Dubai

[BrooklynRider]

Boom town

The fastest-growing city on earth, Dubai is spending mind-boggling sums on construction and is about to swallow up P&O in its bid to be a global maritime power. Given the scale of its ambition, could it become the most important place on the planet? Adam Nicolson reports from 'Mushroom City'

Monday February 13, 2006
The Guardian


It looks like a hot Grozny. On the vast invented islands offshore and in the even vaster building sites that stretch in a wide band the whole length of Dubai's now famous riviera, acre on acre of grey-faced, concrete, hollow-eyed buildings, fenced in with scaffolding and overhung by tower cranes, stare at each other across the sands. Tower blocks look abandoned rather than half-made. It is said that a fifth of the world's cranes are now at work here. An army of some 250,000 men, largely from India and Pakistan, are labouring to create the new glimmer fantasy, earning on average £150 a month, and living in camps, four to a room, 12ft by 12ft, hidden away in the industrial quarters of al Quoz. One night in one of the luxury hotels would cost six months' wages of one of the men who built it. Below and around their work sites, the new streets are chaotic with rubble and piles of steel.

The traffic is already as bad as Los Angeles. The city authorities are now giving priority to new roads, hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent on bridges across the Dubai Creek, five lanes in each direction, but still a taxi ride that might take 10 minutes at midday lasts an hour at either end of it. If you ask a driver to take you to some places, he laughs. "Do you want to have a very long talk?" he says.

Dubai is growing faster than any city on earth. "Mushroom City", Ravi Piyush, a plumply content dealer in the Gold Souk, said to me. "Nothing today, everything tomorrow." The World Bank reckons that the reconstruction of Iraq is going to cost $53bn. Here, along the strip of footballer-friendly sand that stretches 25 miles or so along the shores of the Persian Gulf, there is, at a rough estimate, about $100bn worth of projects either underway or planned for the near future. That is a numbing figure, ungraspable. It is the equivalent of every single dollar invested in the United States from abroad last year; almost twice the foreign investment in China.

There are the three famous offshore "palms", man-made peninsulas laden with more hotels and more "signature villas" than the entire Premiership might ever dream of. The 7,000-man workforce on one of them is too large to get on to the palm each morning without creating its own traffic jam: they are shipped in by sea from further along the coast. There's to be a Giorgio Armani Hotel and a Palazzo Versace. There's the tallest building in the world under construction, Burj Dubai, costing $800m and expected to be 800m tall when complete, but the precise figure is being kept secret in case New York's new Freedom Tower tries to top it. A billboard the size of Piccadilly Circus stands out in the desert showing the pencil-thin rocket of a tower alongside a simple rubric: "History Rising." The biggest shopping mall in the world is already here. Another, bigger, the world's largest retail development, is under construction.

There's to be an underwater hotel ($500m). One indoor ski resort, with real snow and its own black run, exists already, a weird, looming presence on the city's southern skyline. There is to be a second, with a revolving mountain. Plans are mooted for a Chess City, with 32 tower blocks of 64 floors, each in the form of a chess piece. There's to be a 60-floor apartment block in the shape of Big Ben. One company selling flats is giving away a free Jag with each one. There will be a pyramid and a building called Atlantis that will cost $600m and include a "swim-with-the-dolphins encounter programme". An Aviation City and a Cargo Village, an Aid City and a Humanitarian Free Zone, an Exhibition City and a Festival City, a Healthcare City and a Flower City, a $4bn extension to the airport and another entirely new airport along the coast towards Abu Dhabi, for which no figures are available but you can take a guess at a few billion: six runways, annual capacity 120 million passengers, 12 million tonnes of cargo.

Next to it, as the Dubai government's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing puts it, "There will be several smaller cities that will cater to the financial, industrial, service and tourism industries." To fill these airports, Emirates, the national airline, has just placed the biggest order that Boeing has ever had: $9.7bn for 42 777s, each capable of carrying 300 passengers non-stop more than 9,000 miles across the world. They have also ordered a fleet of the biggest Airbuses on offer, each capable of carrying 555 people.

The Middle East's answer to Disneyland, called Dubailand, which is far larger than Monaco, is costing $4.5bn. It will employ 300,000 people in the various joylands, servicing 15 million visitors. A new urban railway, with 37 stops, begins construction soon. Dubai is to have its own Silicon Oasis ($1.7bn) for computer companies. A mixed development called Dubai Waterfront/Arabian Canal covers an area larger than Barbados and will house, when completed ($6bn), more people than Paris.

There's another side to Dubai. Drive south along the Gulf, away from the glamour zone of the great hotels, past the giant malls and the huge gas-fired power stations, almost to the western border of Dubai, and you come to the largest man-made harbour in the world. The unapproachably vast quays of the modern port at Jebel Ali were dredged out of the desert sands in 1979 at a place where the present emir's father, Sheikh Rashid, used to come for evenings camping with his friends. Abdulla bin Damithan, one of the port managers, showed me around in his red Audi. (This was a replacement; the BMW was in for service.) The 1.5 mile-long quays are so enormous that to look the length of them is to stare into a desert haze. Halfway along, the metal bodies of the ships and cranes disappear like mirages.

But it is no dreamy place: every minute, every towering gantry crane lifts another container off the high-stacked decks of the bulbous ships alongside, lowers it to a waiting truck that delivers it to another part of the site, or transfers it from the unimaginably huge motherships, which travel the world oceans, to the slightly less huge feeder ships that service the Gulf, the Indian trade and the Mediterranean. Nothing interrupts the movements, day and night, 365 days a year, even in July at 90% humidity, an air temperature usually over 49C and when even the seawater in the docks approaches 38C. No one works outside. More than seven million containers are moved here in the course of the year, a figure that grew 23% last year, and is set to triple within the next six years, serving a market of two billion people. It's like looking at the guts of the world, the usually hidden machinery by which things actually happen. Over on the other side of the harbour, two diminutive destroyers are tied up, the stars and stripes hanging off their sterns. This is where the American carrier battle groups patrolling the Gulf come for service - and shopping. It's the port most visited by the US navy outside the United States.

Like almost everything of any significance in Dubai, the port system belongs to the state, or to the Maktoums, the ruling family. The two are indistinguishable, and in some ways, Dubai is like Poundbury writ large - and rich: a princely vision of how the world might be. The Maktoums came here as Bedouin chieftains in the 1820s, to a small, palm-fringed trading creek, where political control was in the hands of the British. Only in 1971 did Dubai gain independence as part of the United Arab Emirates. It was already known that Abu Dhabi, by far the biggest and richest of the Emirates, was sitting on a vast mineral reserve. At current rates of production, Abu Dhabi has more than 120 years' supply of oil and gas still untapped. Dubai is nothing like so well endowed, and so from the 1960s onwards, the Maktoums have been consciously shaping Dubai as the trading and financial motor of the Emirates, and the Dubai ports system is central to their vision.

Dubai sits on the all-important strategic routeway of the modern world: China, India, Middle East, Europe and the US. That is where the money is going to be. China has just become the third biggest economy in the world and it is the fastest growing. India is set for its own acceleration. The Maktoum plan is to make Dubai the centre of a global strategic network of port facilities to rival Singapore and the huge Hong Kong-based conglomerate of Hutchison-Whampoa. They have been acquiring hard and fast and now control massive facilities in China, Hong Kong, Australia, South Korea, India, Yemen, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Romania, Germany and Latin America. In a profoundly symbolic move, Dubai Ports are now manoeuvring to make a bid for the great harbours in southern Iraq.

They want more, and that desire for global control is what lies behind their bidding war for P&O, the British ports and shipping combine, which has a powerful European presence (including the giant London Gateway, planned to be Britain's biggest container port at Thurrock on the Thames), exactly what Dubai wants. Singapore wanted it too and the two commercial city states' rival bids drove up the price, adding 80% to the value of P&O's shares and valuing the company at a reported $6.8bn (just short of £4bn), an unprecedented 40 times P&O's profits last year. At the weekend, Singapore pulled out and all the signs are that when P&O's shareholders vote today, they will accept Dubai's offer. This bid alone is a measure of the hunger, the money and the drive of what is happening in the emirate. And the Arab world has backed the bid. When Dubai Ports issued a bond for $2.8bn last month to help it buy P&O, it found itself drowning in $11.4bn of subscriptions.

Why is Dubai doing this? And why so fast? What can the hunger be traced to? I spent a morning on The World, one of the big prestige projects, consisting of 300 artificial islands made of sand dredged from the sea floor and either dumped or pumped into forms that vaguely mimic the shape of the world's continents. Every week between five and 10m cubic metres of sand are delivered to the site. The islands will cost up to $30m each, and that is for the sand alone. Making the lumps habitable for the world's island-hungry rich will cost half as much again.

I was somewhere in Greenland with Hamza Mustafa, the man who is running it for Nakheel, the state-owned developer. It was another invented moment: we were there for a photo. Vijay Singh, the Fijian golfer, was going to fire some shots from Greenland over a narrow channel to Iceland, still nothing but sand, on which one of Nakheel's PR men had put a golf flag. There were helicopters, artificial grass, English marketing girls, Singh's personal trainer in shorts, his agent in shades, two photographers, their assistants, cooks, waiters and barmen, boatmen, people from a Nakheel golf development and Singh's personal course designer, who told me in detail how sewage makes courses greener. It's a perfect symbiosis: houses need golf courses and golf courses need the sewage the houses produce. How happy is that? "As long as it's got the nutrients, grass loves sand," he said.

While Singh stood beneath the chopper firing his shots, I talked to Mustafa, in the sleek Arab-modernist villa he's had built on Greenland. He has already sold 30% of the $3bn project, mostly to "local money, from the region", the rest, he says, to British and Americans. Australasia has been sold to a developer from Kuwait. Why are they buying? "No tax, good weather, an easy life, a comfortable life, affordable. I don't have to push the sales. I've got 10 islands left of the ones I want to sell at the moment. They are clamouring for them. And then I'll stop for a while. We don't want a glut." He smiled, complicit, knowing as well as I did what sales talk amounts to. "By 2015, there will be 250,000 people living here. It'll be like Venice."

I asked him why Dubai was going through this world-busting surge. One might have expected the straightforward business answer, which goes something like this: Dubai, unlike other parts of the Gulf, has little of its own oil or gas. A great deal of Arab money, invested in the US, came back from there after 9/11 and needed an outlet. The fact that oil is now pushing $70 a barrel means that the Gulf is awash with liquidity. There is clearly a role for a strategic financial centre in the Middle East: Beirut played it once, Dubai could do so now. Money has been draining out of Iran for years and Dubai, just across the Gulf, has always been a traditional place for Iranians to put their money to work. Mohammed Noor Taleb, a 75-year-old textile trader I spoke to in the souk, who had lived with his mother as a child in a tent made of palm leaves and now owned a business in Indian cottons turning over $5.2m a year, told me an old Dubai joke. A young boy is asked by his father "What is two add two?" "Am I buying or am I selling?" the boy says. Commerce is in the blood.

But Mustafa's reply came from another place entirely, evidence of the extraordinary hybridisation of cultures that is going on here: traditionalist, modernist, Arabist, internationalist, market-based, bowing to authority. For Mustafa, it all stems from the Emir of Dubai himself, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum. Mohammed only became Emir on January 4, when his elder brother Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid al-Maktoum, died after a long illness. But Mohammed has had his hand on the tiller for years. "Sheikh Mohammed has had a vision," Mustafa said, "which is that Dubai should become a fully developed city, with the best life of any city that has ever been created. The whole city is growing as a single organism. We have planned this, very carefully, he is a leader who has bestowed a great vision on us, so that in time Dubai is going to become the first ever Arab modern metropolis." Was this really about an Arabist dream of perfection? "No, this is not Arab nationalism. But what Dubai is trying to do is set an example of how Arabs should be represented. After 9/11, Arabs suffered from a lot of bad publicity. Dubai is trying to come back with the right kind of publicity. It will be a fully modern state. It will be setting the standards. It will be a place that people will look up to."

You might have to take that with a few bucketloads of salt. There is no hint of democracy in Dubai. There is a consultative council whose members are nominated by the ruling family. A group of five old Arab families control the entire emirate. The working and living conditions of the construction labourers and the domestic servants from south Asia are notoriously bad. Thirty-nine building workers died on sites last year, 22 of them simply by falling, as provision of slings and ropes is inadequate. The Dubai press is full of stories criticising companies for late payment, no payment, the confiscation of passports, imposition of penalties for minor infringements, the manoeuvrings of loan sharks and all the other expectable abuses of a poorly regulated employment system. The property laws are explicitly racist: no non-UAE national can own land outside the designated free zones. No foreign company can operate in the country without paying a UAE "sponsor" to be their local representative. No one except UAE nationals can get one of the plum jobs in a government department. Education and healthcare are free for all UAE nationals but no one else. The local press will never be seen to criticise the government and when, for example, I tried to interview the director of strategic planning in the offices of Dubai municipality, I was told I could only do so "if we have checked you out first and seen that what you will write will be favourable". Not much hybridisation there.

And yet it is not Saudi Arabia. Brokeback Mountain is soon to open in Dubai cinemas, which it never could in Saudi Arabia. There is no problem with bikinis and sunbathing on the beaches. And on a more substantial level, there is a determined effort to de-monopolise the economy, to make market competition the driver for this new model world. Local customs must be respected: no loud music during Ramadan, no eating in front of Muslims on fast days, no possibility of making a political claim on the direction of the state. And in return for those limits, the state delivers a sense of wellbeing. That is the trade-off on which Dubai is relying. A booming market, with a consciously courteous social culture and a tight police system (panic buttons in the thousand gold shops in old Dubai bring the police in two minutes) deliver a better wage than would be available at home - all this in return for surrendering anything resembling a political right.

