For those who deem the impressive Dubai skyline or fake palm-shaped islands not quite exotic enough, there is a new Emirati holiday home experience in town. A veritable village of 372 square meters underwater villas is set to lay anchor in the man-made World Islands, promising panoramic views of the Persian Gulf under the sea. The first Floating Seahorse villas were unveiled last year, but these new are an upgrade for those who wish to bring the whole family. Larger than its predecessors, The Signature Edition of The Floating Seahorse has three levels and four sleeping areas which can be altered to the wishes and whims of prospective owners, reported Daily Mail. One level is completely submerged under water, and features the master bedroom and entertainment room with a view of a “coral reef garden”. The living areas in the underwater level alone will span 80 square meters and the coral garden will exceed 56 square meters in size. The Floating Seahorse villas will cost between US$ 2.8 million and US$ 3.2 million and are anchored at the heart-shaped St Petersburg island. By the time of completion, estimated to 2018, there will be more than 125 floating villas. The Floating Seahorse villas are a part of a grand project which has been 15 years in the making. Construction of The World, an artificial archipelago in the shape of a world map some 4 kilometers off the coast, began in 2003. The 300 “fake” islands range from 14 000 to 42 000 square meters, and were intended to boost Dubai's property market with wealthy foreign investors. However, following the global financial crisis in 2008, the project stalled and all but a handful of the islands remain undeveloped. In 2009, the Heart of Europe project was announced, an ambitious development to turn six of the islands into a luxury tourist resort inspired by European countries, including Sweden, Germany and Italy. The Heart of Europe will be home to the world’s first climate-controlled streets, with technology that will drop artificial rain or snow on streets and plazas. Connected by bridges, the car-free islands will be able to accommodate as many as 16,000 people at once.

UAE-based developer Kleindienst Group announced that contractors have been mobilized on its flagship The Heart of Europe project - a cluster of six islands forming part of The World, Dubai's iconic man-made island development. The company said in a statement that work has now started with the dispatching of 600 tons of materials and equipment from the main land to the islands. Vibro-compaction of all six islands is the first step in the construction process, preparing them for buildings to be erected. The construction process is anticipated to last until the end of 2016. The Heart of Europe project includes islands for mainland Europe, inspired by Austrian, Italian, Spanish, German and French architecture; Monaco; Sweden; Switzerland; St Petersburg, Austria and Germany. Once complete, The Heart of Europe will offer visitors and holiday makers the authentic charm of each of its European countries. Monaco will boast "all the elegance and opulence of the French Riviera" with contemporary villas and luxurious yachts, while Sweden will feature a central marketplace that encompasses the tradition of Stockholm's famous Saluhall markets. The first European island to be built will be Germany. The six stunning islands will offer leading hotels for families and wedding parties, landscaped gardens, climate controlled plazas, street performers, snow and rain-lined streets and much, much more. The World, master developed by the Nakheel Group's The World subsidiary, was first announced in 2003. The entire project spans approximately 9 kilometers in width, 7 kilometers in length, and is 4.5 kilometers from the Dubai mainland coast. The World's 300 islands and 27 kilometers breakwater were completed in 2008 cover over 870 thousand square meters and are visible from space. On May 2013 a Nakheel subsidiary has signed an out-of-court settlement agreement with Kleindienst Properties, a key investor in The World project, ending the need for it to go to the Dubai World Tribunal. The settlement, under which Kleindienst Properties will pay the balance owing of US$ 185 million to The World LLC, allows Kleindienst to continue with its planned Heart of Europe islands at The World.

