Hulhumalé
Encyclopedia
Hulhumalé or Hulhulemale (Dhivehi
: ހުޅުމާލެ) is a reclaimed
island located in the south of North Male Atoll, Maldives
. The artificial island
was reclaimed to establish a new land mass
required to meet the existing and future housing
, industrial
and commercial development
demands of the Malé
region. The official settlement
was inaugurated by President Gayoom
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 /Hulhumalé Development C-operation ) which was incorporated on March 23, 2005.
of consultants from Singapore
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. This Master plan is to be periodically reviewed and adjusted to include advances in development.
Phase I of this Master plan includes:
Stage 1A (completed)
Stage 1B (To be completed by December 2005)
Stage 1C (planned for 2006)
Stage 2 (targeted for 2016)
Stage 3 (targeted for 2020)
Hulhumalé is currently underutilized relative to other central atolls in the Maldives. It would take the lead of the government to improve utilization by moving government ministers, 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.
A Youth Centre has also been planned to be built on Hulhumale'.
Dhivehi language
Maldivian is an Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by about 350,000 people in the Maldives where it is the national language. It is also the first language of nearly 10,000 people in the island of Minicoy in the Union territory of Lakshadweep, India where the Mahl dialect of the Maldivian...
: ހުޅުމާލެ) is a reclaimed
Land reclamation
Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, is the process to create new land from sea or riverbeds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamation ground or landfill.- Habitation :...
island located in the south of North Male Atoll, Maldives
Maldives
The Maldives , , officially Republic of Maldives , also referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and...
. The artificial island
Artificial island
An artificial island or man-made island is an island or archipelago that has been constructed by people rather than formed by natural means...
was reclaimed to establish a new land mass
Land mass
Land mass refers to the total area of a country or geographical region . The Earth's total land mass is which is about 29.2% of its total surface. Water covers approximately 70.8% of the Earth's surface, mostly in the form of oceans....
required to meet the existing and future housing
House
A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...
, industrial
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
and commercial development
Construction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
demands of the Malé
Malé
Malé , is the capital and most populous city in the Republic of Maldives. It is located at the southern edge of North Malé Atoll . It is also one of the Administrative divisions of the Maldives. Traditionally it was the King's Island, from where the ancient Maldive Royal dynasties ruled and where...
region. The official settlement
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
was inaugurated by President Gayoom
Maumoon Abdul Gayoom
Maumoon Abdul Gayoom was President of the Maldives from 1978 to 2008. After serving as Minister of Transport, he was nominated as President by the Majlis of the Maldives and succeeded Ibrahim Nasir on November 11, 1978. He eventually became the longest-ruling head of government in Asia...
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 /Hulhumalé Development C-operation ) which was incorporated on March 23, 2005.
History
Reclamation of Hulhumalé began on October 16, 1997 on the Hulhulé-Farukolhufushi lagoon 1.3 km off the north west 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) costing USD 11,000,000.00. The project was then continued by a Belgian Joint Venture Company, International Port Engineering and Management (IPEM) and Dredging International (DI) costing an estimated USD 21 million. All the works involving reclamation and coastal structure development covered in Phase I was completed by June 2002.Development
A basis of development known as Phase I was formed under the first Master Plan which was completed in July 2001 by a consortiumConsortium
A consortium is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a common goal....
of consultants from Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
with the contribution of many government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
agencies, committees and individuals. It conceptually defines the long-term land use and development strategy (including urban
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
design proposals, transportation plans and utility infrastructure) with considerations for future infrastructure connections to the adjacent Phase II and planned airport
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
extension areas. This Master plan is to be periodically reviewed and adjusted to include advances in development.
Phase I of this Master plan includes:
Stage 1A (completed)
- A 280 room apartmentApartmentAn apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
complex with a combination of 2,3 and 4 bedroom units - An integrated primary and secondary schoolSecondary schoolSecondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
housing 20 classrooms - A publicPublicIn public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individuals, and the public is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the Öffentlichkeit or public sphere. The concept of a public has also been defined in political science,...
building for government and social requirements containing 32 units - A HospitalHospitalA hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
with 50 bed capacity - A MosqueMosqueA mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
for 1500 persons - Four commercial buildings with a total of 48 units
- An AsphaltAsphaltAsphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...
-paved road network approximately 12.5 km long - An adequate land space for the cultivation of indigenous plants and imported varieties
Stage 1B (To be completed by December 2005)
- 232 CondominiumCondominiumA condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...
housing units - 120 Basic housing units
- 169 BeachBeachA beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
plots - 56 Standard plots,
- 132 Terraced houseTerraced houseIn architecture and city planning, a terrace house, terrace, row house, linked house or townhouse is a style of medium-density housing that originated in Great Britain in the late 17th century, where a row of identical or mirror-image houses share side walls...
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 1,000 m2 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 currently underutilized relative to other central atolls in the Maldives. It would take the lead of the government to improve utilization by moving government ministers, 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.
A Youth Centre has also been planned to be built on Hulhumale'.