After four long years with almost no news about The Heart of Europe, Kleindienst Group announced on the 15 th of December that the second phase of their project is launching. What is next on their agenda? Bringing Sweden to the Middle East.

The group announced that construction will begin in the next quarter and that the entire building plan will take at least up to two years.

The Heart of Europe sets out to bring European luxury tourism to the six man-made islands, that are part of the larger The World islands, off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. According to the developer Kleindienst Group, the six islands will host the Europe Main Island, Monaco Island, Germany Island, Sweden Island, Switzerland Island and St. Petersburg Island.

“We are extremely excited to announce phase two of The Heart of Europe and share details about Sweden Island. The island will not only be home to the finest Swedish architecture and design, but it will bring the best of Swedish culture and lifestyle to Dubai.” Josef Kleindienst, CEO of Kleindienst Group, said. “We want to ensure that people are genuinely able to experience Sweden on The Heart of Europe, through food, music, festivals, traditions and architecture, and I am confident that once complete, The Heart of Europe will bring a totally unique holiday experience to Dubai.”

Sweden Island will host 10 villas, with each villa equipped with its own gym, spa, snow sauna room, entertainment space, in addition to private beach and pool access.

Working side by side with Kleindienst Group, Richard Westcott, founder of leading European design firm Jardim Vista Landscaping, was chosen to be the brains behind the landscaping of Sweden Island, in addition to JK Bauen, an affiliate company of Kleindeinst Group specializing in construction. JK Bauen will be handling the construction and building work.

The Heart of Europe will feature climate-controlled streets with rain and snow; thousand-year-old olive trees that have been uprooted and transported from somewhere in the Mediterranean; floating villas and the world’s largest open aquarium. If you think that’s complicated, well, there’s more than meets the eye.

The artificial archipelago, The World, which consists of 300 man-made islands, was created by the Dubai developer Nakheel at the peak of the emirate’s real estate boom. The project vision being as outlandish as it is, the eyes of many investors and celebrities were instantly turned to it. But the works on the islands were greatly hindered by the collapse of the real-estate industry in 2008 and 2009.

Back in 2010, Kleindienst was sharing enthusiastic statements about launching their work on Germany Island, which attracted $48 million worth of interest by selling 12 out of total 20 villas planned to be built on the island, each worth $4 million. Since then, little has been heard of The Heart of Europe, except for a dispute between Kleindienst and master developer Nakheel over the lack of proper infrastructure for the project.

Yet despite the growing challenges, Kleindienst is confident that his 40-year experience in island development makes him the man for this mission. “We are in discussion with most of the island owners and we understand their position: most of them if they’re in the real estate business then they are quite busy with projects in Dubai, which means that The World, which has another level of complication if you want to develop out there, is not their focus,” he said.

“If I was the master developer I would not be bothered if this is sooner or later because this project has its location, its quality, its vision and it doesn’t go away, which means it’s 300 islands sitting out here and clients will come.”

Despite the growing skepticism for the success of the project among investors and spectators, Kleindienst believes in this project, saying, “If you look at time, the Palm Jumeirah started construction somewhere in 2004, so that means 10 years later it’s still not completed, so let it take 20 years to complete The World.”

Will this new act in Dubai’s extravaganza pull through? Or will the 300 islands become a relic of outlandish dreams in the UAE? Only time will tell.