[Hed Kandi]

I just don't understand how Dubai can be so on fire in terms of development.

I see threads like :
"Dubai to build world's biggest airport"
"Dubai building exact replicas of world's 20 tallest buildings"
"Dubai building 20 of the world's biggest amusement parks"
"Construction begins of World's Biggest Mega Mall in Dubai"
"Worlds Biggest Man Made Island to be developed in Dubai".
"850 buildings contained city to be buillt in Dubai"

How in the hell can one city attract so much development? It doesn't make sense. Dubai isn't that prosperous. Only 6% of the country's GDP comes from Oil.

It's like in Dubai, if you can dream it, you can build it - and it will be built. World's biggest skyscrapers, amusement parks, stadiums, olympic parks, indoor ski hills, anything and everything you can possibly imagine, Dubai has it.

How is it possible. Why is it that no other country (except China) can do what Dubai does? I live in Canada, and supposidly our economy's on fire - yet I don't see any Canadian city doing what Dubai is. Infact I don't see ANY other city in the world doing what Dubai is in terms of development.

It's like the rest of the world is stagnant and stale, perhaps building 1, 2 or 10 buildings at a time, while Dubai is building mega cities and developments.

How is this possible ???

[Hed Kandi]

Just read this article. It's unbelievable.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/29/AR2006042901457.html

[ChicagoBruce]

One reason is the cost of construction. US high-rise construction workers (and I’m sure Canadian ones too) earn 25 to 35 times (and even higher than that for skilled tradesmen) as much as the borderline slave labor that Dubai uses.

That adds up to millions and millions less in total cost. A lot of these projects would just not be cost-feasible anywhere else in the world (save China)

[Hed Kandi]

I never thought of it that way. Good point.

[Chicago103]

This is reality not Sim City, what are people thinking? How can there even be enough people in all of the United Arab Emirates that can live and work in all of these highrises and mega city projects being developed? I mean how can they even possibly find enough people that will make use of all this stuff?

[trvlr70]

They are definitely making huge investment in the country's buildings and infrastrurcture before all the oil money is gone.

[Slugbelch]

This is reality not Sim City, what are people thinking? How can there even be enough people in all of the United Arab Emirates that can live and work in all of these highrises and mega city projects being developed? I mean how can they even possibly find enough people that will make use of all this stuff?

I think the UAE are after the Asian tourist/travel market. Maybe India too, but I think mainly China. A new industrial revolution is taking place in China with more and more people now having disposable income. China has billions of people ready to start travelling. If I ran a city over there, I would target those countries. In Dubailand, those supertall models were mostly Asian buildings.

[nergie]

I just don't understand how Dubai can be so on fire in terms of development.

I see threads like :
"Dubai to build world's biggest airport"
"Dubai building exact replicas of world's 20 tallest buildings"
"Dubai building 20 of the world's biggest amusement parks"
"Construction begins of World's Biggest Mega Mall in Dubai"
"Worlds Biggest Man Made Island to be developed in Dubai".
"850 buildings contained city to be buillt in Dubai"

How in the hell can one city attract so much development? It doesn't make sense. Dubai isn't that prosperous. Only 6% of the country's GDP comes from Oil.

It's like in Dubai, if you can dream it, you can build it - and it will be built. World's biggest skyscrapers, amusement parks, stadiums, olympic parks, indoor ski hills, anything and everything you can possibly imagine, Dubai has it.

How is it possible. Why is it that no other country (except China) can do what Dubai does? I live in Canada, and supposidly our economy's on fire - yet I don't see any Canadian city doing what Dubai is. Infact I don't see ANY other city in the world doing what Dubai is in terms of development.

It's like the rest of the world is stagnant and stale, perhaps building 1, 2 or 10 buildings at a time, while Dubai is building mega cities and developments.

How is this possible ???

Dubai is a country that is heavily leveraged. The money for these developments comes mostly from foreign investements. As the article says this is the most stable region in the Middle East so most foreign MNCs have regional HQs in Dubai. It is a shipping hub, as well as a financial hub. A lot of money is moved in/out of Dubai, most of it legit but a lot of it is illegal funds. For example a lot of India's crime gangs move their money through Dubai, and they also funnel a lot of the money into some of the developments you read about. A lot of rich Arabs move their money through Dubai. Westerners are buying a lot of property in the country, especially Europeans. I am also sure a lot of illegal money from other parts of the world are sent through Dubai.

This will come to a screeching halt if an instablity hits Dubai, i.e. terrorism, war in Iran, etc.

I have travelled quite often to Dubai, I am heading there end of next week. The city state is absurd, definetly a very hedonistic place where money and status rule the day. Like most hedonist, it will probably come crashing down from its high sometime, but right now its they are on a great and record long high.

[Lee J Buividas]

It is all about the money!!! There are few safe places for mid eastern people to put their money anymore without being heavily scrutinize. Dubai is becoming a financial capital of the mid east and the world such as Hong Kong was during it's hey day. Dubai is the next Hong Kong!!

Lee J Buividas

[malec]

The world's biggest gamble. They might pull it off but then again they might not.

[relnahe]

No NIMBYS. (:

[EtherealMist]

I heard that Dubai's oil is going to run out soon so they are spending now and building like crazy in hopes that the city will become a major destination. Basically they are trying to switch their economy from oil-dependent to tourist-dependent.

[smussuw]

Their target is 15 million tourists by 2010 comparing to 6.2 now and 60 million passengers comparing to 25 now.

[WonderlandPark]

There is utterly ABSURD money, like nothing in the history of man, flowing around the Middle East right now. THAT is how Dubai is doing it.

[malec]

Their target is 15 million tourists by 2010 comparing to 6.2 now and 60 million passengers comparing to 25 now.
It's weird, every newspaper has a different figure. 15 million in 2010 or 15 million in 2015. Which is it? And I can't remember, is it 6.2 million in total or just those that stayed in hotels?

[smussuw]

^ It has always been 15 million in 2010, other numbers are just assumption. 6.2 million is the number of tourists in hotels only.

[VivaLFuego]

People have covered it...
- CHEAP, cheap labor, with fewer restrictive labor laws.
- Plentiful oil money (Dubai is 6% oil but it is the shipping and financial hub for the arabian peninsula, so all that saudi money flows through there in addition to the gulf state's money)
- No NIMBYs opposing development, because they can't really, since Dubai isnt a democracy, its ruled by a 'benevolent' monarchy. The people don't really have a say in how things are run. As someone mentioned, all that matters is lots of money and lots of status, and if you dont have both, you're nothing, and if you have both, you can do whatever the hell you want in Dubai.

[althegreat III]

Last I checked, Dubai wasn't a country...

But who cares! There is so much hostility on this forum towards Dubai its incredible. Look, let them do their thing, and watch the results! And hope to christ, that one day you'll be able to go there and see it for yourself.

[smussuw]

u werent in this forum 3 years ago when almost every one was doubting Dubai

[althegreat III]

^ actually I was. And I remember :rolleyes:

[Slugbelch]

World’s largest hotel set to open in Dubai by 2016
by Sarah Campbell (http://www.itp.net/business/news/details.php?id=20901&category=)
6/6/06

Dubai’s quest for world supremacy in the tourism stakes saw the emirate announce ambitious plans for the development of the world’s largest hotel at last month’s Arabian Travel Market (ATM). Tatweer, a division of Dubai Holdings, unveiled the Bawadi project, a US $27.2 billion hospitality and tourism development set at Dubailand, at the travel trade show.
http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/307/bawadiprojectl6zy.png
The Bawadi project, unveiled at ATM, will have 31 hotels, including the 6500-room Asia Asia hotel.

