Hulhumalé


Hulhumalé is a reclaimed island located in the south of North Malé 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 Maumoon Abdul Gayoom on May 12, 2004.
The development and management of the island is undertaken by a government-owned corporation called Housing Development Corporation which was incorporated on March 23, 2005.
Land reclamation has increased the island's area to, making it the fourth largest island in the Maldives.

Location within Malé City

Hulhulmalé is located northeast of airport island Hulhulé, to which it is connected by a causeway:

History

Reclamation of Hulhumalé began on October 16, 1997 on the Hulhulé-Farukolhufushi lagoon off the north west coast of Malé. Initial reclamation consisting of 45% of land mass was carried out by the Ministry of Construction and Public Works costing USD 11 million. The project was then continued by a Belgian Joint Venture Company, International Port Engineering and Management and Dredging International costing an estimated USD 21 million. All the works involving reclamation and coastal structure development covered in Phase I were 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 consortium 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 with considerations for future infrastructure connections to the adjacent Phase II and planned airport extension areas. The Master Plan is to be periodically reviewed and adjusted to include advances in development.
Phase I of the Master Plan includes:
Stage 1A
Stage 1B
Stage 1C
Stage 2
Stage 3
Hulhumalé is 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.
On 15 January 2015 the second reclamation phase of Hulhumalé was launched, which will include the construction of a Youth Centre.

Transport

Hulhumalé has road network which was planned together with the development of the island. The network covers the entire island and support all types of road vehicles.
The island is connected via a causeway to the airport island Hulhulé Island, allowing road transport to easily travel between the Velana International Airport and Hulhumalé. With the opening of the Sinamalé Bridge between Hulhulé and Malé Island in September 2018, the road networks of the three islands were connected for the first time.