Just as impressive as the spectacular homes and leisure facilities is the monorail currently being constructed which, it is hoped, will have the capacity to transport between two and three thousand people on and off the island every hour. It sets an extraordinary precedent that, you’d think, would take years or decades to surpass. Not so, because the other two palm islands are even grander affairs. Construction began on the Palm Jebel Ali in 2002 and it is expected to be completed within the next five years. The theme is much more entertainment and marine-related than the Palm Jumeirah and the 1000-odd ‘water homes’ will be built on stilts above the water, each with private moorings.

The trunk will act as a ‘sea village’ featuring an aquarium and underwater hotel, many more shops and restaurants and there’ll be six marinas, all entered through a gap in the giant 15.5-kilometre-long crescent. How will all of this, plus even more top-notch hotels fit on to the one island? Well, at almost 40 square kilometres, the Palm Jebel Ali will be 50% larger than the Palm Jumeirah.

However, both these gargantuan projects put together will be dwarfed when the real daddy of the Palms is finished in 2015. Weighing in at 14 kilometres in length and 8.5 kilometres in width, the Palm Deira is the equivalent of strapping another large city on to the Dubai beachfront. Indeed, it’ll cover a greater area than Paris. As you’d expect for such a vast island, it’ll have everything and anything, from a variety of residential neighbourhoods, offices and marinas to shopping malls, entertainment centres and sports facilities.

In total, the three Palm Islands add 520 kilometres of beaches to Dubai City and will swell the emirate’s already impressive list of attractions with a water theme park, more malls, spas, marinas, restaurants, tens of thousands of residential properties and hundreds of hotels.

Many people and even cities have had ambitions of leaving an indelible mark on the modern landscape and several have even achieved just that; Dubai has, as ever, gone one step further. It has literally changed the way the world looks today.