Bawadi will add 31 hotels to Dubai, including the record-breaking 6500-room Asia Asia hotel, over the next eight years, nearly doubling the current number of hotel rooms in the emirate. The Bawadi district will add 29,200 rooms to the city’s hotel inventory by 2016.

Bawadi was the largest ATM announcement for Dubai, but there were plenty more new projects fighting for attention. Emirates Hotels & Resorts unveiled its latest hotel project, the 77-storied twin tower Emirates Park Towers Hotel & Spa, while Minor International announced it is to debut its Anantara hotel brand in Dubai, with a five-star resort on the Palm Jumeirah Dubai and a business hotel at Jumeirah Lake.

However, the question being asked by industry experts is, is the demand really there to justify all these new hotel announcements? Obviously the hotel chains think there is, as William Heinecke, CEO, Minor International, told Hotelier Middle East: “Dubai needs additional rooms. It is too difficult to get into Dubai right now. Occupancy is high, and so are the rates.”

However, hotel industry consultant, Guy Wilkinson is hedging his bets on whether or not the predicted supply will match the mammoth number of rooms set to come online.

“There is an under supply of rooms in Dubai at the moment so obviously there is a need for more. The question is, how many? There are at least 25,000 firmly committed hotel rooms to be developed outside Dubailand, 25,000 in Dubailand and 30,000 in Al Bawadi. The Dubai Government has set a target for 80,000 more rooms, to accommodate its target of 15 million tourists by 2010, so from the government point of view development is on track. The question is, will there be 15 million tourists by 2010? There is not very long to go before we reach 2010, bearing in mind that for 2005 Dubai reached six million arrivals,” Wilkinson points out.

At present, hotels in Dubai are leading the world in RevPAR and occupancy, and while there is foreseeable demand for some additional hotels, in a couple of years’ time there will be a market correction. Elie Younes, director, HVS International – London, and co-author of the report, The Dubai hotel market – hot or soon to overheat?, predicts that the market will start to correct itself by 2008, if not before, although it will not stabilise until 2012. “Depending on the price elasticity of the leisure market, this [correction] may start earlier,” he said.

Wilkinson agrees: “There will be an interesting situation between 2008– 2010. We will see hotels offering better value packages, cheaper rates, add ons, and may even see some hotels offering rates during the summer months that are effectively three-star rates. Once you have 20 of the Dubailand projects up and running, and promoting themselves it will be a different picture. There will be a gap of a few years before that makes sense, during which time hoteliers will need to tighten their belts waiting for the feast to come.”

[Owlhorn]

Even with all of the said business, all of the said expats, all of the said tourists, that they are building a bit much at once? Especially since it took some places decades, even over a century to build up things. We are talking about bigger tourist draws, bigger business centers and bigger populations. I think that's what most people are talking about when they are in disbelief.

[kenc]

I don't mean to get all political on all your a****, but Dubai is the money laundering capitol of the Arab world, if not the West as well. A good way to invest arms & drug money is real estate. They may build 125 story buildings there but I think they will sit empty, (owned but empty), for decades.

[oldpainless]

I'm not trying to be anti-Dubai either but I think it needs to be known that there is a very large and LEGAL human trafficing scene in Dubai. The child camel jockeys (I'm not kidding) just recently got international attention from some human rights groups.

One reason why Dubai is so attractive to developers is because of the lack of laws concerning human rights, as is also evident in the vast labor camps housing the 1000's of workers constructing these projects. These camps aren't anything to be proud of either. They are substandard. The anti-organized labor union laws and the labor contracts companies use to lock in their laborers for years at a time, effectively eliminating the freedom of workers to find better work -- all of this clearly doesn't take into account the well being of the individual worker. Although I generally despise labor unions (especially in modern highly competitive industrialized societies with a high quality of life), I still believe that unions are necessary to help workers achieve a better work environment (when conditions clearly need to be improved). There is a balance that needs to be made, but in Dubai its ridiculously one-sided in favor of corporations.

So why WOULDN'T a real estate investment company take advantage of the lack of any kind of human rights laws? Once ethics and morality are set aside, there is no reason why NOT to invest in this place. Thats the problem.

[Chicago2020]

http://www.fahad.com/pics/dubai_bawadi_sm.jpg

[SEA-TOWN]

I've read before that they are planning for Dubai International Airport to surpass both Atlanta and Chicago in terms of traffic. On a population of 1.8 million there is absolutely no way that could happen. Dubai International Airport serves 24.5 million now yet they plan to expand that to over 77 million in 15 years to pass Atlanta? Yeah Right.

[smussuw]

^^ actually they are targeting 60 millions in 4 years

2002 15.9 million
2003 18.06 million
2004 21.7 million
2005 24.5 million
2006 29 million
2007 34 million
2008 41 million
2009 49 million
2010 60 million

[dougtheengineer]

If you build it, they will come? I suppose that remains to be seen.

Having a fancy big airport doesn't make you an international hub.......it'll be interesting to follow this one.

[SEA-TOWN]

^^ actually they are targeting 60 millions in 4 years

2002 15.9 million
2003 18.06 million
2004 21.7 million
2005 24.5 million
2006 29 million
2007 34 million
2008 41 million
2009 49 million
2010 60 million

Still if they project it to keep going up it will pass Atlanta and Chicago. Heathrow serves over 60 million people and a lot of that is INTL traffic. How does Dubai expect to get the same levels of service if London is 10 times bigger than Dubai?

[malec]

^^ Well take Atlanta airport for example, that's one of the busiest airports in the world but what percentage of the people using it are either from there or going there? Dubai plan to use their airports as major hubs.

[SEA-TOWN]

True, Dubai has a good position for Asia-Europe flights but Atlanta is Delta's megahub for it's domestic operation, as well as Delta's INTL flights. Delta carried the most passengers of ANY world airline in 2005 and Emirates didn't even make the top 20 list. In terms of fleet size, Delta's fleet was the 4th largest behind American, UPS, and Fedex. Emirates once again did not make the top 30 list so all we can do is wait and see.

[MolsonExport]

I've got some tulip bulbs for sale.

Sounds like the South Seas Bubble.

Canary Wharf^6.02*10^23

[dante2308]

The whole concept of Dubai is so fantastic. Anything conceived is built and anything built is the greatest, biggest, or simply the most expensive. It's a developer's dream that isn't even possible anywhere else.

Dubai isn't even a real city really. It is a wonderland formed from slide rules rising out of the dessert. Nothing organic or natural exists about this place. I only wish they had implemented a "new urban" sort of way of doing things. It seems that pedestrians aren't welcome and there isn't a cultural heart to the place.

As for the airport, I could see their usage growing rapidly in the near future, but it really doesn't matter. Feasibility was never an issue.

[DeadManWalking]

Take a look at NYC or Chicago. These cities already have gigantic buildings, airports, malls, etc. They don't have the need to build such things because they have everything Dubai plans to build and a lot more. Once all that crap is built in Dubai it still won't be nearly as impressive as NYC or Chicago. After all those cities were built organically, not as a series of mega projects funded by oil tycoons.

