Property development on the first of The World islands, a collection of manmade islands off the coast of Dubai, may start as soon as next month.

Construction of properties and infrastructure on most of the other islands will begin in the second quarter of next year, The World’s developer Nakheel said, with many designs now being revised to account for the drastic economic changes since they were originally bought and planned.

Developments are planned in a variety of housing densities across the 30 islands, with the majority to be mid to high density. Utility hubs linking to a centralised system will serve the islands, which were created from dredged sand. These would store water and LPG fuel, and create gas-fired power.