Quote:
Originally Posted by Austinlee
What do you think is the future of Dubai? Do you think in 50 years it will have righted its wrongs and become a growing tourist seeing marvel? Or do you think they are running out of money and Abu Dhabi will far surpass Dubai as the #1 city in UAE?
Will Dubai become a run down Las Vegas?
I can't stand fake cities like Las Vegas. I know it's a marvel but it's not authentic. It's not a real city that is contributing to humanity.
Thought?
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Well it already is a "Vegas" just without the fun.. ( yes it has beaches and malls, but name a world city that doesn't ) and it already feels rather run down ( the finish even at the newest places leaves a lot to be desired - as I said it's all so half-arsed )
What Dubai has going for it is:
A - the flashy buildings and I'm glad I went to see them
B- the good winter weather when Europe suffers the grey dreary dark days that mark winter for most for us up here
C - it's exotic - the option to go to the middle east safely and experience it will attract many - even those, who like me, comes from multicultural cities with plenty of people from the region already.
D - it's a major hub with direct cheap connects to and from just about everywhere.
E - Russians - with their current conflict with Europe and Turkey and the terror risk in Egypt they are basically down to Dubai or Thailand - so Russians are everywhere!
What it will be like in 50 years is really hard to guess - the way the sectarian violence between sunni and shiite muslimes is ramping up, I personally think the UAE will be engulfed in the conflict just like so many nations are in the region. ( despite it's hardline actions doing the Arabian spring ) - if Saudi Arabia falls then I think it will only be a matter of seconds before the hardliners who see the western friendly Emirates as a place of sin makes their move there ( remember as I posted earlier just about all western activities are illegal Sharia sins in the UAE that they just ignore in exchange of tourist money )
I also think the use of slave labour will give it a backlash - we can already see it in the Oman Fifa worldcup deal and as social media and news get more awareness demand for good work conditions will likely rise undermining the tourist economy of the region, just like it has against whale shows, tiger feeding and elephant riding etc..
And finally there's the matter of options - there's little doubt Dubai is a on the bucketlist for most travellers, but with so little truly on offer and no real culture I think many cities will bury it deep on the lists of people - especially if it starts seeing terrorism - Egypt has been suffering hugely from the terrorism - Sharm El Sheikh used to be a very popular destination for Europeans, but that ended almost from day to day and now it's just another 'has been' location..
I know I'm pretty hard on the location -
truth is I'm very glad to have seen it and we had a great time visiting - I just think those with an interest in going should be aware that it's more a scattering of unfinished locations than a city and other than the skyscrapers it really doesn't offer anything you can't experience just about everywhere else.
Also be aware that there is no pedestrian culture what so ever - you will, if a keen walker like me - find yourself time and time again stuck in areas by large roads with no options to cross other than to backtrack and either use metro/taxi or walk endlessly around sidestreets hoping to find a place to cross ( that even goes for downtown - where we in several cases had to follow local workers across multilane streets because there simply where no crossings.. ( and even where there are intersections don't expect pedestrian crossings in them ) - also don't expect cars to yield to pedestrians - even when you are at a crossing - in general the drivers are terrible there - like Manhattan and Mumbai it's not a place I will ever drive a car!
Luckily the metro's red line covers most places ( sadly it's capacity doesn't meet demands so expect crowded trips ala Tokyo rushhour ( without the Japanese focus on hygiene/body odor )