Hulhumalé (; Dhivehi: ހުޅުމާލެ) is a reclaimed island located in the south of North Malé Atoll,

Maldives The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in South Asia located in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, abou ...

. The

artificial island An artificial island or man-made island is an island that has been Construction, constructed by humans rather than formed through natural processes. Other definitions may suggest that artificial islands are lands with the characteristics of hum ...

is being built up by pumping sand from the sea floor, in order to meet the existing and future housing, industrial and commercial development demands of the

Malé Malé is the capital and most populous city of the Maldives. With a population of 211,908 in 2022 within its administrative area and coterminous geographical area of , Malé is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The city i ...

region and as a response to the threat posed by

rising sea levels The sea level has been rising from the end of the last ice age, which was around 20,000 years ago. Between 1901 and 2018, the average sea level rose by , with an increase of per year since the 1970s. This was faster than the sea level had e ...

. The official settlement was inaugurated by President

Maumoon Abdul Gayoom Maumoon Abdul Gayoom ( ; born Abdulla Maumoon Khairi; 29 December 1937) is a Maldivian politician, statesman, diplomat and scholar who served as the 3rd president of the Maldives from 1978 to 2008. He previously served as the Minister of Tra ...

on May 12, 2004. The development and management of the island is undertaken by a government-owned corporation called Housing Development Corporation (formerly Hulhumalé Development Unit and Urbanco), incorporated on March 23, 2005. Land reclamation has increased the island's area to , making it the fourth largest island in the Maldives. the island has a population of more than 50,000; it is planned to house as many as 240,000 by the mid-2020s.

Location within Malé City

Hulhumalé is located northeast of the airport island of Hulhulé, to which it is connected by a causeway: Hulhumalé is also represented at the local level by one councilor in the Malé city council.

History

Reclamation of Hulhumalé began on October 16, 1997, on the Hulhulé-Farukolhufushi lagoon off the northwest coast of Malé. Initial reclamation (or Phase I), consisting of 45% of land mass, , was carried out by the Ministry of Construction and Public Works (MCPW) at a cost of

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11 million. The project was then continued by a Belgian Joint Venture Company, International Port Engineering and Management (IPEM) and Dredging International (DI) costing an estimated US$21 million. All the works involving reclamation and coastal structure development covered in Phase I were completed by June 2002, and 1,000 residents moved to the island in 2004. In the next phase of reclamation, completed in 2015, were added; and, by the end of 2019, there were more than 50,000 residents.

Development

A basis of development known as Phase I was formed under the first Master Plan which was completed in July 2001 by a

consortium A consortium () is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations, or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a ...

of consultants from

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with the contribution of many government agencies, committees and individuals. It conceptually defines the long-term land use and development strategy (including urban design proposals, transportation plans and utility infrastructure) with considerations for future infrastructure connections to the adjacent Phase II and planned airport extension areas. The Master Plan is to be periodically reviewed and adjusted to include advances in development. Phase I of the Master Plan includes: Stage 1A (completed) * A 280-room apartment complex with a combination of 2,3 and 4 bedroom units * An integrated

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and

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

housing 20 classrooms * A public building for government and social requirements containing 32 units * A hospital with 50 bed capacity * A

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

for 1500 people * Four commercial buildings with a total of 48 units * An asphalt-paved road network approximately long * An adequate land space for the cultivation of indigenous plants and imported varieties Stage 1B (to be completed by December 2005) * 232 condominium housing units * 120 basic housing units * 169 beach plots * 56 standard plots * 132

terraced house A terrace, terraced house ( UK), or townhouse ( US) is a type of medium-density housing which first started in 16th century Europe with a row of joined houses sharing side walls. In the United States and Canada these are sometimes known as row ...

s * 280 housing units * 57 residential beach front plots * 109 residential beach plots * 56 residential standard plots * 132 plots for terraced housing * A public building with 32 public units * 15 industrial and commercial land plots with an average of per unit Stage 1C (planned for 2006) * 1900 housing units Stage 2 (targeted for 2016) * 2950 housing units Stage 3 (targeted for 2020) * 3075 housing units Hulhumalé is underutilized relative to other central atolls in the Maldives. It would take the lead of the government to improve utilization by moving government ministries, government departments and public institutions to Hulhumalé and assisting public servants with relocation costs. Pending urban development, greenery landscaping would help make the place more attractive and convenient. On 15 January 2015 the second reclamation phase of Hulhumalé was launched, which will include the construction of a youth centre. The $50 million project was awarded to Dredging International NV, Belgium earlier this year.

Transport

Hulhumalé's road network was planned together with the development of the island. Transport between Phase 1 and Phase 2 are through 4 bridges. Public transport became more convenient with the introduction of relatively inexpensive buses, that travel internally in Hulhumalé, and also to

Velana International Airport Velana International Airport (VIA), also known as Malé-Velana International Airport () is the main international airport in the Maldives. It is located on Hulhulé Island in the southern Malé Atoll (or Kaafu Atoll), nearby the capital island ...

and

. The island is connected via a causeway to the airport island Hulhulé Island, allowing easy road transport between the

and Hulhumalé. With the opening of the Sinamalé Bridge between Hulhulé and Malé Island in September 2018, the road networks of the three islands were connected for the first time.

Gallery

File:Hulhumale Beach-Maldives-Andres Larin.jpg, Hulhumale Beach File:Swing Hulhumale Beach-Maldives-Andres Larin.jpg, Swing File:Watersports Hulhumale Beach-Maldives-Andres Larin.jpg, Watersports

References

External links

HDC

NPR Morning Edition story, 28 Jan 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hulhumale Islands of the Maldives Populated coastal places in the Maldives Artificial islands of the Maldives Populated places in the Maldives Climate change adaptation