Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City is a city in
Ahmadi
Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...
, Kuwait built with canals forming of artificial shoreline. The city houses up to 250,000 residents.
The city was inaugurated in mid 2016.
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.
The first phase of the project was opened to the sea in 2004.
The multi-billion dollar development is within a 25-year construction period with ten phases.
Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City is the first urban area in Kuwait built entirely by the
private sector.
Wildlife
Recent reports demonstrate that
Persian Gulf shellfish
Shellfish is a colloquial and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater envir ...
and
finfish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of liv ...
fisheries are in serious decline, in particular those of
Kuwait. This decline is attributed to over fishing, pollution, loss of nursery ground, reduction in riverine input via the Shatt Al-Arab, and climate change. When completed in 2018,
Sabah Al-Ahmad Sea City
Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City is a city in Ahmadi, Kuwait built with canals forming of artificial shoreline. The city houses up to 250,000 residents. The city was inaugurated in mid 2016. The artificial islands that make up the area are unusual beca ...
,
Kuwait, will contain of waterways providing over 50% of extra coast line for
Kuwait. Seine netting and gargoor traps have been deployed annually, since the first phase (A1) of this coastal township was opened to the sea in 2004, to monitor Shell and Fin fish populations within the waterways. Present work describes the diversity and abundance of commercial (edible and potential ornamental value) species now inhabiting the waterways, which comprise over 60% of the species marketed in
Kuwait. Analysis of catch data reveals that the waterways act as spawning, nursery and feeding habitats for important species such as
Epinephelus coioides (Orange-Spotted Grouper),
Penaeus semisulcatus
''Penaeus semisulcatus'', the green tiger prawn or grooved tiger prawn, is a commercially important species of prawn in the genus ''Penaeus''.
Description
''Penaeus semisulcatus'' has a pale brown body which sometimes shows a greenish tint on th ...
(Banana Shrimp) and
Portunus segnis
''Portunus segnis'', the African blue swimming crab, is a species of crustacean, a swimming crab belonging to the family Portunidae. While native to the western Indian Ocean, it is also invasive in the Mediterranean. It is thought to have come ...
(Blue Swimming Crab). As no commercial fishing is allowed, the Sea City waterways act as a significant conservation area for Kuwait's fish stocks.
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:
Gallery
Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City - A3 Aerial Shot2.JPG
Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City - Beach sand.JPG
Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City - Phase 4 Lagoon.JPG
Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City - Phase A2 Aerial Shot.JPG
Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City - Phase A2 and Phase A3.jpg
Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City - Phase A2 Break Water.JPG
Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City - Phase A2.jpg
Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City - Phase A3 Aerial Shot.JPG
Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City - Phase A3 Lagoon 1.JPG
Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City - Phase A3 Lagoon.JPG
Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City - Phase A3.jpg
Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City - Phase A4.JPG
Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City Aerial Shot.JPG
Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City Aerial Shot1.JPG
Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City Aerial Shot2.JPG
Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City Lagoon and Groyne.JPG
Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City Satellite Image.jpg
See also
*
Madinat al-Hareer
*
Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway
*
Al Mutlaa City
*
Mubarak Al Kabeer Port
*
Kuwait National Cultural District
References
External links
* {{Official website, http://www.saasc.com/
Discovery Channel documentary
Port cities and towns in Kuwait
Port cities and towns of the Persian Gulf
Artificial islands