Eduardo Ferrari, an Argentinian cameraman who has lived in Dubai for the last eight years, says he couldn't "give a damn for democracy. I live here in the most democratic country in the world. Why? Because the economy is taking you by the tip of your head and pulling you up. Every year I have more and more. In Argentina, every year I have less and less." Vishal Khemani, a 26-year-old from Mumbai, who imports Indian and Japanese textiles for Dubai wholesalers, says he loves Dubai simply because it is "very disciplined, very neat, very clean. Everything is going to timetable. I have a good job, good food. It is a cheap country." And extremely safe. There has been no hint, so far, of any terrorist attack, although you would have thought it was due for one. A western businessman, surveying the most luxurious of the Jumeirah beach hotels, said simply to me: "Everything about this place smells of western women, right? It looks like an al-Qaida target to me." There are rumours in Dubai that a terror plot was foiled last year but the processes of government are so opaque that there is no confirming that. It may be that the levels of government control in Dubai are high enough to make any terrorist operations very difficult.

Bob Gogel, CEO of Liberata, an international company specialising in the outsourcing of financial services, probably speaks for the business community as a whole. "Dubai is an unpolished gem polishing itself very quickly. You could look at it as a CD compilation - the best of London, Sydney, Miami, Las Vegas - and you have to give them the benefit of the doubt. Where else in the Middle East is going to do it? Turkey? Saudi Arabia? Lebanon? Egypt? Kuwait? You can't see it. Nowhere in the world do you get such good service. Certainly not in London. And business people like that. They've got a good plan, it's tightly controlled, they've managed to pull in some good people, they've got the oil money, and that price is not going to drop very far. The property market in Dubai is probably overheated and the Dubai stock market is due for a correction. But you try poking holes and I have trouble poking that big a hole."

This is the Dubai sandwich: at the bottom, cheap and exploited Asian labour; in the middle, white northern professional services, plus tourist hunger for glamour in the sun and, increasingly, a de-monopolised western market system; at the top, enormous quantities of invested oil money, combined with fearsome social and political control and a drive to establish another model of what modern Arabia might mean in the post-9/11 world. That is the intriguing question: can Dubai do what Libya, Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, or almost anywhere else in the Arab world you might like to mention, have failed to do? Is Dubai, in fact, the fulcrum of the future global trading and financial system? Is it, in embryo, what London was to the 19th century and Manhattan to the 20th? Not the modern centre of the Arab world but, more than that, the Arab centre of the modern world.

[czsz]

Most overblown hype yet.

This place is Eurasia's Las Vegas, on a Eurasian scale. If the Arab world was about to seize the title of great world city of the 21st century, it would have been nice if it were at least a fairly serious place, as New York and London were, and not a vast respository for postmodern recreational kitsch.

[TLOZ Link5]

Like it or not, though, no one can doubt that Dubai is on the move. It may be silly aesthetically, but from an economic standpoint the implications are immense. The days when we can thumb our noses at Dubai are numbered.

[MidtownGuy]

that's for sure. It will be one of THE 21st century destination cities. It's buzzing on the lips of people everywhere, in magazines, all media. The scale of the projects is undeniable. The shopping opportunities will be some of the best anywhere. There will be so many flights. It (including the Dubailand project) will make Orlando's parks and tourism look like a roadside thriftshop or carnival.

[czsz]

An easy place for the human individual to feel overwhelmed, whether politically or metaphysically. A despotism of the vast and sublime.

[Alonzo-ny]

i plan to visit when all these projects are completed but the city will have no substance as most of the people there will be tourists i would hate to live there. Unlike new york and london

[lofter1]

Reports I've read say that it gets so hot in Dubai during summer months that all these new buildings are being designed as self-contained mini-cities.

This site shows average temps by season -- looks like 7 months of the year (Oct. - April) it would be a good tourist destination, but May - Sept. looks lethal: http://www.wunderground.com/NORMS/DisplayIntlNORMS.asp?CityCode=41194&Units=both

[MidtownGuy]

Vegas gets triple digits, though not for as many months in a row. Still, look how people flock to that place in the middle of the desert. To visit Dubai, for the sake of some off season savings on a flight I'd check it out in summer-
hell I figure I'll be in the sea swimming or in some giant air-conditioned playland anyway.

[lofter1]

Is alcohol allowed in Dubai?

[ablarc]

hell I figure I'll be in the sea swimming or in some giant air-conditioned playland anyway.
So is it a city...or not?

[BrooklynRider]

It's a boulevard to nowhere.

[MidtownGuy]

like it...or not... it is a new type of city- a 21st century city.

alcohol is allowed in hotels and certain establishments.

[lofter1]

Another view of Dubai ...


http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/02/26/national/26port.large1.jpghttp://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/misc/spacer.gifhttp://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/misc/spacer.gifStephanie Kuykendal for The New York Times
A skyline of apartment buildings and offices can be seen from the container terminal at the Jebel Ali Port in Dubai.

Gaps in Security Stretch From Model Port in Dubai to U.S.


http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/26/national/26port.html

***

[MRoberts]

Dubai sure is in the news these days. According to the Ultrapolis Project website, Dubai has climbed from 14th to 6th place in one year in their "World's Tallest Cities" page http://www.ultrapolisproject.com/ultrapolis_017.htm.

They also say it is planning on becoming number one in this respect, as well as in other ways (financial, shipping, travel). Does it want to be the New York of the 21st century?

[RandySavage]

Great article.

According to the March 2006 construction update chart from Skyscaper City (link below), Dubai has 8 towers currently being built that are the scale of NYC's Bank of America, 3 that are significantly larger and, of course, the Burj Dubai. And those are only the ones under contruction... many more are planned. That is amazing.

I would have hoped they would spend a portion of the $100 billion in construction on a complete, efficient, clean transportation system (electric monorail, for example). A city is only as great as its mass transit.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=323060

[lofter1]

I would have hoped they would spend a portion of the $100 billion in construction on a complete, efficient, clean transportation system (electric monorail, for example). A city is only as great as its mass transit.
some other possibilities ...

http://www.desertusa.com/sandhills/st4.jpg

http://www.ptolomy.com/DESIGN/AT-ST-Sand.jpg

http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~sf-papercraft/Gallery/Sand/SAND01.jpg

[RandySavage]

To answer my own question about transportation:

"There is currently a $3.89 billion Dubai Metro project under construction for the emirate. The Metro system is expected to be partially operational by 2009 and fully operational by 2012. The construction contract for the project was given to Dubai Rapid Link (DURL)[12], a consortium lead by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Also involved are two other Japanese corporations, Obayashi and Kajima, and a Turkish company, Yapi Merkezi. The metro will comprise two lines: the Green Line from Rashidiya to the main city center and the Red Line from the airport to Jebel Ali. The Dubai Metro will have 70 kilometers of track and 43 stations, 33 above ground and ten underground. Trains are expected to run every 90 seconds when the project is completed. Dubai is building this train system to ease congestion on its road network and to meet the transportation demands of its growing population. Seven monorails are also slated to be constructed to help feed the Metro system, connecting various places such as Dubailand, Palm Jumeriah, et al, to the main track."

Dubai is fascinating to me... this has got to be the greatest, fastest urban explosion of all-time.

[MidtownGuy]

I agree. It is a dynamo, and will surpass New York in tall structures very soon. Burj Dubai will make the Freedom Tower look like a shrimp.

8 towers currently being built that are the scale of NYC's Bank of America, 3 that are significantly larger and, of course, the Burj Dubai

WOW!

[antinimby]

What's more, all of them are very architectually interesting. There are almost not boxes.

[MidtownGuy]

Architecturally, too many New Yorkers worship context, at the expense of creativity.

[antinimby]

Exactly.
It's one thing to preserve beautiful older buildings and another to want everything new to be made to look old. It's like these people want NY to always look like it's still in the 1890's. Context = conformity = uniformity = boring.

[TLOZ Link5]

Dubai is demolishing many of its historic souks and paving over ancient oases to make room for new towers; let's not talk about the untold ecological damage that the construction of the palm islands and The World has wreaked and will continue to wreak. It's sweeping away much of its past in order to build the new city, and it's not the only one in Asia that's doing so. Shanghai, Bangkok, Beijing, Mumbai, Jakarta, and Kuala Lumpur, among others, have all lost much of their stock of historic buildings for the sake of "modernization."

MidtownGuy, you yourself have posted time and again in support of preserving many of NYC's existing tenements and brownstones in the face of overwhelming new [not to mention often mediocre and out-of-context] development, and now post that you wish New York was more like Dubai. You can't have it both ways.

[antinimby]

TL, I don't know why you're all worked up. From reading his posts, you know Midtown better than that. No one here wants to demolish anything of historic beauty.

[MidtownGuy]

What we can have is a balance- and an artistic sense of the value of having old and new stand side by side. My posts have expressed my love for contrast and texture.
I never said "I wish New York was more like Dubai". I want us to build more creatively, yes, while respecting historic beauty. Why must the two be mutually exclusive?

[Jake]

I never said "I wish New York was more like Dubai".

heh, that's a scary thought.

dubai will never have something we have- a safe, reliable, and most of all comfortable subway system!

http://www.transalt.org/press/magazine/045%20Winter/images/18%20bus-riders.jpg

This is IMO a bit sad, that country will have nothing but skyscrapers. Nothing else though. I mean we could convert each of our 2 billion dollar B-2 bombers into a supertall, but should we?

you're so pretty, my baby, oh yes you are, oh yes you are...
http://www.flygplan.info/images/b-2f117.jpg

[lofter1]

Emirate Wakes Up Famous. Thank You, America.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/03/02/international/02dubai583.jpg
Stephanie Kuykendal for The New York Times
Dubai was surprised by the ports hubbub, but also enthralled at the evidence
that it had outdone its Arab neighbors.

By HASSAN M. FATTAH
NY Times
March 2, 2006
Letter From Dubai

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/03/02/international/20060302_dubai_graphic.gif
The New York Times
Dubai offers Iranians and Arabs
an almost Western lifestyle,
with Middle East values.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/02/international/middleeast/02dubai.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/unitedarabemirates/index.html?inline=nyt-geo), March 1 — As United States senators turned Dubai into a household word last week, life in this desert city hardly changed: skiers swooshed down a man-made snow park in the region's largest shopping mall, workers put the finishing touches on man-made islands under construction and men like Rashad Bukhash continued planning for the day when this city of one million would grow to three million.

But hardly anyone spoke about the issue that has so consumed Washington: the management of terminals at six major American ports by DP World, a government-owned company here.

Indeed, the most surprising aspect of the ports controversy here was, in fact, the lack of reaction: no scathing editorials, no demonstrations and certainly no talk of a Jewish conspiracy. Surprised, in part, but also enthralled, many here saw the ports firestorm as a stark example of how this economically ambitious state has surpassed its Arab neighbors.

"People in Dubai are merchants," said Mr. Bukhash, who heads Dubai's planning department. "We know that when you pursue a deal, you can make a profit or you can lose. If you lose, you just move on. But at least now, when I say I am from Dubai, I know that people know where it is."

Nevertheless, beyond Dubai's zany construction projects, frenetic growth plans and near obsession with superlatives, the ports uproar underscores for city officials and others the hurdles this city will face in its quest for modernity. Even as Dubai has struggled to shield itself from the Arab world's problems, the outcry has proved that the city will long be burdened by them.

"It was an exercise you have to live with, win and then learn from," said Ghassan Tahboub, media manager at the executive office of Dubai's ruler, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the self-styled C.E.O. of the city.
"This was America. There are lobbies, politics and interest groups, and Dubai found itself in the middle of a jungle. In the end I have to thank everybody there for this lesson."

Many here readily admit that as Dubai emerges as a power on the global economic stage, it has much to learn about the "soft" aspects of business, from politics to public relations.

"We don't have qualified people to speak," said Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, a professor of political science at Emirates University, speaking of the government. "They don't have experts and commentators. There's no political discourse in this city, and it showed."

A prominent publicist who has been advising the government said the city needed to distinguish itself from other Arab cities and countries. "Dubai still has a big role in explaining who we are to the world," said the publicist, who requested anonymity because of the delicacy of implicitly criticizing other Arab countries. "Everybody knows who Dubai is in the region. But in America, Dubai is Arab, period."

With native Emirati citizens accounting for only about 15 percent of the population, Arab may be the last word that comes to mind in describing this city. Indeed, the average resident here is more likely to speak English than Arabic, and more likely to be Asian than Arab. Many Indians jokingly refer to Dubai as "the best-run Indian city."

Set across the Persian Gulf from Iran and just east of Saudi Arabia, Dubai is the financial capital of the United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven sheikdoms that won independence from Britain in 1971. But in stark contrast to many of its neighbors, Dubai more than two decades ago turned its back on oil and focused on diversifying its economy.

Today, the city derives less than 15 percent of its revenue from oil, but greets more than five million tourists a year, many of them from Europe, and is the Middle East headquarters for more than 800 American companies. Like Singapore, long a model for the city, Dubai has also become a regional trade hub and a magnet for Arab, Iranian and Asian investors.

