Why there’s a piece of Venice on the edge of the desert

By Ulrike Lemmin-Woolfrey, CNN

(CNN) — We’ve all seen the design models showing miniature people happily chatting on tree-lined streets and sitting outside restaurants. But many modern residential developments end up as eerie, empty places, devoid of life and atmosphere.

Sometimes, with the right mix, it can work — and the developments even become tourist attractions.

The Pearl in Qatar is one place that seems to have cracked the formula. Built 20 years ago, this artificial island off the northern end of the capital Doha is a slightly surreal world, with colorful buildings and waterways seeming airdropped in from Venice, alongside marinas crammed with expensive boats.

While works are still ongoing in parts of the island and, yes, some units still stand empty, it has turned into a thriving hub of cosmopolitan residents, cafes, restaurants, shops and leisure facilities.

For visitors to Qatar, it’s worth exploring for its sheer architectural exuberance, and for a gawp at the spotless and rarefied world in which many people here live.

Creating an island

Some three years after construction of the Palm Jumeirah islands off the Dubai coast began, Qatar decided to build its own artificial island. The small country was no stranger to land reclamation, having already remodeled its semi-circular Corniche waterfront, and the business hub West Bay, and built Hamad International Airport, which sits on land that’s 60% reclaimed from the Arabian Gulf.

Choosing a shallow spot off the eastern coast, on a former pearling site that was much used in pre-oil times, made the reclamation more cost-effective and easier to manage than other island projects, such as those in Dubai, which tended to be placed in deeper waters.

Constructed to resemble a string of pearls, with two larger near-circular bays hemmed with apartment towers, and a few smaller spaced beads at the ends, typically populated with larger single-family villas, including the private Isola Dana reserved for Qatar’s royal family, The Pearl’s unique outline can easily be seen from space.

The Pearl was the first urban development project offering freehold ownership to international investors as well as non-national residents in Qatar. With that in mind, the design of the development was based on a mix of Mediterranean and Arabian influences.

At the helm was construction firm United Development Company UDC, established in 1999 and listed on the Qatar Exchange in June 2003.

Reclaiming land from the sea destroys not only existing coast and marine habitats, but also changes the surrounding environment. The Pearl however has made efforts to save previous habitats as well as encouraging new ones and claims to offer surprisingly diverse biodiversity for the region, where marine life is naturally quite limited due to the high temperatures and sandy environment.

The development has won praise from environmentalist Yousef Alhorr, head of Qatar-based sustainability research body Gulf Organisation For Research & Development, for elements aimed at reducing energy consumption, including a centralized cooling plant that can run using treated sewage.

A buzzing hub

Parks and secluded coastlines around the site attract birds, including flamingos. There are also regular beach clean-ups or community awareness drives. A large recycling plant allows residents to limit waste. Electrical charging points are available on the island, as well as electrically powered security patrol cars, local taxi services and bus connections to the nearby metro.

There are numerous neighbourhoods within the development, each with their own identity and architecture, such as Porto Arabia, which in 2009 saw the first residents on The Pearl move in, and is set around a large marina, and Viva Bahriya, located around a beach-lined bay, offering various water sports facilities.

Along Porto Arabia there are restaurants, and cafes that in the cooler months become a buzzing hub where people sit outside, exercise, or simply stroll along the marina. In warmer months, a covered air-conditioned walkway alongside the buildings allows residents to walk to local facilities, rather than take the car.

Insaf Benazaid from Algeria, who has lived in Porto Arabia for two years, says she chose The Pearl because of the community and access to family entertainment venues. “I absolutely think that the community on The Pearl is a good experience for us, together with the security and living conditions,” she says.

There’s the Qanat Quarter, a Venetian-inspired neighborhood with pastel-coloured townhouses set along numerous canals. It even has its very own Rialto Bridge. It’s a slightly unusual sight in a country more known for its empty deserts.

On a typical afternoon, it’s not uncommon to see one or two tourists strolling around, soaking up this different side of Qatar. It’s a particularly easy layover excursion for those en route to somewhere else — it’s a 30-minute cab ride from the airport outside of rush hour, and 15 minutes from the Corniche.

Small-town feel

Mirna Saayfan from Lebanon has just moved to Floresta Gardens, a green area of single-family homes, and loves the area’s convenience. “The Pearl is a modern, clean and comfortable place to live,” she says. “And we appreciate most the landscaping and closeness to the beach.”

Madinat Central is the “town center” of the island. It has a square lined with restaurants and cafes, supermarkets, specialized stores and facilities such as cinemas and a new hospital.

Further along the string of pearls there is an international school, hypermarkets, mosques and facilities ranging from hairdressers to pharmacies to petrol stations.

The small-town feel is very different from much of the rest of modern, urban Qatar.

Overall, the success of The Pearl may lie within its walkability, a rarity in Doha, or within the mix of architecture and its many social areas.

Or may simply be due to the community having achieved a functioning version of the much-vaunted 15-minute city concept, with all daily necessities within easy reach, opportunities to go outside, be it to parks or to cafes, and residents basically only having to leave to go to work.

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