[LordMandeep]

a city built all at the same time isn't very impressive.

Like Dallas and Montreal.


I talk about the Skyline. They could have both changed since i have not been there for 3 years.

[malec]

The whole concept of Dubai is so fantastic. Anything conceived is built and anything built is the greatest, biggest, or simply the most expensive. It's a developer's dream that isn't even possible anywhere else.

Dubai isn't even a real city really. It is a wonderland formed from slide rules rising out of the dessert. Nothing organic or natural exists about this place. I only wish they had implemented a "new urban" sort of way of doing things. It seems that pedestrians aren't welcome and there isn't a cultural heart to the place.

As for the airport, I could see their usage growing rapidly in the near future, but it really doesn't matter. Feasibility was never an issue.
Sorry but I don't agree with this at all. If a project's not feasible then it'll either get scrapped or will be redesigned, even in Dubai.
Of course it doesn't look like it since projects can be announced then start construction within a week. But that's because of the type of government that exists there, it means that there's no nimby problem and there isn't all the usual shite projects must go through to get approved. The reason then for the amount of supertall towers is first of all the fact that developers can dodge nimbism but also because they're actually encouraged in a few spots. A particular area of the marina has supertalls, then also a few plots on the SZR, aswell there are a few plots in business bay that are designated for mixed use I think but they're completely devoid of any height limit. Imagine if right now, 5 plots of unlimited height were announced in NYC. I'm sure you'd see supertalls popping up aswell.

One thing they can't dodge (except for some) is financing. For example nakheel started building the palm island before doing proper feasibility studies and now they're paying the price. They've had to pretty much double the amount of buildings being built so that they can pay for the development, of course this then causes other problems like traffic, etc which also have to be sorted out. OK offtopic a bit but Nakheel have a record of not planning properly and then having to cut corners and some of their developments have suffered because of this (take jumeirah islands for example). As you might know nakheel have more grandiose projects in the pipeline such as the waterfront (which has also been redesigned a few times) that'll contain al burj. I think the future of projects like these depends on how the 1st palm turns out. If they feck up then the investors' confidence will go and we can say byebye to the rest of their stuff.
Damac is another one that has run into problems, their ocean heights tower hasn't sold well and they haven't been able to get it off the ground yet because of this. Pity because it's one of the best-looking towers going up IMO.
In general construction costs are also going up which is a few towers here and there to be shelved if they don't sell well.

Aswell how is Dubai less of a real city than anywhere else? The centre of the city is where all the soul is:

http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/6026/13068781360fd6dc55eoit6.th.jpg (http://img45.imageshack.us/my.php?image=13068781360fd6dc55eoit6.jpg)

And who's to say some of the new areas won't turn out nice in the future.

That's the next point. The thing about nimbyism and all the bureaucracy is that it slows down projects considerably and some of the really great proposals fall through but doing things this way does mean that projects that really shouldn't be built get rooted out. The way Dubai does things has caused a few really terrible projects to be given the go-ahead such as falcon city,etc. The whole dubailand idea has been a flop I think, it's about 10 times too big and has become a dumping ground for all the crappest ideas. Sure it's a big themepark but it's way too big and doesn't make any financial sense.
There are some great projects though, the marina is one. Once the buildings are finished it should become quite lively with all the restaurants, cafes, shops, etc. BTW just because you don't see a lot of lights on in the marina towers doesn't mean apartments are sitting there empty. A good few are used as holiday homes, not sure but I've heard 100,000 or something Brits have bought holiday homes there.

The no of passangers is growing really rapidly in the airport but I don't think it'll be as fast as the figures smussuw posted. It could have been but hotel rates are now rising too high since last year they were completely full all the time. Once there's an oversupply of hotel rooms (which there will be in the future) prices will drop which'll encourage more people to visit. Also there have been delays in delivering Emirates' A380s which'll affect passanger numbers.

[dante2308]

Interesting. I was under the assumption that all the projects like Dubailand and Palm were moving forward full steam. Neither seemed feasible at all, at least from here. I haven't seen news that suggests otherwise, just more and more upbeat posts in these forums.

As for the "cultural heart" comment, I was more referring to the new areas. If they want to quadruple their population and keep an organic feel, they need to do it around the city's heart. Otherwise you get an engineer's wonderland with tall towers and very wide roads and complete car dependence where you have minimal contact with other people.

[VivaLFuego]

Interesting. I was under the assumption that all the projects like Dubailand and Palm were moving forward full steam. Neither seemed feasible at all, at least from here. I haven't seen news that suggests otherwise, just more and more upbeat posts in these forums.

As for the "cultural heart" comment, I was more referring to the new areas. If they want to quadruple their population and keep an organic feel, they need to do it around the city's heart. Otherwise you get an engineer's wonderland with tall towers and very wide roads and complete car dependence where you have minimal contact with other people.
I imagine the heat in Dubai makes being a pedestrian pretty unpleasant for most of the year. Of course, they could just enclose and air condition the entire city and make a new urbanist paradise.

[malec]

I imagine the heat in Dubai makes being a pedestrian pretty unpleasant for most of the year. Of course, they could just enclose and air condition the entire city and make a new urbanist paradise.
True. I think they're looking at pedestrianising (spelling?) a few areas. Of course they'll be putting cover area so that while it may be hot, at least you don't have the sun blasting you in the face. Summer is scorching but during the rest of the year, while it may be hot it wouldn't be unbearable. I think walking around the place is tolerable up to between 35 and 40 degrees although some people might think otherwise. Actually your airconditioning the whole city idea isn't too far off. Apparantly in DIFC there'll be area between about 6 or 7 towers that will be covered and will be pretty much like an airconditioned street. I'll try and find some renders :D

Interesting. I was under the assumption that all the projects like Dubailand and Palm were moving forward full steam. Neither seemed feasible at all, at least from here. I haven't seen news that suggests otherwise, just more and more upbeat posts in these forums.

As for the "cultural heart" comment, I was more referring to the new areas. If they want to quadruple their population and keep an organic feel, they need to do it around the city's heart. Otherwise you get an engineer's wonderland with tall towers and very wide roads and complete car dependence where you have minimal contact with other people.
Well, the palm is moving at full steam, there are just some bumps along the way. Not sure about dubailand but I'm sure projects there are being built too. I think it'll be drastically scaled down when they realise there's no way it's financially feasable at the current massive size.

I agree completely with your 2nd point. They should really try and do as much as possible with available land in the city (and there is a lot of it too). The new commercial district that includes the burj dubai and business bay is a few miles from the centre but I think that's good so that the old centre doesn't get levelled in the process. Plus if they wanted to build burj dubai in the centre they'd have to demolish the airport. Don't some cities have commercial districts outside the city centre like this? Also the marina might be far away, it's in the suburbs but the good thing is it's on the main metro line that goes to town (same with the commercial district).

[austin356]

Liberals see what happens when you have tax rates of ZERO? And fairly easy to understand and implement regulation? Oh and I second most of the reasons above. A large % of the capital we send overseas for oil each year >$500,000,000,000 at least goes through this capital of the mid east. They might not be producing most of the worlds oil, but they are handling most of the oil producer's new found cash and old found cash (that that isnt in the US or Euro)

[Sky Tower]

I just don't understand how Dubai can be so on fire in terms of development.