"Dubai has been trying to prove to the rest of the Arab world that there is life after oil, and that in fact it's a better life," Mr. Abdulla said. "The good news is there is room for a second and a third Dubai, just like there was room for a second Singapore in Asia." The city is lucky in that its long-term strategy has come to fruition at a moment when other Arab states are flush with billions of oil dollars and seeking places to invest their newfound wealth.

"This is an Arab city living in a unique moment in history," said Mr. Abdulla, who likens Dubai's stature in the Arab world today to that of Beirut in the 1960's and Cairo in the 1950's — capitals that defined the political direction for much of the region. But whereas those cities focused on the Arab world, Dubai has looked outward and embraces globalization.

Other Arab states, particularly Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait, would like to emulate Dubai, but it is not clear they will succeed. Those states may not have Dubai's penchant for finding opportunity in misfortune, nor its openness to outsiders and dedication to unfettered business dealings.

In the 1980's it built strong relations with Iran by serving as a waypoint to the rest of the world and offering a lifeline during the Iran-Iraq war. In 1991, it became a haven for Kuwaitis who escaped Saddam Hussein's (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/saddam_hussein/index.html?inline=nyt-per) invading armies, then in 2003 it became a haven for Iraqis escaping the second gulf war. And in the years since, Dubai has gradually fashioned itself into a refuge for Iranians, Arabs and others who have eschewed the call to America or the West in exchange for a lifestyle that comes close, but is in keeping with Middle Eastern values.

Modernity, however, has not come easy. With 85 percent of the population made up of foreigners, many of them second and third generation, the city faces a simmering demographic and identity crisis.

Dubai is likely to confront numerous other questions as a 45-day investigation of its port management program gets under way, possibly illuminating the emirate's struggles with money laundering and other illicit activities. A spotty human rights record regarding foreign workers could also be a sticking point, along with its participation in a continuing Arab boycott of trade with Israel.

In the end, Dubai may be pummeled in the ports controversy, but it will also have gained a lot, some officials say.

"In the end, I think Dubai won," said Mr. Tahboub, the sheik's media manager.

"We got a lot of publicity, and we deserve it, perhaps not in this manner, but we deserve the publicity."

Mohammed Fadel Fahmy contributed reporting for this article.

Copyright 2006 (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/copyright.html)The New York Times Company (http://www.nytco.com/)

[Jake]

The New York Times
Dubai offers Iranians and Arabs
an almost Western lifestyle,
with Middle East values.
what? does that even make sense?



lol, had to edit, I looked at that pic and thought to myself, wow what a nice beach, I forgot the country is a desert. lol

[macreator]

I am greatly impressed by Dubai's rapid growth, but while the City may gain a number of tall skyscrapers, it will never be New York in its urban feel, which arguably is the most important factor in a City.

Dubai is totally un-friendly to the pedestrian. The City mainly relies on high-speed highways and wide boulevards for its traffic of cars and vans with no sidewalks in sight and it has blank walls abound. And while certain spots on the Palm islands may have "pathways", and one can always walk around at one of the City's gigantic malls, the City will never have a good walkability factor and thus not a great urban feel. Most of these enourmous skyscraper sit on huge blank pedestals. Because of this, Dubai will not be a place I'll be moving to in the near future.

[antinimby]

We can knock Dubai all we want about lacking a transportation system and the urban feel and so on, but what it has demonstrated is that it possesses that "can do" attitude, something NY lost a long time ago. This alone will ensure that whatever Dubai needs or wants, it will get it done. Unlike NY, where all we do is talk (and in most cases, just argue) and nothings gets done in the end. What makes you think all the things its lacking right now, they won't work on next to make happen?

[lofter1]

Unlike NY, where all we do is talk (and in most cases, just argue) and nothings gets done in the end.
Ahh ... come on, get out of your apartment and look around ;)

[antinimby]

I guess I should rephrase. Things do eventually get done but usually not without some kind of drama. Look at Ground Zero, Atlantic Yards, Con Ed site, the Westside railyards, Brooklyn Bridge Park and others. Sure, we have many residentials going up but even they might come to a screeching halt once the bubble bursts.

[Alonzo-ny]

One thing dubai cant just build is the density of scrapers new york has and also its skyscraper history

[MidtownGuy]

That a city is friendly to pedestrians may be important to us, as New Yorkers, but not really to people who live in other types of cities, oh, like say Los Angeles. Or Las Vegas. Or Orlando. People love their cars, and love the driving lifestyle. I am not one of them, and neither are most Manhattanites, but they are out there and they choose to live in cities like...Dubai.
It's sort of silly, like New York criticising Venice because it has so many canals. Duh.
They don't and won't have the density that New York has, Ok. So what. They don't need it because they have so much empty land to build on. People in cities such as Dubai like the landscaping that goes between their spaced apart buildings, like palm trees and flowers. We don't have a lot of palm trees in New York, or downtown beaches to stroll along, oh well, does that make us not as good somehow? It's just different strokes for different folks.

As for the "can do" attitude, antinimby is totally right on. They have it, and New York doesn't anymore. Burj Dubai, Freedom Tower. Enough said.
New York's greatest treasures were all built decades ago! I love them all, but come on people, to remain the world capital we have to continue to strive, not rest back on our laurels. Here, unfortunately, any project with real balls gets snipped.

Instead of looking down our noses at Dubai, we should admire their ambition.

[cerelac]

Hi.. I'm from Dubai and came across this page as I was Googling some of this ports news.

Thanks for posting some of those articles.. it's funny what that guy from the sheikh's office said about it being cool to get the publicity, even if it's bad. That is so Dubai.. they love advertising their name. They do it so much that even its own citizens pick it up and behave as travel agents or tourist guides when they encounter visitors. In the English as a second language classes at public schools, they didn't focus much on how to order a meal at a restaurant if you're travelling..etc but they taught how to give directions to tourists, how to help them.

I was wondering what you think of this ports uproar.. also I agree with Midtown Guy that Dubai isn't really a suitable place for density of buildings because no one would walk anyway.. not to do daily chores at least. They need air conditioning, and for leisure walks they have beaches where a sea breeze would make it more tolerable, and boulevards.. etc for when the weather is good. The Dubai Marina has a very nice walking area surrounding by these supertalls, and cafes and restaurants lining them. Also, Sheikh Zayed Rd which you see in a lot of photos of Dubai is really a 5 lane on each side highway with tall buildings on either side.. doesn't seem very pedestrian friendly at all, but it has a small side service road and very wide pavements, and a lot of people actually walk there, and there are great views.. and lovely restaurants.

I used to post on SkyscraperCity UAE section (before I got banned! :D ) .. so I know a good bit about Dubai's projects and planning.

[MidtownGuy]

Thank you for posting your information about Dubai. I was imagining also the walk around Dubai Marina when I posted. I will be visiting Dubai for sure, as soon as some of the big current projects are completed:D

[RandySavage]

Is it a Dubai's "Can Do" attitude that they are building a massive, modern city overnight or the fact that they are awash in money (mainly from trafficing the world's most important strategic resource).

Anyone seen a composite photoshop of renderings to show what the city will look like in 2010 when most of the current projects are completed?

[cerelac]

I was in Dubai for a couple of weeks about a week ago.. seemed a bit dusty with all the construction.. I would recommend waiting for a year or two, by that time at least one palm island should be ready, Dubai Mall and the Marina at least. I always told friends to wait till around early 2007 or 2008, but Dubai keeps proposing new projects and the dates for finishing them climb up to 2012 +. The ones projected to finish within the next couple of years are still on track, but it's annoying having other major ones still under construction because it messes the place up and you feel you've missed out on it.

Someone here mentioned something about Dubai destroying its historic buildings to make way for new ones. Dubai really has no historic buildings. Their old houses were either tents or made of palm leaves :D :D They have a few mud or brick houses, such as the Bastakiyya quarters with windtowers (of Iranian emigrants) which date back to the 1920's or 1930's. Those are conserved, plus a small fort which houses the museum, and an old small palace which is a museum also. Other than that, the only "historic" buildings of Dubai would be the Clocktower roundabout which dates from the 1960's and the Dubai World Trade Centre from 1970's. When Dubai destroys "old" buildings they're really only destroying crappy residentials from the 70's or 80's which were probably built with an expected high turnover rate in mind.

One thing Dubai is guilty of abusing is the environment. They have very little environmental awareness, both the government and the citizens. They're also used to zero bureaucracy when planning things.. which is how they're mushrooming like they are, but finally the American congress gave them some bureaucracy :D

[cerelac]

Is it a Dubai's "Can Do" attitude that they are building a massive, modern city overnight or the fact that they are awash in money (mainly from trafficing the world's most important strategic resource).

Anyone seen a composite photoshop of renderings to show what the city will look like in 2010 when most of the current projects are completed?

There's an interesting book by the London Business School called "From Sand to Silicon" about Dubai's progress and how it's run like a private company, with the sheikh as its CEO. It looks at the way Dubai runs itself and how it's expanding fast. The sheikh (Mohammed al-Maktoum) is quoted in the book, saying his father was laughed at when he asked for the Rashid or Jebel Ali ports to be expanded in the 1970's.. since Dubai was pretty small at the time and nobody expected it would need that big of a port, but he went ahead and did it anyway despite people's criticism, and it turned out that he was right in his decision, and they even expanded the port more later on because of a high demand. I think Sheikh Mohammed wants to propose new projects until people call him crazy like they did to his dad, and then he'll be extra satisfied when they're proven wrong :D He's very inspired by his father's port expansion story.. I've heard him tell it several times whenever people question the need for all of this. I think that Dubai also does this because it can and because it's working, for now at least. Dubai isn't really that rich in terms of oil wealth. Their plans are to bring in money by spending money. A lot of the investment in their projects have come from neighbouring countries like Saudi Arabia or Iran.

[lofter1]

Great to hear from you, cerelac ...

The info in this article about large number of non-natives residing in Dubai poses some interesting (and possibly difficult) questions for Dubai.

Could you fill us in from your perspective?
Emirate Wakes Up Famous.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/unitedarabemirates/index.html?inline=nyt-geo), March 1 —

...Many here readily admit that as Dubai emerges as a power on the global economic stage, it has much to learn about the "soft" aspects of business, from politics to public relations.

With native Emirati citizens accounting for only about 15 percent of the population...

[cerelac]

Great to hear from you, cerelac ...

The info in this article about large number of non-natives residing in Dubai poses some interesting (and possibly difficult) questions for Dubai.

Could you fill us in from your perspective?

I think native Emiratis are even less than 15% in Dubai. I think they might be 15% in the UAE as a whole but specifically in Dubai probably around 8%. I am in fact one of these "rare" Emiratis. But that's just the way Dubai is.. it's a mix of people from many countries. It's like living in an airport.

The thing is that Dubai was a trade town even before oil was discovered. There were pearl merchants and textile and gold traders from Iran, India and other places going through. Some of them settled in the area. A British census of Dubai done in the 1940's estimated a population of 3000 Indians, 10,000 Arabs and 25,000 Iranians. The Iranian merchants adopted the Arabic language and dress code and became integrated with the local population, and eventually were handed full Dubai citizenship followed by UAE citizenship when the union was formed in 1971 after the withdrawal of Britain. A few non-Emirati Arabs from Syria or Jordan were also in the area at that time and received citizenship.

After that, many foreigners and Arabs of other nationalities came into the country to help with their skills, and to help those newcomers settle, more foreigners came to offer services for this increase in population, and so they increased suddenly and held on to their languages and customs. They didn't integrate, and they weren't given citizenship. Expatriates to this day don't attempt to integrate, and since there were no official laws for handing out citizenship in the past and the locals receive a lot of perks which the government can't afford to provide were everyone to be a citizen, at this point it's hard to Emiratize anyone, and the Emirati citizenship remains exclusive to the children of Emirati parent(s).

The government started handing out Emirati passports to "influential" expatriates who hold important positions, and some of them were even instructed on wearing local Arab clothes after being given the passport, but I believe in most cases it remains only a "passport" and not full citizenship. A passport allows for travel as an Emirati, and for free healthcare and education, but not for purchasing land or a college scholarship for example.

Emirati women used to have a fertility rate of around 6 up til the late 80's, but now it's down to 4. The government encourages locals to have more children to try to balance the demographics (some men gladly practice polygamy with the excuse of patriotism :D ), but I doubt they can achieve any sort of balance the way things are going. A big factor in the imbalance is the presence of foreign construction workers (which is also why 67% of the population of the UAE are male), so when they're done with this boom, there will be a sharp decrease in the number of expatriate construction workers, only to be replaced by an even greater number of expatriates who'll move into these new homes and apartments. The only solution is to set criteria for applying for citizenship, such as was done in Saudi Arabia. The UAE's police and military personnel are mostly from Yemen or Sudan, and they have been handed a UAE passport.

Local Emiratis feel threatened by this foreign presence because the majority of expatriates are not native Arabic speakers, do not understand local customs, do not care to understand local customs, and may not be Muslim. They would also take up a large portion of the budget for healthcare and education, which would mean the "original" Emiratis would have to start paying for these services like everyone else. And currently many Asian employees are given a lower salary than Emiratis because they take into account the fact that they wire the money to a 3rd world country which makes it enough for them (discriminatory on the government's part), when they live in the UAE permanently and their family are brought to the UAE then they need a pay rise. Emiratis also feel they're looked down upon by employers since they're stereotyped as being lazy and lacking skills. Opening the gates for emigration would make finding jobs very difficult for them (because that's how it's like now anyway), and I think ethnic tensions would ensue.

