On the other hand, the gross floor area of the residential component has been reduced by 30 per cent, down to 60,000 square metres.

In terms of the Outline Planning Application, the residential component makes up 19 per cent of the total gross floor area of the project.

[4] The application also provides for a huge public open space of 118,000 square metres, to serve as a primary recreational area for neighbouring communities.

SmartCity has also drawn up plans to market the project in China, Japan, Korea, Australia and Egypt.

[3] In a separate report, the Environment and Resources Authority stated that "the development of Smart City was proceeding at a much slower rate than was envisaged.” [3] This announcement coincided with reports that Malta Properties Company was in talks with SmartCity (Dubai) for the acquisition of the latter's majority shareholding in SmartCity (Malta).