I see threads like :
"Dubai to build world's biggest airport"
"Dubai building exact replicas of world's 20 tallest buildings"
"Dubai building 20 of the world's biggest amusement parks"
"Construction begins of World's Biggest Mega Mall in Dubai"
"Worlds Biggest Man Made Island to be developed in Dubai".
"850 buildings contained city to be buillt in Dubai"

How in the hell can one city attract so much development? It doesn't make sense. Dubai isn't that prosperous. Only 6% of the country's GDP comes from Oil.

It's like in Dubai, if you can dream it, you can build it - and it will be built. World's biggest skyscrapers, amusement parks, stadiums, olympic parks, indoor ski hills, anything and everything you can possibly imagine, Dubai has it.

How is it possible. Why is it that no other country (except China) can do what Dubai does? I live in Canada, and supposidly our economy's on fire - yet I don't see any Canadian city doing what Dubai is. Infact I don't see ANY other city in the world doing what Dubai is in terms of development.

It's like the rest of the world is stagnant and stale, perhaps building 1, 2 or 10 buildings at a time, while Dubai is building mega cities and developments.

How is this possible ???

A question I've asked myself many times; but for many threads on this site end up with the question being asked out of complexes over national inferiority, something that the US has never before had to do.
A few days ago I wrote a reply on a WTC thread responding to a question about the Freedom Tower design, that ended up with me ranting on about basically, what you have written above about Dubai.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=2398386&postcount=1089

[Owlhorn]

national inferiority? I think the questions arise because there is usually a way that these things happen, and the natural market forces simply aren't there in this situation. Such forces are apparent when you're talking about Shanghai or Chicago. They just aren't apparent in this situation. Hence, the post.

p.s. for things to be about inferiority, there has to be some threat. Skyscrapers are not that.

[malec]

Well, the demand is there that's for sure. But the question is who is it that's actually buying all the apartments ;)

[Derek]

No NIMBYS. (:
no NIMBYS? or no government officials who care about what the citizens have to say?:sly:

[malec]

Take a look at this:



http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/172/2wb4.jpg


http://static.flickr.com/108/277009572_5f79aaac7f_o.jpg


more highrise to near the bottom right of this pic

http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/6046/dubai1ir3.jpg


http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/6061/untitled71muyl6.jpg



You know what's really insane about this? All these images are of seperate areas. :nuts::nuts:[/QUOTE]

[mczamalek]

So where will all the people who live in these buildings come from? Certainly not from the immigrant workforce....

"We're here to earn money, not for happiness," Amin said. "No one comes to this country for happiness."

Most of the hundreds of thousands of low-skilled workers are from India and other South Asian countries, with strong union traditions. Episodes of unrest began last year over living conditions, low pay and hazardous workplaces. At Amin's site, two Indian painters had died a few days before, when ropes holding their platform aloft snapped. In the worst outburst, as many as 3,000 workers rioted in March at the site of Burj Dubai, wrecking cars, computers and construction equipment.

Amin's and Miah's complaints echoed others': The company seized their passports when they entered the country, their pay comes months late, complaints can lead to deportation, and they make too little to offset the $175 they pay every month for rent and food.

"The law doesn't protect us," Miah said. "The government looks after the companies, and the companies don't care about us."

They remain because coming home poor would shame them in the eyes of their families and villages, they said. They were expected to make enough to buy land and a house, take care of their families and pay for their siblings' educations. "My hopes haven't come true," Amin said. "The dream that I had is still just a dream."

"I came here, and now I'm stuck here," added Miah.

They entered Sharjah. At a traffic circle, a billboard asked, "Are your employees leaving for better pay?" Along a park, a greeting was landscaped in pink flowers: "Smile," it said, "you are in Sharjah." The men arrived home, a collection of concrete huts, some with 10 beds crammed in a room. Three more sleep on mattresses laid out on the floor. In Miah's room, a plastic garland of red flowers hung over the sole light, a fluorescent bulb. The smell of hot chilis, mixed with fish, mingled with the stench of sewage.

"This is what we have in our country," said Miah, smiling. "I never thought Dubai would be like this."

"It's worse than our country," Amin said. He grimaced. "Is it not? Sitting in dirt and eating dirt?"

An entire city built for the elite? How will it work when construction slows and/or ceases?

[Mr Roboto]

Tons of oil money from greedy tycoons + cheap labor + dick measuring contest = dubai

What a friggin waste of resources to build an artificial city. I really wanna know what the big draw is to this place to have so many residential buildings going up. I know china and india have a lot of people, but that many tourists? Are all the laborers going to live there when they are done or something? Even vegas wasn't built so fast relatively speaking.
But I must say, I'll be watching what will happen with this place, because its so intriguing. I want to see what they'll do with all those empty buildings.

[Majin]

It is beyond me how a population of 1.8 million is going to fill all of those buildings.

Unless Dubai is planning adding about 1 million people a year, I dont see how all those buildings won't sit empty.

It just doesn't make any sense and I still havent seen it explained in this thread.

[He11razor]

Are all these places supposed to be inhabited year around? Are there job opportunities to be had in this place? I once got an offer to work in Saudi Arabia for a project, but after reading about it, I thought I enjoyed booze too much to risk getting arrested for.

[★Kngkyle]

It is beyond me how a population of 1.8 million is going to fill all of those buildings.

Unless Dubai is planning adding about 1 million people a year, I dont see how all those buildings won't sit empty.

It just doesn't make any sense and I still havent seen it explained in this thread.

Exactly.
Occupancy rates is a unknown term when it comes to Dubai. Is there even any occupancy? All you see is big big big big big skyscraper big big big but who lives there?

I know that 99.9% of Americans likely have no idea Dubai even exists. I've asked some of my friends if they had heard of Dubai. So far nobody knows anything about it.

[M II A II R II K]

It is beyond me how a population of 1.8 million is going to fill all of those buildings.

Unless Dubai is planning adding about 1 million people a year, I dont see how all those buildings won't sit empty.

It just doesn't make any sense and I still havent seen it explained in this thread.

Maybe along with their hub airport they'll have a hub city, to accomodate the masses passing through all the time.

[mczamalek]

I know that 99.9% of Americans likely have no idea Dubai even exists. I've asked some of my friends if they had heard of Dubai. So far nobody knows anything about it.


That's not true- perhaps in your circle of friends it is. The UAE and Dubai are known to most literate people of any nation.

[Monetto]

Grrrr. I was deleted, but maybe I was being rude.
Those proposals are absolutely ridiculous. Lets say that Dubay won't have problems filling those buildings up, but, its like those developers have never cracked a Urban Geography 101 textbook in their life. All those suburban dwellers (or whatever they may be) would converge on 1 highway to travel a few km to that CBD(?) simply because of the insistence that there be no other connection between the houses and the skyscrapers? Its like cherry-picking the worst elements about N. American cities today and doing them.

[malec]

Maybe along with their hub airport they'll have a hub city, to accomodate the masses passing through all the time.
I don't know if that's the idea but the last pic I posted is part of the airport development.

It is beyond me how a population of 1.8 million is going to fill all of those buildings.

Unless Dubai is planning adding about 1 million people a year, I dont see how all those buildings won't sit empty.

It just doesn't make any sense and I still havent seen it explained in this thread.
Who knows, building one of those skylines one might think fair enough but all 4 is seriously WTF?:haha:

Just for your information one shows the marina which is already half complete, another picture is of business bay which is built around the burj dubai, another near the new airport and a 4th one of the waterfront cbd near palm jebel ali.

