Al Dafna (Arabic: الدفنة) is a seaside district of the

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

i capital

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the c ...

located on the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bo ...

. The district is currently rapidly developing into a

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the " cit ...

, and since the late 1990s dozens of skyscrapers have risen in the district, with over fifty more planned. The district is also home to the

City Center A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...

mall, one of the Middle East's largest malls. The district was physically created in the mid-1980s following a massive

land reclamation Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclam ...

project along Doha's coastline, and started to develop in the mid-1990s. Currently, Al Dafna is rapidly becoming Doha's new

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

district, and with the massive amount of recent development towards the north of Doha; it is also rapidly becoming the new centre of the city. Housing in the district is mainly up-scale and many foreign consuls reside here.

Etymology

In Arabic, "dafna" roughly means "dredged land", a reference to the fact that the district was built upon reclaimed land.

History

The decision to reclaim the land which would eventually become Al Dafna was first proposed in the 1970s after the government had difficulties in negotiating with land-owning tribes in downtown Doha. Rather than force the tribes to sell their lands, the government decided that the most feasible option was to initiate a massive dredging project along Doha's coastline. This project went underway in 1978 and lasted until 1981. American architectural firm

William Pereira William Leonard Pereira (April 25, 1909 – November 13, 1985) was an American architect from Chicago, Illinois, who was noted for his futuristic designs of landmark buildings such as the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco. Remarkably p ...

& Associates were hired to design the newly reclaimed area. Pereira's master plan was not wholly successful in its execution due to economic strains caused by falling oil prices in the 1980s, however, the 456-roomed

Sheraton Grand Doha Resort & Convention Hotel The Sheraton Grand Doha Resort & Convention Hotel is a five-star luxury hotel run by the Sheraton Hotels and Resorts Sheraton Hotels and Resorts is an international semi-luxury hotel chain owned by Marriott International. As of June 30, 2020, Sh ...

built in 1979 and the Conference and Exhibition Centre inaugurated in 1982 were among his initial successes. It was not until the late 1990s that the government would once again begin developing the district.

Geography

Al Dafna borders the following districts: * Rumeilah to the south, separated by Mohammed Bin Jassim Street. *

Wadi Al Sail Wadi Al Sail ( ar, وادي السيل, Wādī as Sayl) is a neighborhood of Doha, Qatar. The area has undergone much renovation and development in recent years. As its name suggests, the original settlement was built in a wadi. The western partiti ...

Onaiza Onaiza ( ar, عنيزة, ‘Unayzah) is a north-eastern district of Doha, Qatar. It is located between Al Dafna, Qatar's emerging central business district, and Lusail, a development north of Doha which is set to hold 200,000 residents in the nea ...

and Lekhwair to the west, separated by Al Bidda Street. * Al Qassar to the north, separated by Dafna Street. *The

to the east.

Attractions

Al Dafna features some of the most upscale hotels, restaurants and shopping avenues in the country. Additionally, it lies close to

Hamad International Airport Hamad International Airport ( ar, مطار حمد الدولي, ') is an international airport in the State of Qatar, and the home of Qatar’s flag carrier airline, Qatar Airways. Located east of its capital, Doha, it replaced the nearby Doh ...

. In addition, the

Katara Cultural Village Katara Mosque Katara Cultural Village, also called Katara, is a cultural and commercial complex in Doha, Qatar, located on the eastern coast between West Bay and the Pearl. It was soft-opened in October 2010 during the Doha Tribeca Film Fes ...

is situated in Al Dafna, which harbors theaters, concert halls, exhibition galleries and other facilities for multicultural activities and entertainment. One of its attractions is an amphitheater, the Katara Amphitheatre built in an ancient style.

Transport

In the future, the underground Al Dafna Metro Station will serve the area. Construction will be launched during Phase 2B. Once completed, it will be part of

Doha Metro The Doha Metro is a rapid transit system in Doha, Qatar's capital city, which became operational on 8 May 2019. It has three lines with an approximate overall length of 76 km and 37 stations. It is an integral component of the larger Qata ...

's Blue Line.

Education

The following schools are located in Al Dafna:

References

Doha Communities in Doha Populated coastal places in Qatar {{Qatar-geo-stub