Al Reem Island

About

Al Reem Island (Arabic: جزيرة الريم), commonly known as Reem Island, is a natural island 600 metres (2,000 ft) off the coast of Abu Dhabi Island. Developed since the mid-2000s as a high-density mixed-use district, it is now largely built out with residential towers and commercial uses. Since April 2023 it has formed part of the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) jurisdiction. The Department of Culture and Tourism, lists Al Reem Island among the emirate's principal areas for visitor accommodation, alongside Saadiyat Island, the Corniche, and Al Maryah Island. The 2024 census recorded 59,725 usual residents.

Before large-scale construction, Al Reem Island was an undeveloped natural island of sand and mangrove forest off Abu Dhabi's northeastern coast. It was also known locally as Abu Al Shuoom. The Abu Dhabi government announced plans in late 2004 to develop the island as Reem Island, with an estimated investment of Dh35 billion. Three master developers: Tamouh Investments (about 60 per cent of the project), Sorouh Real Estate, and Al Reem Investments were assigned separate districts. In February 2006 the first major residential sales phase, marketed as Pearl of the Emirates, opened apartments to foreign buyers on extendable 99-year leasehold terms, among the earliest large-scale expatriate sales in the capital. Early marketing also used names such as The Pearl and Emirates Pearl Island. Building work from 2005 onward substantially altered the island's ecology. By 2011 the Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi (EAD) reported that more than half of Al Reem Island's mangrove cover had been lost since development began in 2005, part of wider mangrove pressure from Reem and Saadiyat Island projects. In August 2012 EAD halted an unauthorised clearing of about 60,000 m² of mangroves intended to widen the northern channel by 75 m, requiring the unnamed developer to submit a mangrove management plan and fund compensatory replanting. Mangroves remain along parts of the northern shoreline. The global financial crisis slowed the island's first tower phases. Sorouh and Tamouh delayed handovers in 2010 while authorities certified completed high-rises, but Sorouh began handing over the Sun and Sky towers in the first quarter of 2011. Sun and Sky, with Tamouh's Marina Square, were among the first large projects on the island and among the first in Abu Dhabi to offer non-Emirati buyers freehold apartments. Sky Tower in Shams Abu Dhabi was completed in 2010 at 292.2 metres (959 ft) and, for a time, ranked among the city's tallest buildings. Sorouh Real Estate merged with Aldar Properties in June 2013, consolidating Sorouh's Shams Abu Dhabi masterplan and Gate-area assets under Aldar. Construction accelerated after the early delays; by 2021 more than 100 towers had been completed on the island. UAE Cabinet Decision No. 41 of 2023 brought the island into the Abu Dhabi Global Market jurisdiction from 24 April 2023.

Al Reem Island covers roughly 8.8 square kilometres (3.4 sq mi). It lies in the capital's northeastern island group, about 600 metres (2,000 ft) off Abu Dhabi Island, with road bridges to Saadiyat Island's Cultural District and Al Maryah Island. The main districts are Shams Abu Dhabi (Gate, Sun and Sky Towers, Shams Boutik), Marina Square (Tamouh), Najmat (GEMS World Academy), and the Makers District on the waterfront. Most housing is in high-rise apartment towers. The 2024 census recorded 59,725 usual residents in the Al Reem Island district, up about 8 per cent from 55,225 in 2023, a population density of roughly 18,000. A 2015 master plan from the island's developers said the island could eventually hold more than 210,000 people. Walkways, canal-side promenades, and cycle paths link the tower districts along the mangrove shoreline and waterfront. Aldar reported in 2017 that more than 23 km (14 mi) of walkways and 3.65 km (2.3 mi) of promenades were nearing completion, including a public beach overlooking the mangroves and a 2.4 km (1.5 mi) canal through Shams Abu Dhabi crossed by ten bridges; As of 2019, beach and canal-side paths formed an interconnected route of more than five kilometres. By road, the island is linked to Abu Dhabi Island, the mainland, and neighbouring islands through bridges and highway connections. The Umm Yifeenah Bridge, opened in February 2023, is an 11-kilometre (7 mi) highway link from Al Reem Island across Umm Yifeenah Island to mainland Abu Dhabi, and the first phase of the Mid-Island Parkway, which is planned to connect Al Reem Island, Saadiyat Island, Al Raha Beach, and Khalifa City by 2028. In March 2026 two marine bridges opened on the island: one linking the Tamouh (Marina Square) and Shams Abu Dhabi districts, with pedestrian walkways and cycle paths, and another providing a direct route from Al Reem to Saadiyat Island and the mainland highway network east of the capital, allowing motorists to bypass central Abu Dhabi Island. Larger shopping is mostly at Reem Mall.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.