Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City is a city in Al Khiran Kuwait built with canals forming 200 kilometres (120 mi) of artificial shoreline. The city houses up to 250,000 residents.[1][2] The city was inaugurated in mid 2016.[3][4] The artificial islands that make up the area are unusual because they were built excavating large channels in desert land rather than using reclaimed land. The city is considered a pioneering project in the region due to its environmentally sustainable construction techniques.[5][6]

Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City مدينة صباح الأحمد البحرية
Country	Kuwait
District	Ahmadi Governorate
Founded by	Kuwait
Time zone	UTC+3 (AST)

The first phase of the project was opened to the sea in 2004.[5] The multi-billion dollar development is within a 25 year construction period with ten phases.[1] Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City is the first urban area in Kuwait built entirely by the private sector.

Environmental impact

The environmental impact of the development, from the standpoint of marine life, has been seen as positive and sustainable. According to studies of the development:[5]

Within the waterways, a full range of man-made marine habitats have been created. These include intertidal beaches, tidal flats, mangrove and salt marshes on islands, together with subtidal sand and rock benthic habitats. These have been monitored with daily physical and annual biological surveys. Importantly, this data provides new information on the natural colonization rates and development of Gulf soft substrate intertidal and sub-tidal marine communities. Within 5 years of opening to the sea, all artificially created marine habitats have a species richness and abundance close to, or exceeding, that of similar open sea natural habitats in Kuwait. Over 1000 species of macrobiota now exist within the desert waterways including 100 species of fish and shellfish.

Gallery

See also

• Madinat al-Hareer
• Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway
• Al Mutlaa City
• Mubarak Al Kabeer Port
• Kuwait National Cultural District
• Kuwait Vision 2035

References

External links

• Official website
• Discovery Channel documentary