The airport is being built over a period of 20 to 25 years so I'd imagine it'll be ages before we start seeing skyscrapers there.
Business bay? Fair enough they do need office space and there's a shortage now but in its entirety seems way too much (will be one hell of a skyline though with burj dubai)
Marina? Has been a success so far but we'll see how things turn out when a load of towers are completed next year.
Waterfront? To be honest, although this insanely large development seems better planned than most (it is based on a grid system) it's completely unnecessary right now. The company behind it (Nakheel) have always had "siz issues", they seem to be envious of Emaar since they copy everything they do. They first copied emaars suburb type developments then the marina and now they copy burj dubai with al burj.


Anyway, I doubt all of this will be built. Eventually reality will come back and in order to be feasible some of the larger projects will be significantly reduced

[geraldmd15]

Dubai is a fake city. It isn't developing the hard way like New York or Chicago. That is not to say that the develpment is unimpressive, because it is VERY impressive. But at the end of the day it will be like a shiny new shopping mall that starts on an inevitable path to mediocrity and sameness.


On a related note, many Americans will go to European cities and see their breathtaking and grand cities and come back to America (the wealthiest country in the world) and wonder why our own cities don't resemble theirs. After all, we ARE the richest nation in the world. But Europe's wildly ambitious cities were built up over centuries and usually under non-democratic governments (if you can call them governments), meaning central planners had near-complete control over how a city developed. America, from its very beginnings, favored a less structured approach, more "freedom," and the idea that rights to property (whether land or otherwise) and the right to develop that property at your control were sacred things. Over time America did develop methods to counter do-what-you-want development, things like work laws preventing young children from toiling in construction, wage laws, NIMBY's and land-use laws etc. American therefore represents the "mushy-middle" in development. We're not European, where construction is tightly controlled and usually severely limited in comparison to America. America itself is much more free with construction but other things conspire to impose fairly impressive limitations. America in comparison to China/UAE, where there are about zero restraints on development (children slaving away in construction legal, little or no taxes, no land-use restrictions), is just behind in every way. But it SHOULD be that way. You have to be crazy or a Republican (the two are very similar) to want to allow children to work in construction/mining, for there to be virtually no taxes, and no land use restrictions. The U.S. has struck the right balance between quasi-socialist Europe and super-laissez faire China/UAE.

[staff]

^^
Why are you comparing China and UAE? Do think there is any resemblance between these two countries except for the fact that both are building skyscrapers?
There's an extreme demand for it in China - the city of Chongqing alone is growing with about 800.000 people a year.

"Children slaving away in construction legal"?
"No taxes"?
"No land-use restrictions"?

Do you have any idea of what you're talking about?

[MolsonExport]

a city built all at the same time isn't very impressive.

Like Dallas and Montreal.


I talk about the Skyline. They could have both changed since i have not been there for 3 years.


Montreal? Built at the same time? What the hell are you talking about?

[arcite]

Dubai is a fake city. It isn't developing the hard way like New York or Chicago. That is not to say that the develpment is unimpressive, because it is VERY impressive. But at the end of the day it will be like a shiny new shopping mall that starts on an inevitable path to mediocrity and sameness.




I disagree. Sameness compared to what exactly? Do you mean like all the buildings are identical and there is just some kind of template that is being repeated?

I travel to Dubai several times a year and the place is constantly changing. Sure everything is BRAND new and SHINY but how can this possibly be bad? Sure its a little sterile, but on the other hand, its high tech, clean, orderly. They do seem to have alot of Baskin robins and starbucks, but I can't really fault them for that.

I love visiting Dubai, for the shopping, and just the spectacle of it all, but I wouldn't want to live there atleast not as it is yet. However, when more of the massive developments get completed I think Dubai will take on a life as its own, especially when projects such as the media city, medical city, ect are completed -- that will bring in more permanent workers who will live in Dubai full time, instead of just the time-share jet set and tourists. All the pieces are coming together in Dubai to create something really unique and awsome... unlike nowhere else in the world.

Still, its more wild-west/construction site at the moment. Not to mention that I would estimate MOST of the money flowing around Dubai is likely laundered (drug money/smuggling). For example I live in Nairobi at the moment and MOST of the cars here have been illegally smuggled from Dubai. Dubai is also a notorious transit hub for drugs. :D . It's rather absurd to drive around Dubai spotting all the insane mansions and pimped out $100,000 cars/suvs. I have never seen so many Hummers/Jaguars/Porches/BMW/Mecedes in one place. Russian mafia $$$?? African Dictator $$$? (all of the above) :haha:

The place is also crawling with eastern eurpean/asian prostitutes but this is hardly surprizing either.

The fact is Dubai is a massive port city, so all of these things are to be expected, but it will need to be dealt with if Dubai wants to achieve true greatness.

One thing that I don't think they have quite sorted out is how to integrate the multinational expat community with the native arab community... without resorting to some kind of segregation. It will be interesting to see how it evolves over time. No doubt though, there is so much money flowing through the city that I can't see any kind of catastrophy happening (ie empty buildings, economy collapsing), but there must be a downturn eventually.

I love character as much as the next guy. London is an awsome historical city. However, planned cities are the way of the future I think... :tup:

[malec]

Integration is definitely a problem, I guess one of the reasons is all the abrupt change. They're definitely not helping by targeting certain nationalities for different projects. For example what %age of the marina residents will be locals?

BTW I think this place might make for a good GTA game, it's got tons of flashy cars, insane drivers, whores, etc. The only thing missing is the day to day crime on the street.

BTW check out this thread
http://www1.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=318374

[M II A II R II K]

If a large percentage of those foreigners are from other Arab nations then maybe there'll be less of an issue.

[Dac150]

I know this isnt the case but what the hell, is it me or does Dubi look like one big endless construction site. In all the renderings and photos all i ever see are construction workers and trucks. Never no civilians, taxis, anything that would be in a city. Just miles and miles of cranes and unfinished buildings. It doesnt add up. Where all all these people coming from tho live and work??????????????????????

[mariokarter]

well a lot of the stuff, like everything around the burj dubai sint exactly downtown is it?

The development in Dubai is an amazing feet and nobody should attempt to downplay their accomplishments.

[AltinD]

I know this isnt the case but what the hell, is it me or does Dubi look like one big endless construction site. In all the renderings and photos all i ever see are construction workers and trucks. Never no civilians, taxis, anything that would be in a city. Just miles and miles of cranes and unfinished buildings. It doesnt add up. Where all all these people coming from tho live and work??????????????????????

Dubai is building completely new entire neighborhoods, in what use to be barren sand.

What you see are CONSTRUCTION update and not city pictures so of course you'll see all what you mentioned and not taxis and people or whatever.

[AltinD]

Integration is definitely a problem, I guess one of the reasons is all the abrupt change. They're definitely not helping by targeting certain nationalities for different projects. For example what %age of the marina residents will be locals?

Locals don't want to live in scyscrapers. Being family oriented and liking privacy they prefer to live in villas only.

NONE of the scyscraper developement is aimed to local Emaratis, and you should have learned this by now. ;)

[AltinD]

Dubai is a fake city. It isn't developing the hard way like New York or Chicago.