[RandySavage]

"dubai will never have something we have- a safe, reliable, and most of all comfortable subway system!"

I'm not so sure about that:

[RandySavage]

Dubai Metro:

[Citytect]

Planning a transit system in a city with one main thoroughfare must have been a challenge.

[antinimby]

dubai will never have something we have- a safe, reliable, and most of all comfortable subway system!As illustrated above, arrogant comments will always come back to haunt you. Believe it or not New Yorkers, at one time Londoners and Parisians looked down on NYC as some of you have towards other upcoming cities. Tables can turn very quickly in this world. Many cities' train systems already make New York's old, dingy and creaky subway system look laughable. Lesson: don't look down at others, just use them as inspiration and motivation for yourself.

[Jake]

Actually I posted that as sarcasm. If you go back to my post you will see a photo of a crowded subway car. lol, the MTA system isn't reliable, safe, or comfortable.

[cerelac]

The Dubai Metro would be ready very late compared to when most of Dubai's other projects will be. Traffic will be a nightmare until then.

[MidtownGuy]

http://www.thedubaiwaterfront.com/po_ov.php

Watch the video of the Dubai Waterfront. It blew my mind!

[czsz]

Qatar's getting jealous...

http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,PB64-SUQ9MTI4MDMmbnI9MQ_3_3,00.html

[lofter1]

Watch the video of the Dubai Waterfront. It blew my mind!
Wow ... Like something out of Gattaca: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gattaca/

[lofter1]

Hoping that both Dubai and Qatar have well maintained naval fleets to protect these waterfront compounds.

[Jake]

Hoping that both Dubai and Qatar have well maintained naval fleets to protect these waterfront compounds.

How about the world's most technologically and militarily capable fleet in the world- the US Navy?

[MidtownGuy]

Bingo.

[lofter1]

How about the world's most technologically and militarily capable fleet in the world- the US Navy?
Good deal -- they watch our ports -- we watch their waterfront villas ;)

[Alonzo-ny]

Actually I posted that as sarcasm. If you go back to my post you will see a photo of a crowded subway car. lol, the MTA system isn't reliable, safe, or comfortable.

I dont agree. In the 3.5 months in new york i never had 1 problem with the subway and i think its the best in the world. sure the train isnt as nice or the stations pretty but it gets the job done no frills.

[Jake]

dude....

I saw the same panhandler on 3 different subway lines today.

My train was "being held in the station momentarily" for 10 minutes today.

Cortland street was supposed to reopen February 2006, now I hear it's more like Spring 2007.

Now I'm very very grateful that this subway system exists, but it is a legacy of a different generation. I've been on the subway every every weekday and most weekends since I was 14, for the past 15 years...I've seen a lot of weird shit. Be glad the old red lexington ave subway cars are gone.

[TLOZ Link5]

You're twenty-nine? Weird...all this time I've pictured you as some bearded but well-groomed middle-aged guy, possibly a little grey around the temples.

[lofter1]

But it always seems to get you where you need to go, eh?

In my 25+ years in NYC -- riding the blessed train all the time -- I've only had 2 situations where I was stuck in a car underground, and each of those lasted 15 minutes max.

I've seen some of the same characters working the cars for almost all those years I've ridden the trains -- one lady I actually get worried about if I DON'T see her every couple of months!

[evil_synth]

I have had horrible experiences on the Metro-North New Haven line this year.. more than other years..
At one instance, whoever was driving the train messed up, and the train skidded clear past the Fordham Station. They didn't bother to go back after about sitting past the station for 5 minutes, and continued down to Harlem 125th Street, where I had to wait for a train to take me back up to Fordham.
In mid-January, my 20 minutes commute took me 3 hours, as first my train ran over a 'pot-shaped metallic object' on the tracks, and the conductors needed about 15 minutes to look at that. After about a minute of getting going, the train halted to a stop and we were informed that a tree had fallen on a train around 165th street and we would have to wait a little bit for them to clear the way. The train didn't move for 2 hours. Again, I was forced to go back down to Harlem 125th street before coming back to Fordham, because my stop is 'not significant enough.'
Oh well, at least I don't have to deal with rush hour traffic..

[lofter1]

Meanwhile, one of Dubai's neighbors shows off some bling ...

The Land With the Golden Hotel

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/03/08/travel/08abu.span583.jpg
Charles Crowell/Bloomberg News
Abu Dhabi's Emirates Palace Hotel, where rooms start at around $770 a night.

Letter From Abu Dhabi

By KATHERINE ZOEPF
NY Times
March 8, 2006

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/08/travel/08abuletter.html?8dpc

After even a short walking tour of the new Emirates Palace hotel on the Abu Dhabi Corniche, a visitor might well start to wonder: is there anything here that glitters that is not, in fact, gold?

From its golden flagpoles to its golden chandeliers to the golden finials on its rooftop domes and the gold-leafed mosaics on the columns in its lobby, the Emirates Palace literally glows with luxury. The hotel, owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, took more than three years and reportedly more than $3 billion to build, which would make it the most expensively constructed hotel in the world.

For the last several years, Abu Dhabi, the largest among the seven princely city-states that make up the United Arab Emirates (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/unitedarabemirates/index.html?inline=nyt-geo), has been working to raise its international profile. It has opened tax-free development zones to lure foreign investment, set up Etihad, its first airline, and founded a tourist board to entice recreational visitors. And with the opening of the Emirates Palace, with its 114 domes, 1,002 Swarovski crystal chandeliers, 12 restaurants, nearly a mile of private beach, and 3.9 million cubic feet of imported marble, Abu Dhabi has cemented its image as one of the most luxurious destinations on earth.

The hotel's most modest rooms, each with several enormous plasma screen televisions and a personal butler, start at 2,900 Emirati dirhams a night, or about $773 at 3.75 dirhams to the dollar. A Palace Suite, on the other hand, heavily decorated with silks and gold and silver leaf, and including a living room, dining room and three bedrooms, can run as much as 42,000 dirhams, or $11,200, a night.

"This is very useful when you're traveling with an entourage," said an Emirates Palace spokeswoman, Rumyanka Tzolova.

Indeed.

If, even with such room rates, the rumored $3 billion plus price tag still seems out of step with the hotel's expected returns, it is important to remember that the Emirates Palace wasn't conceived so much as a profit-making venture as a way to put Abu Dhabi on the map.

Repeatedly, in the hotel's brochures, it is referred to as a "landmark" or a "palace" rather than a hotel. In prose that veers well toward purple, the Emirates Palace Web site welcomes visitors to "an enchanting landmark that's a wonder to behold for all who venture through its magnificent gates ... a majestic experience fit for a king and deserving of an emperor." And, in what seems to be a slap at the promotional claims of the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, which says it has seven stars, the frequently asked questions section notes that "the seven or six star ratings do not officially exist. ... We classify Emirates Palace as just that, a Palace."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/misc/spacer.gif
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/03/08/travel/08abu.2large.jpg
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/misc/spacer.gifKamran Jebreili/Associated Press
Pouring a cup of traditional Arabic coffee.


The path to the front of the Emirates Palace is not a straight shot; visitors enter through a formal garden flanked by pavilions designed like triumphal arches. The final approach to the hotel comes as a surprise. The path makes a seemingly gentle turn, and then, startlingly, the hotel looms before the visitor, the pink grainte main structure towering above a four-story outdoor staircase.

"It's psychological," explained the general manager, Noel Massoud, a Jordanian. "When you come up to a building from beneath, you have the impression that it is even bigger."

And suddenly, it's impossible to take it all in. There's a waterfall running down the center of the staircase in a fish-scale pattern, and vast wings of the building trail east and west toward helicopter pads, swimming pools and more gardens. On the roof, there's a profusion of domes: pointed domes and bulbous domes and domes covered with glittering tiles. There are domes with little skirts, like inverted lotus blossoms, domes that seem inspired by Mogul forts or by Russian basilicas, domes that resemble gargantuan Hershey's Kisses.

On paper, the Emirates Palace sounds grand to the point of grandiosity, and almost grotesquely opulent. It is the kind of building you'd expect in a book or movie, but is disconcerting to be confronted with in real life. But with its yellowy golden glow and contented polyglot population, there's an exuberance about it all that is, well, fun.

Inside, the place manages to feel warm and peopled. Confronted with such vast expanses of lobby and hallway, the visitor's sense of scale quickly recalibrates, so that an enclosed area the size of a football field actually feels intimate.

On a recent visit, the Champagne and caviar bar in the lobby was nearly full, and the 13 international newspapers available to diners at Le Vendôme Brasserie were being read and passed around. At a Viennese-style cafe in the lobby there was a family of five speaking animatedly in Portuguese, next to a pair of fashionable young Emirati men, their ghutra headdresses crisply ironed and folded to create a widow's peak effect.

The staff seemed uniformly friendly, well spoken and almost touchingly proud of their workplace. A man named Samy, a security guard from Egypt (http://travel2.nytimes.com/top/features/travel/destinations/africa/egypt/?inline=nyt-geo), confided that he felt overwhelmed at his luck in "working in a place that is so amazing."

"Every day I am asking myself how come I get to work here," he said. "I have seen so many celebrities, like Gerhard Schröder (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/gerhard_schroder/index.html?inline=nyt-per), J. Lo and the Fulham Football Club."

A waitress at the Havana Club cigar bar spontaneously offered a tour of the bar's marvels, including Cohiba cigars in a dramatically backlit storage case and a kind of Cognac called Hardy Perfection that costs 9,000 dirhams, or $2,400, a glass.

"A lot of people have asked about it," she said, "but the seal is still on the bottle."

Copyright 2006 (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/copyright.html)The New York Times Company (http://www.nytco.com/)

[lofter1]

We're talking 'luxe ...

http://www.emiratespalace.com/en/sub_aboutemirates.htm

One of the suites at the Emirates Palace:

http://www.emiratespalace.com/en/Images/palacebedroomb_web.jpg

The Pool area:

http://www.emiratespalace.com/en/Images/espb_web.jpg

[Jake]

haha, they can't even grow a decent lawn, how's that for ironic!


Remember ME! One moment the homeless guy with a knife is on the other side of the car....lights go out....lights come back on and he's got his arm around your neck....haha
http://pics.livejournal.com/steelbrassnwood/pic/00055qc3/s320x240

[RandySavage]

Cover story on the latest BusinessWeek magazine focuses on Dubai’s building boom:

“The New Middle East Oil Bonanza
Beyond the Dubai Ports deal: Where all those billions are going.

If the Burj Dubai development isn't the biggest project in the world, it must be close. At night under floodlights thousands of mostly Asian workers in hard hats swarm over a 500-acre building site in the heart of Dubai, the Persian Gulf emirate that is tiny in size but limitless in ambition. Emaar Properties, a local company, is carving out of the desert a new $20 billion district with 30,000 homes, a Giorgio Armani-designed hotel, an ice rink, and a 30-acre man-made lake. Advertisement

The centerpiece of the project, which employs more than a dozen American firms, is Burj Dubai, a $1 billion tower. It was designed by Chicago architects Skidmore Owings & Merrill LLP, and its construction is being managed by New York-based Turner Construction Co. "We are moving up one floor a week, and we are now on the 31st floor," says Mohamed Ali Alabbar, Emaar's chairman. The exact planned height is shrouded in secrecy to foil competitors, but Alabbar promises that the luxury residential complex, more than 2,500 feet high, will be "40% taller than anything else."


Slide Show >>The world's tallest building? In Dubai? The city-state in the United Arab Emirates captured headlines in the U.S. recently when government-owned Dubai Ports World, through its purchase of Britain's Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. for $6.8 billion, agreed to take over management of several major ports, from New York to Miami. The deal has sparked an outcry among politicians worried that an Arab-owned company could be a vehicle for al Qaeda operatives. The uproar has forced the company to delay its plans in the U.S.

The Dubai Ports deal, though, is just one relatively small episode in the second great Mideast oil boom. The boom is characterized by hugely ambitious projects that are transforming the shores of the Persian Gulf into a Xanadu with some of the most fantastic and expensive structures on earth. The rush of petrodollars is creating enormous private and public wealth and reshaping Gulf business and society.

All this is happening when the other Mideast -- of Iraq, radical Islam, and Palestinian-Israeli relations -- is wracked by violence and strife. That turmoil could certainly threaten the Gulf's prosperity. Just look at what happened in late February when al Qaeda fighters unsuccessfully attacked a key oil facility in Saudi Arabia. But for now the authoritarian regimes running the Gulf are seizing the opportunity to build new economies and satisfy their restive populations with a new level of affluence.

The tale of Mideast money is not just a local story, however. This year, with oil prices stuck in the $55-to-$65-per-barrel range, perhaps half a trillion dollars will land in OPEC coffers -- more than at any time since the boom of the 1970s and 1980s. The Mideast oil states alone will gather in $320 billion in oil and gas export revenues.

Where is that money going, how is it affecting the global economy, and what impact will the boom have on U.S. relations with the region? Those are crucial questions. The last oil boom, from 1973 to 1985, had dire consequences. The oil price spike created a lethal mix of inflation and slow growth worldwide. Arab states, unprepared for their newfound wealth, socked too much money away in U.S. Treasuries and a few international banks. The banks in turn lent the money to Latin American governments. In the end, these countries couldn't pay it back -- and instead triggered a debt crisis that shook the global financial system.

