Urbanco - going beyond Hulhumale'

On 4th April 2023, Urbanco, previously known as Housing Development Corporation (HDC) signed an agreement with Thoddoo Island in North Alifu Atoll in order to turn Thoddoo into a smart island.

Thoddoo is an island which is extremely popular among locals and tourists alike for its tourism as well as agriculture. Known most commonly for being the major provider of watermelons, especially during the month of Ramadan, Thoddoo is also known for its natural beauty which has attracted several tourists over the years.

This smart island initiative is the first project that Urbanco has signed outside of Hulhumale’. Proper to the company rebranding, Urbanco was mainly focusing on the development of Hulhumale’, which has seen some major transformations over the years. While the company was initially formed for the sole purpose of Hulhumale’ Development, Urbanco has recently announced that along with their rebranding, they will be expanding their projects beyond Hulhumale’, and focusing on bettering the lives of island communities as well. 

With this, the project to develop islands named ‘Go Beyond Hulhumale’ and Thoddoo is the first island to be developed into a smart city. Under this project, Urbanco will be installing open access network on the island, facilitating the island to generate a good income as other service providers will no longer be required to install network cables on the island. 

This is going to be the first and one of the major steps towards developing Thoddoo into a smart city. In the future, Urbanco will also be offering design consultation services in order to develop the harbour, ferry terminal, cargo warehouse, and public and tourist beach area on the island. 

This project is estimated to be completed within the next three months, marking the start of Thoddoo becoming a smart city.