If by "hard way" you mean having as result a rundown, smelly, crime ridden, pot-holed roads, poverty filled neighborhoods, NO THANKS! :haha:

[AltinD]

Are all these places supposed to be inhabited year around? Are there job opportunities to be had in this place? I once got an offer to work in Saudi Arabia for a project, but after reading about it, I thought I enjoyed booze too much to risk getting arrested for.

Dubai is in Saudi Arabia??? You "learn" new things everyday...

[malec]

Locals don't want to live in scyscrapers. Being family oriented and liking privacy they prefer to live in villas only.

NONE of the scyscraper developement is aimed to local Emaratis, and you should have learned this by now. ;)
I knew that ;)

[roner]

Their target is 15 million tourists by 2010 comparing to 6.2 now and 60 million passengers comparing to 25 now.

Their target is only 15 million? Portland gets nearly eight million and is far behind NYC, Vegas, etc. They are going to need a lot more tourist than that.

The irony of Dubai is amazing. It's ultra modern, flashy, and decadent, yet utterly draconian. Yikes!

[googleabcd]

I don't think Chinese people will be very interested in Dubai simply because there are already lots of Skyscraper cities in China, including Shanghai/Guangzhou/ShenZhen/Beijing/ChongQing...
Chinese people already get used to high buildings.

In fact, the tourist places that most Chinese are interested in should be South Asia, Europe, Australia and North America.

I guess Dubai needs to do more other than simply building high rises to attract the tourists.
Dubai is a country that is heavily leveraged. The money for these developments comes mostly from foreign investements. As the article says this is the most stable region in the Middle East so most foreign MNCs have regional HQs in Dubai. It is a shipping hub, as well as a financial hub. A lot of money is moved in/out of Dubai, most of it legit but a lot of it is illegal funds. For example a lot of India's crime gangs move their money through Dubai, and they also funnel a lot of the money into some of the developments you read about. A lot of rich Arabs move their money through Dubai. Westerners are buying a lot of property in the country, especially Europeans. I am also sure a lot of illegal money from other parts of the world are sent through Dubai.

This will come to a screeching halt if an instablity hits Dubai, i.e. terrorism, war in Iran, etc.

I have travelled quite often to Dubai, I am heading there end of next week. The city state is absurd, definetly a very hedonistic place where money and status rule the day. Like most hedonist, it will probably come crashing down from its high sometime, but right now its they are on a great and record long high.

[Magnus1]

I don't think Chinese people will be very interested in Dubai simply because there are already lots of Skyscraper cities in China, including Shanghai/Guangzhou/ShenZhen/Beijing/ChongQing...
Chinese people already get used to high buildings.

In fact, the tourist places that most Chinese are interested in should be South Asia, Europe, Australia and North America.

I guess Dubai needs to do more other than simply building high rises to attract the tourists.

So the Chinese don't like drugs, prostitutes, gambling, nightclubs, beaches, Boats, boats and more BOATS, or world class shopping & entertainment. Glad you know so much about them. You're right. Besides what i've mentioned Dubai only builds skyscrapers for tourists.

[cornholio]

I don't think Chinese people will be very interested in Dubai simply because there are already lots of Skyscraper cities in China, including Shanghai/Guangzhou/ShenZhen/Beijing/ChongQing...
Chinese people already get used to high buildings.

In fact, the tourist places that most Chinese are interested in should be South Asia, Europe, Australia and North America.

I guess Dubai needs to do more other than simply building high rises to attract the tourists.

Actualy I read a paper on Chinese tourism and aperently more then any other group of people their idea of a vacation is to go to a high class hotel in a high class city and spend alot of money(now this is a quick sumery and doesnt aply to all chinese tourists). Anyways Dubai sounds like a perfect city for them.
Here in Vancouver they say that most Chinese tourists are interested in the city and a majority of them dont even venture out to the realy interesting places outside of Vancouver and in BC.

[BTinSF]

It is all about the money!!! There are few safe places for mid eastern people to put their money anymore without being heavily scrutinize. Dubai is becoming a financial capital of the mid east and the world such as Hong Kong was during it's hey day. Dubai is the next Hong Kong!!

Lee J Buividas

Bingo! I think a lot of the money going into Dubai is from wealthy Saudis who want an ace in the hole if the monarchy should be overthrown (along with wealthy expats from shakey regimes around the world). But the real question in my mind is not how can they do it, but will it turn out not to be the greatest bubble of all time? In the end of the day, Hong Kong succeeds because it is/was an entry point to China with that country's huge markets and economy. Dubai is pretty much on its own and its economy is pretty much an economic house of cards. Do they make anything there? Do they buy and sell or tranship the products of any large-scale economy there? What exactly do they need all those buildings for in the age when money is largely just a few bits and bytes on a hard drive and investments can be manipulated electronically from anywhere? Do the people who own homes and apartments there really want to live there--or just, as I said, want to have a refuge "in case." And when all the neat buildings are built and nobody can figure out what to do with them, then what?

[BTinSF]

So the Chinese don't like drugs, prostitutes, gambling, nightclubs, beaches, Boats, boats and more BOATS, or world class shopping & entertainment.

They will if those things are in Macau. ;)

[JMancuso]

i am very curious how dubai will end up in 10-20 years. it is a country heavily dependent on oil and will be so for the foreseeable future. even if it did attract a large tourism and financial base, it still would be a small percentage of the economy and they alone would not be able to sustain the economy should the oil industry go awry.

i predict once oil starts to go bust (whenever that happens) dubai will shrivel. this is a city built on oil, spends money (from its oil) like its going out of style and denies that oil is fueling its boom.

[austin356]

i am very curious how dubai will end up in 10-20 years. it is a country heavily dependent on oil and will be so for the foreseeable future. even if it did attract a large tourism and financial base, it still would be a small percentage of the economy and they alone would not be able to sustain the economy should the oil industry go awry.

i predict once oil starts to go bust (whenever that happens) dubai will shrivel. this is a city built on oil, spends money (from its oil) like its going out of style and denies that oil is fueling its boom.


You are about 10 years behind my Oil City friend. Dubai will have practically zero oil production by 2015. It only makes up 5% of GDP now, and just this years growth will have replaced enough production in other areas to compensate for all production, even if it all ended today.

They are only indirectly dependent on oil, via being the "lower manhattan" of the Mideast. But if oil goes bust, that doesnt mean that all that accumulated capital disappears, it just means it grows a slower rate.

And that is a stretch. Tourism is a much larger % of GDP now, than Oil. Actually, your city is several times more dependent on oil than Dubai.

[BTinSF]

You are about 10 years behind my Oil City friend. Dubai will have practically zero oil production by 2015. It only makes up 5% of GDP now, and just this years growth will have replaced enough production in other areas to compensate for all production, even if it all ended today.

They are only indirectly dependent on oil, via being the "lower manhattan" of the Mideast. But if oil goes bust, that doesnt mean that all that accumulated capital disappears, it just means it grows a slower rate.

And that is a stretch. Tourism is a much larger % of GDP now, than Oil. Actually, your city is several times more dependent on oil than Dubai.

And so where do the tourists get their money if not oil? Does the "accumulated capital" belong to natives of Dubai with roots in the place or just people who have chosen to stash it there for the time being? If the latter, is there a reason you think they won't move one at some point?