This time around the impact of money-flows from the Mideast does not appear quite so toxic. The oil exporters are spending much more at home on investment and consumption, helping to shore up global demand for goods, and balancing out the effect of their huge export earnings.

But Mideast money is definitely venturing abroad. For starters, a chunk of the billions is going to deals in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Dubai Ports did not just cut a deal for P&O: It also bought the port operations of Florida's CSX Corp. (CSX ) for $1.2 billion. Last year, Dubai luxury hotel group Jumeirah bought the swanky Essex House in New York for an estimated $400 million. Dubai International Capital, the private-equity arm of Dubai Holding, the government's oil money depository, paid $1.5 billion for Madame Tussauds, the British wax museum, and an additional $1.2 billion for a 2% stake in DaimlerChrysler (DCX ). Mubadala Development Co. of Abu Dhabi acquired a 5% holding in Italian carmaker Ferrari (FIA ). In the biggest Mideast deal of all, Egyptian cellular operator Orascom Telecom Holding formed a consortium to buy Wind, a top Italian mobile network, for $13 billion. "These investors have an incentive to invest in assets outside the petroleum industry," says Thomas J. Barrack Jr. His Colony Capital LLC recently partnered with Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal to buy the Toronto-based Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Inc. (FHR ) for $3.9 billion.

On the Hunt
The numbers involved in these deals are still small compared with the billions being spent in the region. Bankers in the Mideast, however, say both governments and family companies controlled by Gulf billionaires are becoming more adventurous. Beat Naegeli, the Dubai-based head of Credit Suisse Dubai (CSR ) private banking in the region, says big Arab investors, while still predominantly invested locally, are increasingly on the hunt for equity stakes in overseas companies and real estate deals in New York, London, and Paris. Many of these investors, he says, are currently expanding their private-equity positions rather than putting money into hedge funds -- a good way to diversify. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have multibillion-dollar funds that are scouting for equity investments abroad. "We will see more of that," says Brad D. Bourland, chief economist at Riyadh-based Samba Financial Group, a leading Saudi bank. "This is the tip of the iceberg."

Then there's the Mideast money flowing into U.S. Treasury securities and other passive investments. U.S. government data indicate that OPEC countries held only $67 billion in Treasuries as of December. Most of that was held by the Gulf states, but it's small compared with the giant holdings of China and Japan.

The official figures, though, probably underestimate the clout of Arab money in world capital markets. According to PFC Energy, an energy consultant in Washington, the Mideast oil states hold a cumulative $1 trillion in foreign assets -- stocks, bonds, government debt, real estate, and other investments. In fact, the money isn't easy to trace because unlike the oil boom of the 1970s, today's petrodollars aren't being parked in a few big American and European banks. Instead they are sprinkled around the world through an intricate network of private banks, funds, and offshore financial centers. "There's a distinct lack of hard information on where this money's going," says Mohsin S. Khan, director of the International Monetary Fund's Middle East and Central Asian department.

What's more, the Arab states are now major buyers of goods from Japan, China, and the rest of Asia, where they sell the bulk of their oil. So these petrodollars get recycled as Japanese yen or Chinese yuan -- which the Japanese and Chinese governments convert into U.S. Treasuries. Indirectly, then, oil money is bankrolling U.S. deficit spending. Paul Donovan, a global economist for UBS Investment Bank (UBS ) in London, estimates that petrodollars, mostly channeled through Asia and Europe, are funding up to 45% of the U.S. current account deficit.

While these billions circulate through the global money system, you only have to look around the Persian Gulf to see that huge amounts of oil wealth are staying in the region. Fueled by the oil boom, local stock markets have risen anywhere from over 200% to more than 1,000% in the past four years, despite current sharp corrections in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. Imports from the U.S., Europe, and Asia are soaring.

Yet in contrast to the helter-skelter development of the 1970s, a new and better-planned Middle East economy is rising, shaped by a well-educated business class and powered by a youthful population seeking prosperity. "Look at the demographics of these nations," says Alabbar, 46, who graduated from Seattle University. "They all see what the outside world is all about, and they dream to live like that." Some 65% of Saudis, for example, are 24 years old or younger.

Another important difference: Governments in the region learned harsh lessons when they fell into dire financial straits during the lean period of low oil prices in the early 1990s. They began shifting economic policies to cut waste and make room for once-tiny private sectors to create jobs. Those moves created a healthy environment in which growth could catch fire once oil prices took off starting in 2000. In 2005 real gross domestic product grew a healthy 6.5% in Saudi Arabia, by far the most important economy in the region. "Improved confidence, fear of investing in the U.S. and Western Europe, and the massive amounts of private capital brought home have led to an unprecedented boom," says Fareed Mohamedi, chief economist at consultants PFC.

The region's governments have developed more careful spending strategies. The Saudi government, for instance, has been very conservative in its budgeting, assuming until this year that oil prices would return to $25 per barrel. Now, with $150 billion or so stashed away, Riyadh plans to increase its spending by 20% this year, to about $90 billion. Capital outlays are set to nearly triple, to $33 billion.

Planning Ahead
Much of this money is earmarked for long-term projects. They include a $50 billion, five-year program to build new roads, schools, and hospitals in rural areas; a $9 billion modernization of an oil refinery at Rabigh, with Japan's Sumitomo Corp.; and $14 billion for new production-capacity expansion at Saudi Aramco, the national oil company. "The number of megaprojects with five-year time frames is so big that it ought to sustain a lot of the private sector through this decade," says Samba's Bourland. He figures the private sector will record 8% growth this year, vs. 5% for the overall Saudi economy. In the UAE, private-sector growth has been hitting double digits.

Governments have smartened up in other ways. They are tailoring their infrastructure projects to attract clusters of similar businesses, which gain from being close together. Dubai has established Internet and Media Cities -- office parks wired for high-speed data transmission. Not to be outdone, the Saudis have brought in Emaar to develop a new $27 billion King Abdullah Economic City on the Red Sea coast north of Jeddah. The planners of the new metropolis envision a giant port, and manufacturing businesses including petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals. Some 30% of the equity in the project may be offered to investors on the stock exchange.

All this creates huge opportunities for U.S., European, and Asian companies. Dubai's Internet City has attracted the cream of technology companies such as Microsoft (MSFT ), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ ), and Cisco Systems (CSCO ). "This is a mini Silicon Valley," says Ghazi Atallah, Cisco's Dubai-based emerging-markets honcho. The Middle East represents Cisco's fastest-growing region, with double-digit annual revenue increases thanks to local telecom deregulation and the increasing sophistication of private businesses. Mideast companies are also buying a very high proportion of advanced technology like combined video streaming and data services. "In some cases [customers in the region] are leapfrogging Europe and the U.S.," Atallah adds.

Other international companies such as Fluor Corp. (FLR ) and Bechtel Group Inc. are likely to benefit from the frantic pace of construction, especially in the oil fields. Aircraft makers Boeing Co. (BA ) and Airbus are selling squadrons of planes in the region, which is seeing the rise of fast-growing carriers like Dubai's Emirates. That airline has an astonishing $37 billion worth of planes on order, including 45 of Airbus' new A380 -- the biggest order placed by any airline for the double-decker megaplane. And between them, Emirates and Qatar Airways have ordered 49 Boeing 777 jetliners. "The Middle East has become one of the three big reservoirs of aircraft sales in the world," along with China and India, says Habib Fekih, president of Airbus Middle East.

Meanwhile, Nabil A. Habayeb, Dubai-based President and CEO for the Middle East and Africa for General Electric Co. (GE ), says the company's orders for the region leaped by close to 80%, to $8 billion, from 2004 to 2005. Much of that is in big-ticket items like power-generation equipment and aircraft engines, as well as oil-, gas-, and water-treatment facilities. But state-of-the-art health-care equipment and even theme parks are in demand, too, says Habayeb: "The priorities are health care, education, and diversification away from an oil- and gas-based economy."

It's not just the big U.S. manufacturers that are benefiting. International investment bankers are being called in to raise capital for regional corporations interested in taking advantage of the red-hot markets. Saudi Arabia's Prince Alwaleed raised $397 million on Feb. 23 for his Kingdom Hotel Investments, which will be listed on the new Dubai International Financial Exchange and in London. "There is a big backlog of IPOs," says May Nasrallah, head of Middle East investment banking at Morgan Stanley (MS ) in London, which managed the Kingdom IPO. Among IPOs expected, according to bankers, are an offering by Alwaleed's main vehicle, Kingdom Holdings, and a listing of Showtime Arabia, a broadcaster partly owned by Viacom Inc. (VIA ).

Bankers say the deal flow could really pick up if governments start to sell off their still-considerable holdings. "If governments see the opportunity to tap into this pent-up demand for financial investments and transfer ownership of public entities as the British did [under Margaret Thatcher], I think that would be very good for the market," says Osama Abbasi, co-head of the European fixed income group at Credit Suisse First Boston.

Plenty could still go wrong. Despite all the private-sector growth, the economies of Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Gulf countries are nailed to oil. Oil and gas production is more than 50% of GDP in Qatar and Kuwait and 42% in Saudi Arabia, according to Credit Suisse. Overheating is also a concern, with investors borrowing money to chase local stocks and consumer debt growing to worrying levels in some of the Gulf countries.

The political problems around the region are far from solved. In the worst case, Iraq's troubles could spill over into conflicts between Sunni and Shiite Muslims around the region. How U.S.-Arab relations play out will also prove hugely influential in containing potential strife. The U.S. is on the receiving end of a lot of criticism now, mostly aimed at its conduct of the war in Iraq. Should the U.S. withdraw, though, the Gulf states might find themselves once again under pressure from their bigger, poorer neighbors, Iraq and Iran.

But if the Gulf regimes need the U.S., the opposite is just as true. America needs a stable source of oil for itself and the world, and U.S. companies dearly want to increase an already booming trade with the Mideast. The indirect but powerful role these oil states play in financing the U.S. deficit further enmeshes Washington's interests with the region's, no matter how contentious relations may get over America's foreign policy.

These factors increase the challenge Washington faces in encouraging reform. The authoritarian governments in the Gulf will have to change to keep pace with their wealthy, better-educated populations. They have a long way to go on improving opportunities for women, for instance. While more money in people's pockets buys time, the rulers are facing demands for greater accountability and wider political participation. Some business people even think that oil money could have negative consequences. With financial pressure off, governments may be more likely to delay privatization and other reforms.

Yet it doesn't look like this Gulf boom will fizzle anytime soon, since oil is in such demand. One possible scenario: As global interest rates rise with the recovery of Japan and Europe, worldwide competition for capital will heat up, and the well-heeled investors of the Mideast will become pivotal players in future deals. Oil money's role, then, could just get bigger.”

[lofter1]

A continuation of the story found here: http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showpost.php?p=88893&postcount=99

In Dubai, an Outcry From Asians for Workplace Rights

By HASSAN M. FATTAH (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/f/hassan_m_fattah/index.html?inline=nyt-per)
NY Times
March 26, 2006

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/26/international/middleeast/26dubai.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/unitedarabemirates/index.html?inline=nyt-geo), March 25 — For Rajee Kumaran, this was the city of dreams.

Dubai's gleaming high rises, idyllic beaches and seemingly limitless opportunities glittered on the pages of brochures and in the stories told by laborers returning home to his native Kerala, India. But after five years here, surviving in squalid conditions and barely making ends meet on less than $200 a month, Mr. Kumaran, 28, says his dream has long since faded.

"I thought this was the land of opportunity, but I was fooled," he said Thursday, as he stood with several other construction workers outside their work camp in the desert on the outskirts of the city.

When hundreds of workers angered by low salaries and mistreatment rioted Tuesday night at the site of what is to become the world's tallest skyscraper, not only were they expressing the growing frustration of Asian migrants here, they offered a glimpse of an increasingly organized labor force.

Far from the high-rise towers and luxury hotels emblematic of Dubai, the workers turning this swath of desert into a modern metropolis live in a Dickensian world of cramped labor camps, low pay and increasing desperation.

For years, workers like Mr. Kumaran have done whatever they could to get here, often paying thousands of dollars to unscrupulous recruiters for the chance to work at one of the hundreds of construction sites in the emirates.

Of the 1.5 million residents of Dubai, as many as a million are immigrants who have come here to work in some capacity, with the largest subgroup being construction workers, said Hadi Ghaemi, a researcher with Human Rights Watch who covers the United Arab Emirates, citing government statistics.

The vast majority of the immigrants come from the Indian subcontinent and the Philippines.

With the cost of living rising, many have abandoned dreams of returning with a fortune. The construction workers' camps, in particular, have been set up ever deeper in the desert. That adds an hour or two just to get to the job site every morning, in addition to the workers' 12-hour shifts.

A growing number have resorted to suicide rather than return home with empty pockets: last year, 84 South Asians committed suicide in Dubai, according to the Indian Consulate here, up from 70 in 2004.

Mr. Kumaran, who earns 550 dirhams every month, or about $150, as a laborer, sends home almost half his earnings and lives on the equivalent of roughly $60 a month. That is barely enough to pay for food and cigarettes and using his cellphone from time to time. But he is not sure how he will repay the loan he took to get here.

"If I'd stayed in India and worked just as hard as I do now, I could have made the same money," he said. "And I wouldn't have needed to get a loan to come here."

Since last September, when 800 workers staged a protest march down a main highway in the heart of the city and set off a national debate about the treatment of foreign workers, laborers have held at least eight major strikes to demand their rights and get their pay, which is sometimes withheld.

