Freki presents Dubai

[samne]

Interesting place, but yeah I agree its a jumbled free for all with lack of direction.

I much preferred Abu Dhabi. Its by far the richest and powerful of the Emirates and not as in need of foreign investment. Its the class to Dubai's glitz. A lot more long term planning is being applied.

[AJW]

Fake city.

However, nice pics Freki!

[10023]

Originally Posted by photoLith

Dubai is for sure no place Id ever want to visit, I mean if I had the chance and it was free and or fairly cheap than hell yeah, Id go. But Dubai to me seems like a dead soulless fascist place with no character. Its basically soulless suburbia with supertall skyscrapers. NYC minus the city.

Also, after further research, it seems the fort is the oldest building Dubai and was built in 1787 and other than a fort there wasn't much in the city until the early 1900's, which is surprising, considering the region is one of the oldest inhabited places by humanity, being close to Iraq, Iran etc which was home to nearly the oldest human civilizations on the planet. I would have figured Dubai had been home to some sort of port for thousands of years but this doesn't seem to be the case.

The ancient cultures of the Middle East were really in Mesopotamia (Iraq) and the Levant (Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan). Sana'a in Yemen is an old city (maybe the oldest Arab city), but that's because it's at 7500 feet above sea level and has a mild climate.

With few exceptions, the relatively few people that were in the Arabian peninsula were nomads on camels. Even Mecca was unknown before it became the birthplace of Muhammad, and it was probably a small town at the time. That fort in Dubai, like the ones in Aden and elsewhere, would have been built by the Ottomans as a remote outpost at the borders of their territory. They're not evidence of ancient cosmopolitan cities or even real trading centers. Muscat is one that was around as a trading center - they traded with India, probably because Oman is geographically cut off from the inland of the Arabian peninsula.

But then, oil.

As an aside, I believe that most problems in the Middle East and global Islam in general are a direct result of the fact that people from this part of the Arab world, who have no history of civilization, are the ones with all the money. Saudi and the Gulf states jumped straight from about the 10th century into the 20th.

[Lipani]

Great pics, Freki, although Dubai looks... stale.

[The North One]

I agree that Abu Dhabi is better but the city's urban planning is essentially identical to Dubai.

Masdar city seems to the only place in the country trying to build a sustainable and walkable city with accommodation to their climate.

[jtown,man]

I love the almost reflexive hate of Dubai by Americans from places like Detroit and Atlanta.

The cities urban rail is on a different level. Modern. Fast. Crowded. The cities street activity, even off shiek zayed rd(an expressway), is supringly active when thinking of the car-centered infrastructure nature of the city and its extreme heat.


In short, Americans seem to have very positive outlooks of their own suburban cities but then have some unrealistic bar for Dubai. Tacky? Any one of those towers would be cheered in Vegas, which by the way looks like its stuck in the 90s compared to Dubai.

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by jtown,man

I love the almost reflexive hate of Dubai by Americans from places like Detroit and Atlanta.

The cities urban rail is on a different level. Modern. Fast. Crowded. The cities street activity, even off shiek zayed rd(an expressway), is supringly active when thinking of the car-centered infrastructure nature of the city and its extreme heat.


In short, Americans seem to have very positive outlooks of their own suburban cities but then have some unrealistic bar for Dubai. Tacky? Any one of those towers would be cheered in Vegas, which by the way looks like its stuck in the 90s compared to Dubai.

The same people who dislike fake cities like Las Vegas have an aversion to Dubai. In the sense that it is not an organic real city. It is built as a spectacle with the hopes that people will like it.
I don't like Las Vegas, Macau and to a lesser extent Dubai. We all love NYC and London and the like because they are REAL in the sense that they were built organically over centuries. It's not that hard of a concept to understand.

And i'll add that most of the signature towers in Dubai are way better than Las Vegas. Most people just have a problem with the authenticity of these "instant cities".

[Evo5Boise]

I'll be one of the few that will admit I'm fascinated with Dubai. I've always been infatuated with skyscrapers, so I'd obviously love to see the Burj Kalifa, amongst the other towers they have sprinkled throughout the city. I enjoy the modern architecture. I could kind of see where the term "tacky" could be involved, but maybe that just comes from it's new shine.

I understand it is relatively expensive? How about safe? I believe I saw somebody mention it was a safe city but wanted a second opinion on it.

Great pics, by the way. I loved the tour!

[FREKI]

Originally Posted by Evo5Boise

I understand it is relatively expensive?

That it is - at least in the tourist areas..

I'd say it compared to Switzerland - so a tad more pricier than the US and Scandinavia..

( not too different from Manhattan really in terms of hotel and food prices )

Originally Posted by Evo5Boise

How about safe? I believe I saw somebody mention it was a safe city but wanted a second opinion on it.

As a main rule it's safe - while there are many muslims and they don't always look favorable at you as a westerner, I never felt at a real risk..

My gf and I did walk through various residential areas as I have shown ( I wanted to get a glimpse of the real Dubai ) and we did get a lot of mistrusting looks, but even when encountering scores coming from friday prayers it never escalated beyond looks..

As for the tourist zones there are so many ill behaving Russians and Koreans so a European or North American are the least of people's worries..

I'd say the biggest risk is the traffic and lacking food preparation hygiene

What people should be aware of is the retarded sharia laws.. just by staying unmarried in the same hotel roof, we were violating the law, by holding hands we were violating the law, by kissing we were violating the law, by my gf wearing a dress she was violating the law, by me taking pictures in public with women arund I was violating the law ect etc ect


They typically do not enforce sharia, but it is an option they do have and as a westerner it's almost impossible, regardless of how innocent, not to violate something - so it's all about not getting on police or locals bad side as they can make life tough on you if they want to.

Originally Posted by Evo5Boise

Great pics, by the way. I loved the tour!

Thanks mate!

( and thanks all who commented )

[BrandonJXN]

Great pictures of a city I have no interest in ever going to. It looks like Las Vegas threw up on Miami.