Great cities almost always become great because of some accident of geography or history. Lower manhattan became what it became because it was the greatest natural port with the most aggressive citizens on the leading edge of a great continent. Hong Kong became what it became because it was one of only a couple of entry ports for westerners into China. London was the capital of the world's greatest seapower and trading nation for a couple of centuries. Paris and Rome were the capitals of Europe's greatest land military power and economy at various times.

To me, Dubai's fortunes seem entirely artificial but I would honestly like somebody to explain what is the essential advantage of Dubai. As I said above, it does sit next door to the immensely wealthy but politically shaky Saudi Arabia and that reason explains for me the present growth spurt. But when the Saudi oil fields begin to run dry, the world begins to move beyond oil as an energy source or the Saudi monarchy falls and the country degenerates into political chaos more typical of the region, why then should people flock to Dubai with their money?

Dubai rather reminds me of Las Vegas and I think Las Vegas would collapse if Los Angeles suddenly legalized casino gambling. It's a fragile thing, this boom.

[staff]

Even though oil isn't produced in Dubai, and that oil only makes up 5% of the GDP doesn't mean that the city is terribly dependent on oil.

If it weren't for oil, Dubai wouldn't have the skyscrapers it has today. I think most (or maybe pretty much all) of the investments in Dubai come from oil money in some form.

The "oil is only x% of Dubai's GDP" is quite a tiresome argument. Dubai is an oil city.

[xyralothep]

Hi there,

I think some people are overestimating the capacity of highrise buildings (though I am happy to corrected if I have overlooked something in my estimation below!)

Adding up all Dubai's highrise buildings listed in Emporis gives (very) approximately 28,000 floors (845 buildings with an average of 32 floors - this included those not yet built).

Assuming an average floor occupancy of 30 people (based on my building in Australia, which appears to have a large footprint than most Dubai buildings), these highrises will only hold about 800,000 people - less than half Dubai's population. And that's assuming they are all residential and continually occupied - of course they are not.

Conclusion: there is no reason to think these buildings are empty!

(please tell me if I have overlooked something here!)

[malec]

And so where do the tourists get their money if not oil? Does the "accumulated capital" belong to natives of Dubai with roots in the place or just people who have chosen to stash it there for the time being? If the latter, is there a reason you think they won't move one at some point?

Great cities almost always become great because of some accident of geography or history. Lower manhattan became what it became because it was the greatest natural port with the most aggressive citizens on the leading edge of a great continent. Hong Kong became what it became because it was one of only a couple of entry ports for westerners into China. London was the capital of the world's greatest seapower and trading nation for a couple of centuries. Paris and Rome were the capitals of Europe's greatest land military power and economy at various times.

To me, Dubai's fortunes seem entirely artificial but I would honestly like somebody to explain what is the essential advantage of Dubai. As I said above, it does sit next door to the immensely wealthy but politically shaky Saudi Arabia and that reason explains for me the present growth spurt. But when the Saudi oil fields begin to run dry, the world begins to move beyond oil as an energy source or the Saudi monarchy falls and the country degenerates into political chaos more typical of the region, why then should people flock to Dubai with their money?

Dubai rather reminds me of Las Vegas and I think Las Vegas would collapse if Los Angeles suddenly legalized casino gambling. It's a fragile thing, this boom.

One of the reasons you give is the presence of ports and trade. Dubai has one of the largest ports in the world

[arcite]

One of the reasons you give is the presence of ports and trade. Dubai has one of the largest ports in the world


I was wondering when someone was going to bring that up. Dubai is strategically located for trade. The free trade zones probably help alot too.

----
googled some info on Dubai and found this excellent description:

Since its establishment the Dubai government has invested over USD 2.5bn into the zone to further its potential. It is the largest commercial and industrial ‘free zone’ in the Middle East and offers the best tax incentives in the world for both private investors and commercial business. It is directly linked to the Jebel Ali Seaport which is located about 40kms from Dubai city centre. The harbor is the largest, most advanced and efficient man made harbor in the world which in turn is linked to Dubai international airport’s state-of-the-art air cargo village. The village and the seaport combined allow for the world’s fastest sea-air transport turnaround in as little as 4 hours, and the strategic location of the free zone and Dubai itself allows for companies to have easy access to the 1.5 billion consumers in the countries surrounding the Gulf and Red Sea, furthermore there are no import or export duties payable within the zone and there is 100% repatriation of both profit and capital within the zone. To those individuals considering retirement with assets that they would like to invest in a state where their tax liabilities are limited, the advantages of the Jebel Ali Free Zone are also obvious!

In fact any property buyers of free hold property in Dubai automatically qualify for a residence visa. With this residence visa you are able to reside in Dubai and open up a bank account with industry respected banks such as Citi Bank, Standard Chartered, Lloyds of London and HSBC to name a few. Once this is done you are free to move funds about between banks and repatriate money at your will, a very nice way to shelter some of your hard earned dollars from the Tax Man. As the Muslim religion forbids tax to be charged by the state.

Not only is Dubai the gateway for trade between the middle east and the rest of the world it is also building the fourth financial district of the world in DIFC (Dubai International Financial City). This is a strategically important financial centre as it straddles the time Zones between New York, London and Hong Kong and makes the world financial markets a truly live twenty four hour a day market. It is also another business Free Zone which has inspired many of the world’s leading financial companies to put a regional office in Dubai’s DIFC seeing the potential of the market and the continued growth expected out of Dubai over the coming years.

The United Arab Emirates has never been richer with the price of oil spiking in 2005 and showing no signs of returning to previous levels. Much of the investment in Dubai has been in real estate to cater for the huge numbers of businesses and individuals now settling in Dubai but the real estate market is still very young at thirty years old and with the currency pegged at 3.67 Dirhams to the US dollar bargains are everywhere for the educated investor or the owner looking for a villa in the sun. A new three bedroom villa in the best location of Dubai or a two bedroom Dubai beachside apartment currently runs out at about 2 million AED ($544,959.00 USD) Property owners are seeing annual premiums of up to 35% of their land values and are getting up to 15-20% premiums on rental returns.
For all you real estate entrepreneurs the commercial real estate market in Dubai is ready to blossom with companies screaming out for office space and absolutely nowhere for them to go. Developers have seen the trend emerging and are scrambling to react but high rise office buildings and retail developments can only be built so fast. There is a lag between what is being demanded and what is being built. The time to take advantage and get involved in the commercial property market is now. WHY?

The United Arab Emirates achieved 104.2 billion US dollars of GDP in 2005. The United Arab Emirates has a population of approximately 4 million people. It has surpassed Egypt with a population of over 70 million people as the second biggest economy in the Gulf in 2005 just behind Saudi Arabia. The economic statistics are a mile long and every one of them spells success. This remarkable little Emirate with Dubai as its centre piece is taking on the world and winning through a business and expatriate friendly attitude combined with a determination to make Dubai renowned as destination synonymous across the globe for top class business, pleasure and leisure.

Dubai’s climate is in a word is sunny. It rains on average three to four days in a year. I have just celebrated another mid winter Christmas in Dubai with temperatures around the low seventies. The climate is constantly superb for nine months of the year, which is great for all you sun worshippers, tennis players or golfers. The Golf courses are of course world class and you never have to worry about getting rained on or canceling your game in Dubai. It does get a tad sticky in the summer though with temperatures in July, August and September sitting in the low to mid nineties. But hey there’s always a chilled pool nearby at one of the many leisure clubs and which would you rather have to get through - a hot summer or a freezing winter? Maybe you could have the best of both worlds and winter in Dubai.