But the mass action on Tuesday was the most significant of its kind.

Hundreds of workers building the Burj Dubai skyscraper chased security guards and broke into offices, smashing computers, scattering files and wrecking cars and construction machines. When they returned to work the next day, demanding better pay and improved working conditions, thousands of laborers building an airport terminal across town also laid down their tools, demanding better conditions, too. The workers also halted work on Thursday, until a settlement was negotiated.

"It was a watershed moment in coordination and organization," Mr. Ghaemi said. "It started with increasing numbers of strikes, and has now evolved into very organized and coordinated activities. If these grievances are not addressed quickly by the government they are sure to begin hurting the economic growth of the country."

Those workers have few rights. Visa sponsors and employers typically confiscate their passports and residency permits when they sign on, restricting their freedom of movement and their ability to report abuse.

Most pay money to recruiters to find work here, a practice that the U.A.E. government has sought to stop. When they get here, few can leave the country without the permission of their employers, who can block them from working elsewhere in the country if they resign or are fired.

Unionizing is forbidden, too, and most workers have no recourse other than the Labor Ministry.

Denial of wages is the most common abuse of workers, as contracting companies typically wait to pay their workers until they themselves get paid.
In the worst cases, workers have been denied wages for more than 10 months, only to lose the entire salary when the contracting companies go bankrupt, leaving the men destitute and with few options.

The U.A.E.'s Ministry of Labor has tried to tackle the problem in recent months, making changes meant to allow workers to change employers more easily and imposing strict penalties on employers that do not pay their workers.

Workers can call a toll-free hot line to the ministry to lodge complaints, which are investigated. And ministry inspectors do travel to work camps to inspect them.

"We always support the workers and want to protect their rights, but we must protect employers' rights as well," said Ali al-Kaabi, the labor minister in the U.A.E. "As long as these three factors are in place, the workers have no reason to protest. If they have any problems or complaints they should speak with a supervisor, who should come to the ministry. Then if we don't act they have the right to protest."

But the sheer number of workers who have poured into the country over the past two years and inadequate staffing at the ministry have meant that many problems slip through, some officials and human rights workers say.

Only 80 government inspectors oversee about 200,000 companies and other establishments that employ migrant workers, Mr. Ghaemi said, citing government figures. The inspectors also look at labor camps: of the 36 camps inspected from May through December last year, the ministry ranked 27 well below government standards.

"There's such a boom and so many laborers required here that the government is bringing measures which are not entirely adequate," said B. S. Mubarak, labor and welfare consul at the Consulate General of India in Dubai. "Neither we nor the ministry can cope with the growing number of laborers and growing number of complaints."

As he boards a bus to his construction site every morning but Friday, Mr. Kumaran says he looks up at Dubai's skyline of gleaming high rises with a degree of sadness.

"I wish the rich people would realize who is building these towers," Mr. Kumaran said, flanked by his co-workers. "I wish they could come and see how sad this life is."

Mohammed Fadel Fahmy contributed reporting for this article.

Copyright 2006 (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/copyright.html)The New York Times Company (http://www.nytco.com/)

[smackfu]

Some of those Nakheel projects are just insane. All those islands built out on the water in the middle of nowhere. Are any of them in progress yet? The videos are cool but all videos are.

Edit: Wow, I wandered over to skyscrapercity and they have pretty insanely comprehensive threads on Dubai.

[pianoman11686]

Dubai, Where Too Much Is Never Enough

By SETH SHERWOOD

Published: June 4, 2006

Pity the cartographers and guidebook publishers striving to capture Dubai's juggernautlike sprawl. With every month bringing announcements of audacious new hotels and leisure concepts — a huge artificial coral reef studded with World War II planes and pounds of gold is being built for scuba divers — today's top draws can easily become tomorrow's fire sales. Dubai travel guides and maps, their shelf life shorter than eggs, can pretty much go straight from printing press to pulp plant.

For the moment, Dubai's marquee attraction is the much-touted 25-story, 1,300-foot-long ski run inside the new Mall of the Emirates. But even more dazzling is the après-ski scene afforded by the 400 shops and restaurants in the 6.5 million-square-foot mall. For luxury goods, follow the black robes of Saudi billionaires' wives to the Rivoli, Harvey Nichols and Yves Saint Laurent boutiques. For nourishment, join the D & G-wearing Lebanese women crowding the Giorgio Armani cafe.

During his decades of travels, the 14th-century explorer Ibn Battuta traversed North Africa, Egypt, Persia, India, China and Andalusia. Thanks to the new Ibn Battuta Mall — "the world's largest themed mall" — 21st-century shoppers can make the same trip in an afternoon. Containing 250 outlets spread through six architecturally distinct zones based on the countries Battuta visited, the place is a history lesson and retail blitz in one. Each zone quietly raises important questions: Did the ancient Persians actually shop at Woolworth's and the Athlete's Foot? How was Hindu history influenced by the Sunglass Hut? Such issues are probably best mulled over KFC in the medieval Tunisian food court before heading to the Ming dynasty Imax theater.

The most picturesque new shopping experience unfolds under the forest of half-built 21st-century towers in the Dubai Marina (off Sheikh Zayed Road at Interchange 5). Calling itself "the Middle East's answer to the French Riviera," the vast seaside city-within-a-city is still years away from its goal of housing 70,000 people in some 200 buildings. But the palm-fringed Marina Walk, where valets park Lexus S.U.V.'s while their owners stroll among its shops and cafes, is already drawing throngs.

The marina's current hot spot is Chandelier (971-4-366-3606), a minimalist-cool Lebanese restaurant and self-proclaimed "oyster lounge." Inside angular white interiors suggesting a Middle Eastern version of Miami, crowds of dolled-up Russian couples and black-veiled Arab women sporting diamond jewelry dine on tapaslike mezze dishes (14 to 30 dirhams, or $3.75 to $8 at 3.75 dirhams to the dollar).

Dubai Marina is also home to the city's hippest new hotel of the moment, the Grosvenor West Marina Beach (971-4-399-8888; www.starwood.com; doubles from 1,500 dirhams). Packed into the 45-story building are 217 rooms and 13 restaurants and bars. The Indian fusion cuisine and ethno-chic décor at Indego come courtesy of Vineet Bhatia, who scored a Michelin star for his Zaika in London. For diners demanding royal treatment, the restaurant Mezzanine is run by Gary Robinson, a former personal chef for Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales. In the Buddha Bar, a branch of the famous Parisian D.J. lounge, a massive cross-legged statue of the establishment's namesake V.I.P. watches boisterous young professionals unwind to global house music.

Vladimir Lenin would no doubt take a dim view of the chandeliers, gilded Corinthian columns and shamelessly capitalistic amenities in the 138-room Hotel Moscow (Al Makhtoum Street, 971-4-228-8222; www.moscowhoteldubai.com; doubles from 960 dirhams), opened in 2004. But anyone with an appreciation for 19th-century Slavic kitsch will enjoy the czarist decadence.

Finally, just when you were about to abandon your search for a luxury hotel offering falconry, along comes Jumeirah Bab Al Shams Desert Resort and Spa (Dubai Al Ain Road, 971-4-832-6699, www.babalshams.com, doubles from 700 dirhams, or $80). In the dunes outside of Dubai, the 150-room fortress-style hotel offers a five-star version of old-world Arabian life. The rigors of recreational activities like falconry can be soothed, for example, in the one of three pool. And after a hard day of camel riding, your derriere will welcome the Satori spa.

But because this is Dubai, bigger fish are always lurking on the horizon waiting to swallow the current leaders. In 2008, the present crop of top hotels will have to contend with offerings from two mega fashion designers, in the form of the Palazzo Versace and Armani Hotel Dubai, as well as an underwater hotel, Hydropolis.

Similarly, the mall wars will escalate considerably in coming years with the arrival of world record aspirants like the Mall of Arabia (featuring some 1,000 shops spread over 10 million square feet) and the Dubai Mall, a 12-million-square-foot monster in the same development as the forthcoming world's tallest building, the Burj Dubai.

Even the Middle Eastern snow monopoly at the Mall of the Emirates is set for a challenge. The Dubai Sunny Mountain Ski Dome, set for completion this year or next, will house an entire indoor mountain range and a ski mountain with a very unusual twist: It will revolve.

Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

[malec]

The Dubai Metro would be ready very late compared to when most of Dubai's other projects will be. Traffic will be a nightmare until then.
That's true. The 2 lines for the metro should have been completed now and instead, construction should have started on an extra 3 or something.
They've decided to extend both lines though and add a third aswell. The palm will also have a line that'll link to the red one I think.


A few pictures from the supertalls going up. Out of the many 1000fters planned only a few are properly under construction.

Rose rotana suites, 1093ft:

http://i4.tinypic.com/10z2pgl.jpg


Almas tower, 1148ft:

http://i4.tinypic.com/10z30c0.jpg



A 3D model I made showing the scale of all this stuff. The model shows the burj dubai complex, business bay, financial centre and the current sky"line". :)
Even if only half of this is built...
Keep in mind the model is not at all complete, only the white towers are properly modeled, the rest are only represented by boxes because, not all have been released and also, not all the ones that are released have been done.

http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/9093/bigbigbig2uu.jpg


The burj dubai shown is STR's work and is about 2600ft high in that version. The flower tower on the left is the burj al alam at 1588ft and is due to start at the end of the year.

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e357/sahmad1/f92a29e3.jpg


Another centrepiece tower will be released next week in NY, it's being designed by Zaha Hadid and rumours say it's nicknamed "dancing towers" and is actually 3 towers not one. Should be interesting. The location will be where the pyramid-shaped tower is.

[SilentPandaesq]

Malec,
You seam to be up on the Dubai thing. I have a random question. I had heard that alot of the residential growth in Dubai is a result of upper middle class residents of various middle eastern countries buying up property in the hopes of hedging their bets for regional conflict.

More to the point, I heard that Iranians, Saudi, Syrians and others are buying homes for vakay, but also to have a place to flee to if the other shoe drops. (This more in the case of Iranians than anyone else, who have money and little investment oppertunities).

Can you verify any of these statements? True, untrue, part true, complete and utter lies?

Also - Dubai gets only 5%-10% of revenue from oil right? Then they must be worried about the price of oil as much as other non-producing nations. If so are they taking steps to insulate themselves and their economy (i.e. mass transit, giant solar fields in the wastelands, turbines, secret fusion power plant(or gasp fission plants). A city of that size with that many apartments must have massive HVAC loads on the local grid. AC on all day, Heater on at night.

[malec]

Well I'm mostly interested in the architecture and that's it so don't know very much.

Since they don't give citizenship to foreigners coming in expatriates make up about 80% of dubai's people population. The rapid population growth there is due to more and more expats coming in so that's why the growth is so abnormal. Population there is around 1.5m, maybe more now, it grows by around 100,000 a year (not including construction workers).

I wouldn't say most but a lot of apartments and villas on the palm for example are bought as holiday homes by europeans. I think your statement is true but it's definitely not the main reason for all the apartments.

About the oil thing, it might only contribute 5% to their revenue but the city itsself is still really dependant on oil. If you want to compare it to a US city it's definitely more like a small LA or Phoenix rather than NY. You've got your strip malls, endless sprawl, highways dividing your city in 2, etc. Of course this means the place is hugely car dependant, traffic's a big problem over there.

[lofter1]

If you want to compare it to a US city it's definitely more like a small LA or Phoenix rather than NY. You've got your strip malls, endless sprawl, highways dividing your city in 2, etc. Of course this means the place is hugely car dependant, traffic's a big problem over there.
Are there any "new" cities being developed that are looking beyond the era of the automobile?

[RandySavage]

Portland, Oregon

[malec]

3 new renders from my model:
(see which towers you can recognise :))



http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/2816/1ra1.jpg

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

http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/3756/3ft1.jpg

[RandySavage]

Nice computer rendering.

The January 2007 issue of National Geographic Magazine (available mid-December 2006) will feature a story on Dubai. I can't wait to see that publication's take on the city (and their unparalleled photographs).

[TREPYE]

I was watching a doc on Dubai and they mentioned the Burj Al Arab. What freaking fabulous tower! The kind -pretty much like Gothic Cathedrals, and Art Deco Scrapers; IMO- that bring you to your knees and make you realize what beautiful grand scale figments the human imagination can produce. My favorite tower outside NYC next to the Petronas.

The Tower:

http://www.edgenewyork.com/images/uploads/news_12575.jpg

http://www.novaturas.lt/uploads/JAE_Burj%20Alarab_1.jpg

http://www.asiatravel.com/uae/arabiantower/gifs/frontview2.jpg


http://amitkulkarni.info/pics/dubai-pictures/dubai-pics/P1010236.JPG

At night:

http://www.magicaljourneys.com/UAE/images/images-burjalarab.jpg

Structural detail:

http://www.morgenlan.de/images/dubai/r/burj-g.jpg

http://www.architypes.net/files/image/burj-al-arab-exterior-1-thumb.jpg


Check that atrium and the fountain in the middle!
http://static.flickr.com/47/163440071_7b9f02a282_o.jpg

Hotel corridors that overlook the atrium:
http://www.architypes.net/files/image/cache/burj-al-arab-atrium-colors.jpg

Looking straight up:

http://www.danandrewsimages.com/dubai/interior2.JPG

[malec]

Interesting documentary about this place:
Check out the 3 videos.

http://uaecommunity.blogspot.com/

[goravrama]

Being a son of a resident in Dubai for over 30 years, our family finally decided to make a permanent move to the United States for good. There is no point hitting your head on a wall and asking for citizenship because it simply cannot happen. The properties for sale are just for a diversification of the economy and to kickstart the real estate sector - expatriates should not be disillusioned into believing that Dubai is becoming a home for them - it isn't and will never be. The so-called visa that can be attained under the property too is only a 3 year renewable visa which can be cancelled at any time. I have seen many expatriates being disillusioned by the "Dubai dream" - tax-free environment, first class infrastructure, and other factors. Many in the process forget where they are from, forget to send money home and get trapped in the process, buying properties and businesses, as well as making tangible and intangible investments in a place that can never ever become their home. It is time expatriates wake up to this reality and use Dubai for their benefit, and not let Dubai get the better of them. This can be achieved by sending most of the earnings back home or using Dubai as a stepping stone for better pastures abroad in the West.