Angelina Jolie is splashing out around US$ 20 million to buy Brad Pitt a heart-shaped island. The film beauty visited stunning Petra last week and thought it would be a perfect 50th birthday gift for her superstar partner. Angelina, 38, was particularly excited after discovering its two homes were designed by Brad's favorite architect Frank Lloyd Wright. A source revealed: "As soon as Angelina heard the island was on the market she arranged a viewing. She was really impressed". "The house is perfect for romantic getaways or as a family retreat. It's very private. And Angelina knows the fact the island is in the shape of a heart will mean so much to him." Exclusive 11-acre Petra - which has a helicopter pad - is off the US coast 50 miles north of New York City. The cottage was put up in 1950, nine years before Wright's death. The main house was built in 2008 from a Wright plan and is one of his most spectacular designs. Boasting vast expanses of stone, cement, mahogany and skylights, it is a triumph of modern architecture and would be a perfect getaway for Brad and Angelina's children Maddox, 12, Pax, nine, Zahara, eight, Shiloh, seven, Vivienne and Knox, both five. Architect fanatic Brad, who turns 50 on December 18, once said: "When I discovered Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Frank Lloyd Wright, it changed my life." In 2006 Angelina took Brad on a tour of Wright's home Fallingwater which was completed in 1939. Cara Armstrong, Fallingwater's Curator of Education said: "He was incredibly well-informed about architecture. "Experiencing Fallingwater in person, hearing the waterfall cascade under the house was better than anything he imagined." In 2011, for Brad's 48th birthday, Angelina bought a waterfall in California so he could build a house over it inspired by Fallingwater. The source added: "The fact he could now live in a house designed by one of his idols will make this his best birthday present ever." Ocean's 11 star Brad and Oscar winner Angelina have been together since 2005.

Belgium is set to construct an artificial island in the North Sea that will be used solely as storage for wind energy. Announcing the plans earlier this week, Belgium's North Sea minister Johan Lanotte explained that although Belgium has the capacity to produce a great deal of wind energy, much of the power produced during high winds exceeds the needs of the grid, and is wasted. By creating a dependable storage system for the wind energy, Belgium hopes that this innovative solution will help the nation to transition away from nuclear power and towards greater use of renewables. Only around 4 percent of Belgium's energy presently comes from wind power-the rest of the grid is supplied largely by nuclear power. However Belgium, as with Germany and Switzerland, has decided to shut down its nuclear power program by 2025 in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi disaster in 2011. The project for the artificial island is part of the state's larger initiative to reorient its power supply towards renewable energy sources. The European Wind Energy Association predicts that, by managing to store energy produced by using wind power, Belgium could expand its wind power capacity to over 4.000 megawatts by 2020. As an alternative to nuclear power and fossil fuel, wind power has so far faced major problems, largely due to insufficient ways to store the generated power. When the wind dies down, energy production must be backed up by a power source, which makes it expensive to operate. "We have a lot of energy from the wind mills and sometimes it just gets lost because there isn't enough demand for the electricity," said a spokeswoman for Belgium's North Sea minister Johan Vande Lanotte. The doughnut-shaped island will store energy by pumping water out of a hollow space in the middle and allowing it to flow back into the reservoir by turning a turbine to generate electricity. The electricity can then be sent back to the mainland.

Greece 's Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund has identified 40 uninhabited islands and islets that could be leased for as long as 50 years to reduce debt as pressure grows on the country to revive an asset-sales plan key to receiving international aid, reported Bloomberg. The fund reviewed 562 of the estimated 6 thousand islands and islets under Greek sovereignty. Finally the shortlist includes islands ranging in size from 500 thousand square meters to 3 million square meters, and which can be developed into high-end integrated tourist resorts under leases lasting 30 years to 50 years. As stated Andreas Taprantzis, the fund's executive director for real estate, they identified locations that have good terrain, are close to the mainland and have a well-developed infrastructure and, at the same time, pose no threat to national security. He also added that current legislation doesn't allow them to sell outright and they don't want too. The fund is charged with raising 50 billion euros (US$ 64 billion) from state assets by 2020 to meet conditions tied to pledges of 240 billion euros in foreign aid. As international inspectors in Athens scrutinize the country's fitness to receive the latest aid payment, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has said commercial exploitation of some islands could generate the revenue lenders need to see to continue funding the country. At the beginning of this year, Greece Government also announced, that they put the ancient sites for rent. Archaeological treasures including the temple of Delphi, the most popular site after the Acropolis, will be available as backdrops for filming and photographic shoots. But Greece isn't the only struggling European country looking for profit from historic sites, and island. A Few months ago Italy's government has unveiled a fire sale of some real gems of the country's heritage due to difficult economic situation in country.