Dubai could be compared to Las Vegas but only in the climate. It does not have the outrageously priced real estate, the Casino’s (gambling of any kind is prohibited by the Muslim faith) and any of the other unattractive derivatives that come along with the Las Vegas experiences.

Dubai does have a vibrant nightlife and contrary to popular belief drinking is permitted in Dubai’s multitude of five star hotels with their beautifully appointed bars and restaurants. You can also purchase alcohol for consumption at home through a liquor license which is a simple formality to get.

Sheikh Zayed recognized many years ago that for Dubai to be an attractive proposition to the Western World it would have to let some of the ways of the western world in which it has done very successfully without forgetting or cheapening its own culture and traditions.

The UAE’s national airline Emirates with one of the most modern air fleets in the world offers twice daily direct flights to and from JFK which are a twelve hour duration. All of Europe is on Dubai’s doorstep with its farthest point, the UK a mere six and a half hours away. Dubai international airport handles over 55 airlines and about 150 flights a day and is second only to Tokyo in the number of daily transit passengers it handles. A state of the art new airport is currently being constructed which will take it to the largest airport in the world with the most passenger and air transport capacity.

Dubai is a clean, modern, attractive city with stunning architecture, world class sporting, leisure and entertainment facilities, palm trees and beaches as good as any Island resort you can find, a stable currency, an affordable cost of living with a tax free environment to carry on or start your business in and a still young, vibrant and ever developing real estate market that is one of the best in the world in regards to land value appreciation and cost in comparison to other world leading cities. This all adds up to an investment and a lifestyle that is hard to beat.

Now, how many of you knew all that about Dubai, this little pearl of a city?
.

[staff]

One of the reasons you give is the presence of ports and trade. Dubai has one of the largest ports in the world
How does the actual port of Dubai rank in the world in terms of tonnage etc. compared to, say, Rotterdam, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai?

I know that the port company (Dubai Ports) is the world's largest, but simply because they own a lot of ports around the world.

[JMancuso]

i don't care what anyone says; oil is responsible for dubai's boom. historical skyscraper cities such as new york, hong kong and chicago are not able to put up the quantity of massive projects that dubai has because that kind of capital is hard to come by. hell, the burj dubai was paid for in full all in advance.

someone explain to me where all this money is coming from if it isn't oil...

[Jasonhouse]

Dubai is a fake city. It isn't developing the hard way like New York or Chicago.

I'm not advocating any position one way or another... But I can't help but find your comment ironic considering Chicago's early history of meteoric population growth, and NYC's rapid skyline growth in the early 20th century.

[EtherealMist]

Yeah I dont accept that argument either. Chicago and NYC had their growth explosions just like Dubai is going through right now. Dubai is along way from the level of NYC or Chicago but dont hate on it just because its growing so rapidly and undering going such massive construction.

[Anna Maria]

Dubai: Human being's greatest strain before agony!

[Marcu]

The US has a "dubai" already. It's called Vegas. Both cities are very similar except that dubai was built on oil/child labor and vegas on gambling/mob money. Both are very post-modern in their approach and both let developers build virtually anything they want.

[staff]

Marcu,
Child labour?

"Yeah I dont accept that argument either. Chicago and NYC had their growth explosions just like Dubai is going through right now. Dubai is along way from the level of NYC or Chicago but dont hate on it just because its growing so rapidly and undering going such massive construction."

- Agreed. Dubai is undergoing what Chi and NYC did, but in a much more extreme pace.
If you're going to compare Dubai to cities that have "developed the hard way", then do it with European cities that has grown over thousands of years, and gone through countless economic crisises (!?), plagues, bombings and fire disasters.

[Gerrard]

Dubai will never be more than a vast shopping mall and sun destination while it remains a theocratic dictatorship. Sorry, but unless it joins at the very least the 20th century in social advancement it'll pretty much only ever have flavor of the month appeal.

[arcite]

Dubai will never be more than a vast shopping mall and sun destination while it remains a theocratic dictatorship. Sorry, but unless it joins at the very least the 20th century in social advancement it'll pretty much only ever have flavor of the month appeal.

I don't know about that. I think Dubai (regardless of UAE internal politics) is set up in such a way to make such issues irrelavent. They have huge free trade zones that aren't taxed and allow foreign freehold ownership. Competition is encouraged and innovation embrased. If anything, Dubai is a model for others to follow.

[malec]

How does the actual port of Dubai rank in the world in terms of tonnage etc. compared to, say, Rotterdam, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai?

I know that the port company (Dubai Ports) is the world's largest, but simply because they own a lot of ports around the world.



Well, it doesn't compare with Singapore or Hong Kong but it's still big. Check this link:
I don't know what this means exactly since I know nothing about ports

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_busiest_container_port

[SHiRO]

Yeah, that's only containers...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_busiest_port_by_cargo_tonnage

[mrjohnnynofear]

Don't worry, Dubai has it all covered because they got one of these.....

http://andrewsimz.com/theeasybutton.jpg

[Tom_Green]

And so where do the tourists get their money if not oil? Does the "accumulated capital" belong to natives of Dubai with roots in the place or just people who have chosen to stash it there for the time being? If the latter, is there a reason you think they won't move one at some point?



I am from Germany and i visit Dubai the second time in April. I don`t work in the oil sector.



someone explain to me where all this money is coming from if it isn't oil...

Tourism and trade.

I will post some touristik shots i made 2 years ago to show you why so many normal people visiting Dubai.

http://tinypic.com/4jtelt

http://tinypic.com/4jteur

http://tinypic.com/4jkgwm

http://tinypic.com/4jkh29

http://tinypic.com/4kdvlz

http://tinypic.com/4ktliv

http://tinypic.com/4l3csw

http://tinypic.com/4ln5e1

http://tinypic.com/4jtfn9

http://tinypic.com/4ln5ev

Dubai has so much to offer. But you know this is a skyscraper forum and because of the big skyscraper boom in this city nobody talks about the other stuff Dubai has to offer.

Some hotels in Dubai
http://tinypic.com/4jtfde

http://tinypic.com/4jtfs1

http://tinypic.com/4j7pkp

[DePaul Bunyan]

Slave labor. There, I saved everyone 20 minutes. Go home.

[AltinD]

Slave labor. There, I saved everyone 20 minutes. Go home.

I see a big lawsuit comming against Microsoft, GM, FORD, CISCO System, GE, HP, P&G, CONOCO/PHILLIPS and many others for being directly involved in slavery. :yes:

I'm going to be RICH. :banana:

[AltinD]

...Great cities almost always become great because of some accident of geography or history. Lower manhattan became what it became because it was the greatest natural port ... on the leading edge of a great continent...

WRONG!!!

NEW YORK become great and important becouse they had the unthinkable and revolutionary idea to dug a canal from Lake Mitchigan to the Atlantic Ocean.

If you think out of the box (an expression Noth Americans likes so much) you progress, you don't and you stagnate.

[AltinD]

And so where do the tourists get their money if not oil? ....

In 2005 some 80,000 American military personel stationed in the Gulf and Iraq vacationed in Dubai and together with almost 10,000 visits by US Navy vessels in the port of Jebel Ali for refueling, supplying and repairs brings alot of extra dollars to the economy.

You think Dubai is just constructing buildings and nothing else ... how wrong you are.