[goravrama]

Expatriates can all forget about citizenship in the UAE - it can never happen. There is no point disillusioning yourself that this is your home because it isnt and will never be. I have seen many expatriates getting carried away investing huge sums of money into this country only to find themselves leaving with nothing once everything is gone. Please be practical and send money back home, as well as use this as a stepping stone for the west. This is the whole lure and attraction to Dubai in the first place and admiring the city and its skyline will get you nowhere in the end.

[RandySavage]

National Geographic Magazine covers the Dubai Phenomenon:

http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0701/feature3/index.html

There once was a sheikh who dreamed big. His realm, on the shores of the Persian Gulf, was a sleepy, sun-scorched village occupied by pearl divers, fishermen, and traders who docked their ramshackle dhows and fishing boats along a narrow creek that snaked through town. But where others saw only a brackish creek, this sheikh, Rashid bin Saeed al Maktoum, saw a highway to the world.

One day in 1959, he borrowed many millions of dollars from his oil-rich neighbor, Kuwait, to dredge the creek until it was wide and deep enough for ships. He built wharves and warehouses and planned for roads and schools and homes. Some thought he was mad, others just mistaken, but Sheikh Rashid believed in the power of new beginnings. Sometimes at dawn, with his young son, Mohammed, by his side, he'd walk the empty waterfront and paint his dream in the air with words and gestures. And it was, in the end, as he said. He built it, and they came.

His son, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, now rules Dubai, and around that creek has built towering dreams of his own, transforming the sunrise vision of his father into a floodlit, air-conditioned, skyscrapered fantasy world of a million people. With its Manhattan-style skyline, world-class port, and colossal, duty-free shopping malls, little Dubai now attracts more tourists than the whole of India, more shipping vessels than Singapore, and more foreign capital than many European countries. The people of 150 nations have moved here to live and work. Dubai has even built man-made islands—some in the shape of palm trees—to accommodate the wealthiest of them. Its economic growth rate, 16 percent, is nearly double that of China. Construction cranes punctuate the skyline like exclamation points.

Dubai is also a rare success story in the Middle East, a region with a history of failure and stagnation. Whether Dubai represents a glitzy anomaly or a model to be copied by other Arab nations is a question worth asking these days, as the Islamic world struggles to cope with modernization. Abdulrahman al Rashid, a Saudi journalist and director of the Al Arabiya news channel, put it this way: "Dubai is putting pressure on the rest of the Arab and Muslim world. People are beginning to ask their governments: If Dubai can do it, why can't we?"

Dubai, it must be said, is like no other place on Earth. This is the world capital of living large; the air practically crackles with a volatile mix of excess and opportunity. It's the kind of place where tennis stars Andre Agassi and Roger Federer play an exhibition match on the rooftop helipad of the opulent Burj al Arab megahotel; where diamond-encrusted cell phones do a brisk business at $10,000 apiece; where millions of people a year fly in just to go shopping.

Get the whole story in the pages of National Geographic magazine.

[antinimby]

Flickr 12-27-2006

The Burj Dubai is the one u/c that's farthest to the left in this pic.

Reported on ssc that its current height is already 372 m (or 1220 ft.)!

http://runepixels.com/uimages6/06_12_27_5.jpg

[JerseyBrett]

I've been researching Dubai for a couple of days....Are they building walkable, urban neighborhoods? The entire city looks like Newport in Jersey City! Is the rest of Dubai like this? Doesn't seem like very much planning went into this....

[Strattonport]

Streetsblog (http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/01/05/where-the-sidewalk-ends-dubai/) made a post dealing with just that subject. Despite its burgeoning development, the city at large still circles around massive roads and the automobile.

[ablarc]

I've been researching Dubai for a couple of days....Are they building walkable, urban neighborhoods? The entire city looks like Newport in Jersey City! Is the rest of Dubai like this? Doesn't seem like very much planning went into this....
On the contrary, the reason it and Newport alike are what they are is the planning.

Streetsblog (http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/01/05/where-the-sidewalk-ends-dubai/)Despite its burgeoning development, the city at large still circles around massive roads and the automobile.
That's what you get from the planning.

Btw, that's equally true in Charlotte. You thought perhaps planners are trained to produce humane environments?

[pianoman11686]

You think it would be more humane to make people walk outside in the desert rather than sit in their air-conditioned cars? ;)

[ablarc]

You think it would be more humane to make people walk outside in the desert rather than sit in their air-conditioned cars? ;)
They had a different approach in Marakkech and Fez.

[pianoman11686]

Those two date back nearly a thousand years. Air-conditioning is much more recent.

[ablarc]

^ Either way, you're cool.

In Marakkech, you're cool and on foot in an interesting place.

[pianoman11686]

Don't get me wrong, I agree with you. It's just that people have different standards these days.

The thing that gets to me about Dubai is that it wants to be known as a place that's cutting edge and, even moreso, a place where the impossible is possible: world's tallest structures, manmade communities built in the sea, skiing when its 120 degrees, and whatever else they've come up with. But from an urban planning point of view, they're not doing anything exciting. It's a bigger version of Las Vegas.

In the summer, you can't take the heat in Vegas for more than a few minutes at a time. Walking down the Strip equates to ducking into and out of the next hotel's shopping arcade/lobby. All the pavement and cars only make it worse.

[antinimby]

But from an urban planning point of view, they're not doing anything exciting. It's a bigger version of Las Vegas.You've got to understand that not everyone are urbanphiles like us, so yes, it's exciting to them.

Most people don't care or know about how the layout of streets should be, walkability, mass transit and so on.

If it looks neat and pretty, then it's good in their minds.

You don't even know how many people that I've come across that think New York is bad and places like LA with its neat freeways and manicured landscaping is the ideal.

Of course we know better but we are the minority.

[propertyportal.ae]

Is alcohol allowed in Dubai?


It sure does, it has some amazing Bar's and Clubs.

Dubai is a really crazy place, there is so much going on, its like they dont know how to say "no" here.

I really dont think there is anywhere else like it on earth at the moment.

[finnman69]

This looks like Coruscant from Star Wars

http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0701/feature3/images/gallery.3.6.jpg
http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0701/feature3/images/gallery.3.7.jpg
http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0701/feature3/images/gallery.3.17.jpg

the best part of Dubai, no repressive regressive Islamist BS
http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0701/feature3/images/gallery.3.10.jpg

[Ed007Toronto]

Is alcohol allowed in Dubai?

One of the reasons for the boom. Westerners would rather base themselves here rather than in more restricted areas of the middle east.

[Deimos]

This looks like Coruscant from Star Wars

http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0701/feature3/images/gallery.3.6.jpg

Reminds me of Robert Moses' vision for NYC also in a way.

[NoyokA]

Or a lame, flashy, Park Avenue.

[Jasonik]

http://www.kerala.com/dubai/Fog-in-the-Desert-3.jpg

http://www.kerala.com/dubai/Fog-in-the-Desert-1.jpg

Fog in the desert.

source (http://www.kerala.com/dubai/)

[finnman69]

http://www.swg1.net/encyclo/images/coruscant.jpg
http://www.ordresith.com/preproduction/images/coruscant.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/3c/Coruscantsky.jpg/800px-Coruscantsky.jpg

Ecumenopolis (from Greek: one house city) is a word invented in 1967 by the Greek city planner Constantinos Doxiadis to represent the idea that in the future urban areas and megalopoleis would eventually fuse and there would be a single continuous world-wide city as a progression from the current urbanization and population growth trends.

[ryeler]

the fog pics are crazy, btw, how much fog can a desert get?

[sharewadi]

Fog is quite common at certain times of the year - and quite thick too. Because Dubai is close to the sea. Cool sea and warm air temperature with humidity seems to be a good combination for fog.

About the alcohol question, Dubai is quite liberal. You can't walk down the road drinking your beer but good pubs and nightclubs are common. As are events like the Desert Rock Festival this weekend - with The Prodigy and Iron Maiden last night, and Robert Plant tonight.

Dubai rocks :D ...

[lofter1]

... Dubai is quite liberal. You can't walk down the road drinking your beer but good pubs and nightclubs are common. As are events like the Desert Rock Festival this weekend - with The Prodigy and Iron Maiden last night, and Robert Plant tonight.

Dubai rocks :D ...

Who would have thunk it ^^^ :cool:


http://www.desertrockfestival.com/ (http://www.desertrockfestival.com/)THE DUBAI DESERT ROCK FESTIVAL IS BEING HELD ON MARCH 9th AND 10th 2007 AT THE DUBAI COUNTRY CLUB. THIS IS THE FIRST YEAR IT WILL BE A 2 DAY EVENT WITH A LINE UP OF 10 INTERNATIONAL BANDS IN TOTAL. http://www.desertrockfestival.com/website/images/lingup2007.JPG


Venue (click image to enlarge [pdf]:

http://www.desertrockfestival.com/website/images/venuemap.JPG (http://www.desertrockfestival.com/website/images/venue.pdf)

ABOUT DESERT ROCK

In 2004, CSM embarked on a mission to develop and bring a full fledge rock festival to the Middle East. Of course, we had to start somewhere, so the first annual Desert Rock Concert featured two rock bands, The Rasmus and Juliana Down. The headliner, Limp Bizkit, 48 hours in advance of the concert cancelled, allegedly because he felt “unsafe” coming to this region. Despite the cancellation (10,000 tickets had been sold) some 3500 fans rocked to nearly three hours of their favorite music genre.

In 2005, Dubai Desert Rock developed into a full day festival and featured well-known rock bands from around the world, including The Darkness, Machine Head, Sepultura and Within Temptation., which, together with two local rock bands – Juliana Down & Nervecell – played for an audience of 6,000 plus. (A quick web search for “Dubai Desert Rock Festival” will give you a good idea of how quickly this desert phenomenon has grown.) DDRF has now become known – locally, regionally, and internationally – as THE Middle East Annual Rock Festival.

In DDRF 2006 the lineup included Saxon, Mannikind, Three Doors Down, Testament, Reel Big Fish and Megadeth. The additional attractions to keep fans busy and entertained throughout the day include, among other things, a skate park show, crazy rock hair designers, temporary airbrush tattoo artists, graffiti boards for budding artists to make their mark, and vendors of various rock paraphernalia.

The DDRF is all about bringing artists, audiences and supporters together in a dynamic, unique and highly interactive environment, and which centers on and helps cultivate an appreciation for live rock music and having fun. Come join us in creating and enjoying the fun and entertainment at this year’s Festival!

[lofter1]

Moshpit at the Dubai Desert Rock Festival 2006:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAs087BhvdE

Testament performing at the Dubai Desert Rock Festival (2006):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQVuVMFKrlc

TV Ad: The Dubai Desert Rock Festival 2005, an amazing line up of bands:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwn9DFB6YPo

[homeandaway]

DUBAI IS THE 2ND BEST CITY IN THE WORLD, AFTER SYDNEY!. - I LOVE IT SO MUCH AND ADORE IT!.
~Alex~

[Alonzo-ny]

http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/488/01infinitytowerbasementur2.jpg

Check this out. A foundation wall in dubai failed and allowed the marina inside.

[ryeler]

that's crazy, luckily the space the water pured into was small. Nobody was hurt, but someone will definetly get fired for this ahah.

[Viktorkrum77]

I have a relative who had bought a villa on the Palm Jumeirah. I'm so jealous of him, his wife and 2 kids. I'd love to have grown up like that or live like that. I can't even imagine the school his kids will be going to, it will probably be insane. Lucky for me I might be able to visit them sometime within the next 5 years.

[212]

SSC poster Dubaiflo just took a helicopter all over the city and posted dozens of *phenomenal* aerials.
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=12637161#post12637161

Repulsive: Sheik Zayed Road CBD (5x worse than Houston)
Familiar: Florida-esque housing sprawl, including on the new islands
Reassuring: fine-grained urbanity here and there
Impressive: the "Yellow Wall", like an all-skyscraper BPC
Inspiring: Burj al Arab sail-hotel
Astounding: simply everything in the Burj Dubai complex

Worth a gawk.

[212]

A few of Dubaiflo's dizzying pictures:

http://i14.tinypic.com/33auss5.jpg

http://i18.tinypic.com/2jenyat.jpg

http://i16.tinypic.com/4g6r221.jpg

Anyway, get on over there: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=12637161#post12637161

[ryeler]

Was that first picture the burj?

[212]

^ Yep. 120 floors and counting.

[Viktorkrum77]

^ Yep. 120 floors and counting.

Wow, there goes Freedom Towers claim to fame, and soon the Fordham Spire's too.

