry that much. The cottage looked adorable online. Exactly the kind of place you would choose if this was your first trip to Sardinia and you really wanted to see the island at its best. 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Everywhere reeked of jasmine, the hotel restaurant did a cocktail that became my main source of hydration, and the thrill of pulling off a good holiday, having glimpsed the prospect of a nightmare one, kept us buzzing all week. Best of all, there was a TV in our bathroom. One rainy morning me and both kids watched all of Mamma Mia! while up to our necks in hot bubbles. Money: is there nothing it can't do? • Read our full guide to Sardinia A week on the beach at Watergate Bay in Cornwall has been a fixture on our family calendar from the get-go, with Granny and Grandpa stalwart supporters for many of those years. Accommodation has ranged from hotels to cottages to campsites. Our beach buddies have included like-minded London families and, now, teenage friends from school. Every year is the same, but also different. We surf. It rains (heavily) twice. The kids grow ever more capable. At the end of it we always wish we could stay another week. We got our timing wrong with ski holidays. I'd heard loads of stories from the locals about how their children were skiing straight out of the cradle (well, almost) and so tried our son, Sam, in ski school in La Plagne, France, when he was three. When we picked him up later his face was white with dried tears and snot. He did one more day and then we gave up — and no one skied much after that. He loves it now, of course, but we should have waited until he was in reception year back home and not so freaked out by the company of strangers. • 16 of the best family adventure holidays Renting an out-of-season villa in the middle of nowhere in Umbria was risky. There was little close by for the kids to do, it was too early in the year to use the pool, and the nearest shop was half an hour's drive away if we ran out of milk (aka wine). In fact, we whiled away a surprisingly sunny week playing football and Frisbee in the garden, ate vats of no-frills pasta on the terrace, day-tripped to hilltop Assisi for great views and gelato, and discovered a vineyard within walking distance, where the owner lavished hunks of parmesan on the kids as we sampled the vino. It's the most relaxed I've ever felt on holiday. Everyone loves Cornwall, apparently. Well, everyone can't have spent the best part of a day stuck in a traffic jam en route listening to the chirpy Peppa Pig theme tune at the start of each new episode on the iPad. My two-year-old was sick several times on the journey — we later discovered she has chronic travel sickness — and our rented cottage had a death-trap staircase our daughter wanted to spend the entire day going up and down. Plus, the 'short drive' to the nearest beach was not so short once you'd factored in hours spent battling for a parking space. 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When it stopped raining we collected driftwood from the beach and made a campfire, but got nothing but black smoke. We thought we'd go for a meal then realised we couldn't get anywhere without packing up again. The boys went back to their iPads in the van, while my husband and I sat silently outside in the cold and dark, watching other families happily barbecuing and drinking beers. Mum died. Not on the holiday, but before. Also before was the London Olympics, so the biggest month of my professional career. Bradley Wiggins had won Great Britain's first gold medal and I was waiting to speak with him when I got the call to say come home, quick. She went that night. I took one day off then carried on working. So there was no time to grieve, no time to process and when we finally got to our villa that was beginning to show, physically and mentally. Then I fell down the stairs. Speaking to the owners about an air-con issue, I must have dripped water on my way up, slipped on it coming down. Marble. Top to bottom. Not good. At least I wasn't hospitalised. Shame, because it was lovely, I'm told. Roberto ran the house and cooked for us — 'very fresh, very typical' — and one of my lads still says it's the best villa we've had. Pity I wasn't really around to enjoy it. Just came back from it, thanks for asking. Only ten days, but as the family gets older it's harder to be in one place together. But this was us — my three sons, all the girls, even our Australian exiles. The villa in Zakynthos was superb, again — 'I reckon better than that one in Sardinia where you fell down the stairs,' said Art — we swam in the Ionian Sea, Rob fanned the barbecue and Will cooked some nights, so we dined like gods. And Art has a new Australian hip now, so is getting his life back. No crutches any more. I could have whiled away hours just watching him walk. 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Alas, the cottage was not as described: one tiny broken bed, several broken windows and a swamp for a driveway. Which would have been fine except it was raining, from the minute we arrived to the minute we left (three days early). Which would have been fine except the farmer who rented it lived right next door. He was a lonely old man who tried to whittle wooden animals but always ended up with wooden mushrooms. He liked to come into our kitchen to make himself a brew. We left with two mushrooms and three colds — and a renewed gratitude for our own cosy home. In 2010 we decided to take some risks on our third and final family holiday before Child A started school. We set off on a four-week camper van trip across France feeling like expert parents. For the first three weeks and two days it rained, and we were worn down by the damp, the drudgery, the fermé signs in every restaurant window. Then, for the first and probably last time, I decided to hang the expense. I booked us into the most expensive luxury château I could find in Bordeaux. We arrived and a team of valets unpacked all our waterlogged equipment. They hung our bell tent in the wine cave to dry while we sat on the terrace ordering lunch. The sun came out and I don't think I've ever been happier. Even though I grew up a few hours away, I'd shamefully never taken the family to Montreal. Last October we stepped out of the Gare Centrale just as the autumn leaves were peaking and summer was heaving a final sigh. Obviously we headed straight out for poutine at La Banquise. Then we hit Saint Laurent Boulevard, which is rammed with vintage boutiques, and relaxed on Larrys café patio just as the Halloween revelry was getting into gear — children in zoo animal onesies on the early shift, sexy nurses and Village People on the late one. My eldest was so charmed she decided to go to university there. • Canada's most fun city break — with a French twist Living in Shanghai with two toddlers was intense, so we booked a week in Yunnan, the mountainous province in China's west, for some fresh air and exercise. Right off the bat we realised how badly we'd planned, showing up in historic Lijiang during a high-traffic public holiday with a double buggy and a hotel reservation at the top of a steep, cobbled hill. The girls, with their white-blonde hair, endured constant curiosity from crowds reaching out to touch them. After dinner in the old town, two of us got food poisoning from a misguided bowl of yak curry and spent the night on the floor of the lavatory. We gave it another day but ended up quitting after two nights. Share your own family holiday highs and lows in the comments