They've officially beat the all time record and shown it's really not that hard to build a a building over a 100 stories high.

[Alonzo-ny]

Why is it only come to light now that it has the record? As far as i know the most before was 110 at the wtc, so why wasnt it news when it surpassed that? Because 120 as a nice round number maybe?

[ryeler]

^ North Americans don't want to believe that all of their beloved towers have been surpassed by a forgien nation?

The pictures in the link were amazing btw.

[pianoman11686]

They've officially beat the all time record and shown it's really not that hard to build a a building over a 100 stories high.

Sure it isn't, when you're using an army of Indians on work visas that are getting paid pennies per hour and housed in slum-like barracks.

[Viktorkrum77]

Sure it isn't, when you're using an army of Indians on work visas that are getting paid pennies per hour and housed in slum-like barracks.

I actually heard that the many Filipinos and Indonesians working on the project actually have a pretty good pay, better then in their home countries. And although their housing is horrible, it's still probably better then in their home countries.

[pianoman11686]

One of many articles about the recent labor strike:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/03/22/news/dubai.php

Laborers get paid an average of $4 per day; skilled carpenters get $7.60.

You're wrong to just compare it to "conditions back home," because back home, people aren't building the most fantastic, outlandish construction projects in the world. Considering the scope of these projects, and the prices they will sell for, the pay/conditions of these laborers are woefully inadequate. Not to mention anything about how they're lied to when they first hop a boat/plane to get over to Dubai.

[Viktorkrum77]

One of many articles about the recent labor strike:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/03/22/news/dubai.php

Laborers get paid an average of $4 per day; skilled carpenters get $7.60.

You're wrong to just compare it to "conditions back home," because back home, people aren't building the most fantastic, outlandish construction projects in the world. Considering the scope of these projects, and the prices they will sell for, the pay/conditions of these laborers are woefully inadequate. Not to mention anything about how they're lied to when they first hop a boat/plane to get over to Dubai.

I read this in Time, but Dubai is not the only place where it's used. It's also used when building cruise ships and even working on cruise ships, though the pay is slightly better.

[ryeler]

pianoman11686, if you are going to go into the whole low paid, badly housed workers comparing situation, then you cannot forget that basically, much of the backbone of the United States is on illegal immergrants. Who runs the grinds and gears of the service industry? Every country has a problem similar to this, you can't point a big finger at Dubai. Yes what builders and owners of the Burj is wrong, but (sadly) this may only be the chance some of these people get to change their life.

[Viktorkrum77]

The only problem I foresee with Dubai that will hurt them in the near future is, as soon as 2008 Westerners will begin moving to their houses on the Palm Jumeirah and in other residential areas, and being Westerners they are accustom to a liberal lifestyle. In Dubai the visitations is you can do whatever under closed doors, but if you are reported the authorities have to take action, this goes for homosexuality, and for living together and not being married. The latter of which is going to be more crucial in the future for both of these are going to severely hurt Dubai's view by Westerners which is the bulk of their tourism and residential living. And some Westerners who may not break the law may still see this as unfair and they could severely loose residents and tourism to this.

[ryeler]

^ they will eventually change laws to become more suitable for westerners.

[Viktorkrum77]

^ they will eventually change laws to become more suitable for westerners.

I hear from many United Arab Emirate Locals that laws like this do not change. But I'd like clarification from someone who lives there.

[sharewadi]

The only problem I foresee with Dubai that will hurt them in the near future is, as soon as 2008 Westerners will begin moving to their houses on the Palm Jumeirah and in other residential areas, and being Westerners they are accustom to a liberal lifestyle. In Dubai the visitations is you can do whatever under closed doors, but if you are reported the authorities have to take action, this goes for homosexuality, and for living together and not being married. The latter of which is going to be more crucial in the future for both of these are going to severely hurt Dubai's view by Westerners which is the bulk of their tourism and residential living. And some Westerners who may not break the law may still see this as unfair and they could severely loose residents and tourism to this.
^ they will eventually change laws to become more suitable for westerners.
I hear from many United Arab Emirate Locals that laws like this do not change. But I'd like clarification from someone who lives there.
The UAE is a Muslim country and laws that would go against Islamic conventions are unlikely to be implemented, especially anything to do with relationships, alcohol. However, tolerance level is high, for example unmarried western couples living together are generally ignored unless they draw attention to themselves with rowdy parties etc. Extra-marital affairs can get you into bother if the aggrieved party goes to the police. Alcohol can be consumed at home, in bars (nightspots are plentiful and impressive) or at major sports events and concerts. The reality of living here for westerners is much easier than it sounds if reading about the legal restrictions.

The way things are at the moment doesn't appear to be hurting tourism. Yesterday a hotel manager told me their average occupancy for 2006 was in excess of 90%, and that was typical for most hotels in Dubai. Passenger traffic through Dubai Airport is growing at 15%-20% per year (30 million for 2006).

Dubai International Airport passenger traffic up 18% (http://www.dubaisharetalk.com/viewtopic.php?t=1133) - 20 Nov 2006

Population is increasing by 10-20% per year and property is booming although some say that may fade or crash in 2007/2008...

Dubai Property market trends (http://www.dubaisharetalk.com/viewtopic.php?t=1477) - summary of several articles about Dubai property

[Eugenious]

Future of architecture, Dubai leading the way. Enjoy the picture.

http://www.acceleratingfuture.com/michael/blog/images/swirly_skyscrapers.jpg

[antinimby]

I don't know why but that looks a bit sinister to me. Almost like some huge monster with tentacles is emerging out of the ground.

[MidtownGuy]

Wow:eek:

[lofter1]

Like those lamps you can get at Urban Outfitter ...

http://images.overstock.com/f/102/3117/8h/www.overstock.com/images/products/L10351860a.jpg

[TREPYE]

Future of architecture, Dubai leading the way. Enjoy the picture.

http://www.acceleratingfuture.com/michael/blog/images/swirly_skyscrapers.jpg

Yeah right! :p I'll believe it when I see it actually built. Still pretty wild in concept though.

[Alonzo-ny]

Never going to happen, unless they install star trek beam me up systems instead of elevators.

[Deimos]

http://www.acceleratingfuture.com/michael/blog/images/swirly_skyscrapers.jpg

What I find amazing is that the little building in the lower right corner of this picture is over 30 stories tall just to put all those buildings sizes into perspective.

[malec]

^^ The elevators will work just like any other. The towers don't bend THAT much so it'll still be a conventional straight up lift shaft.

Here's also something insane. Dubai marina currently has 9 proposed buildings over 1000 feet. 3 of which are fairly advanced (ie, foundation poured so a certainty they'll be built). The tallest of the lot is 516m!!

http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/773/marinav612texturedyv5.jpg

http://i19.tinypic.com/4l5vrdl.jpg

http://i11.tinypic.com/52f91cg.jpg

http://i14.tinypic.com/5x73ude.jpg


From ground level:

http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/4315/marinav68bma3.jpg

http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/1703/marinav69vk8.jpg

http://img466.imageshack.us/img466/8233/marinav610ij2.jpg

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/2440/marinav611vr3.jpg

[lofter1]

And just what exactly is going to go on in all those hundreds of offices in all those humongous buildings?

[BrooklynRider]

It's a speculative city.

[macreator]

I'd love to see some statistics on how many of the apartments being put up are being lived in vs. being bought by investors.

There is a limit to construction, even with cheap labor and oil money.

[Alonzo-ny]

All those buildings are horrible with th execption maybe of the tallest tower.

[malec]

And just what exactly is going to go on in all those hundreds of offices in all those humongous buildings?
Actually the ones from my 3D model are all residential.
In fact if all those 20 or so towers were fully occupied there'd be less people there than in one of the WTC towers.

I'd love to see some statistics on how many of the apartments being put up are being lived in vs. being bought by investors.

There is a limit to construction, even with cheap labor and oil money.
Yes that's the thing. Those towers I showed, including the 9 1000 footers are all being built by private developers who need to finance their projects just like any developer anywhere. No oil money there.
The apartments are being bought for sure but by who? That's the whole point.
I doubt all of those will see the light of day. Already some are having problems.

All those buildings are horrible with th execption maybe of the tallest tower.
Care to explain why? Remember that model is cheaply made (ie, it cost $0), and is just amateur work. IMO they're a lot better than a lot of the generic boxes littering so many cities' landscapes.

[Alonzo-ny]

Its not in response to your model, dont worry, your model is good forthe price! Ive seen the towers on SSC and i find them really tacky, kind of post modern, kind of just thrown together with no coherant design just a bunch of patterns and dodgy crowns.

[jaja3000jaja]

I have been reading about Dubai for a while now and I am starting to wonder if this city is really going to go through with the hundreds of prospected projects worth billions of dollars, if not over a trillion.

What do you all think? :confused:

In TWENTY years will Dubai be a major tourist attraction making billions in profit OR will Dubai be a dying city living in the past with hundreds of unfinished buildings?

[MidtownGuy]

Definitely the first choice. Kiss the future.

[Alonzo-ny]

I think growth is going to slow down soon, I am also not conviced of the figure showing everything selling like hotcakes, real buyers or investors? I think if everything proposed now is built they wont need to build anything at all for years. Major tourist destination yes but wont ever be bigger than it will be when current projects are completed. Middle eastern vegas/disneyland

[jaja3000jaja]

I found the most amazing site, this is a model making company that is located in Dubai and features many many models of buildings, neighborhoods, and full fledged sections of the city that are currently under construction, built, and approved.

Link: http://www.icammodels.com/

[jaja3000jaja]

Dubai Marina

http://www.rustarrealestate.com/images/logo_dubaiMarina.gifIntroducing Marina 101 Hotel & Residence, an investment product designed to offer significantly higher returns than traditional property purchases.
A 5-star investment opportunity
As the first major hotel-managed tower project in the Marina development offering serviced 1 and 2 bedroom apartments on a freehold basis, Marina 101 fills a significant gap within the Dubai Marina investment landscape.
Proven income potential
With a shortage of short-term rental opportunities twinned with Dubai's 93% hotel occupancy rate, serviced apartment investment models are expected to provide significantly higher returns than traditional rental models.
http://www.rustarrealestate.com/images/LocatoinM101.jpg
A 200% increase in 4 years
Marina 101 is located at the heart of Dubai Marina's bustling residential and commercial district, where average real estate prices have increased by over 200% in the last four years.
Starting from AED 1 million
Prices for 1 bedroom apartments range from AED 1 million to AED 1.2 million dirhams, with 2 bedroom units ranging from AED 1.2 million to AED 1.86 million.
Up to 70% financing available
Flexible payment terms with up to 70% financing are available from Amlak.
25% minimum ROI guaranteed
Confidence in the Marina 101 business model is so great that each apartment comes with an unequivocal guarantee - a 25%* minimum return on investment over the first three years following occupation!



Dubai Business Bay

http://www.rustarrealestate.com/images/business_bay_logo.jpg In line with the government strategy to enhance the local economy and revitalise investments, Dubai Business Bay is set to be a leading centre for business and shopping, similar to some of the well known centres like New York’s Manhattan or Tokyo’s Ginza.
The basic elements of the Business Bay:

The project will be more like a city within a city. It will feature several business and residential towers, landscaped gardens, shopping malls, hotels and many other facilities. Being the first project of its kind in the Middle East, Dubai Business Bay will build a new capital for business and commerce in which many leading local, regional and international firms will be based.
http://www.rustarrealestate.com/images/BUSINESS-bay_web.jpg (http://www.rustarrealestate.com/swfs/BusBay.html)

Business Bay Map:
Click to view (http://www.rustarrealestate.com/swfs/BusBay.html) Real Photo:
1, (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:openWin%28%27../floorplans/viewplan.php?floorPlan=Business%20Bay/real/real.jpg&pageTitle=Dubai%20Business%20Bay%20/%20Real%20Photo%27,%27floorplans%27,%27toolbar=0,s crollbars=1,location=0,statusbar=1,menubar=0,resiz able=1,width=800,height=600,%20left=100,%20top=100 %27%29) 2, (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:openWin%28%27../floorplans/viewplan.php?floorPlan=Business%20Bay/real/real%20%281%29.jpg&pageTitle=Dubai%20Business%20Bay%20/%20Real%20Photo%27,%27floorplans%27,%27toolbar=0,s crollbars=1,location=0,statusbar=1,menubar=0,resiz able=1,width=950,height=600,%20left=100,%20top=100 %27%29) 3 (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:openWin%28%27../floorplans/viewplan.php?floorPlan=Business%20Bay/real/real%20%282%29.jpg&pageTitle=Dubai%20Business%20Bay%20/%20Real%20Photo%27,%27floorplans%27,%27toolbar=0,s crollbars=1,location=0,statusbar=1,menubar=0,resiz able=1,width=950,height=800,%20left=100,%20top=100 %27%29)
Overlooking the magnificent view of the Creek means the Business Bay will have many beautiful canals and gardens to create an aesthetic appeal. The fact that it is located on a premium site, where available land is severely limited, makes it highly valuable and exclusive as a must-have address. Because land was limited along Dubai’s famous Creek, the vision was to go beyond the current space and extend and widen it several kilometres from Ras Al Khor to almost reach Sheikh Zayed Road.
The total cost of development and management will run into billions of dirhams.
The project will be developed over an area of more than 6.4 million m².

http://www.rustarrealestate.com/images/business_bay.jpg


Downtown Burj Dubai

We are standing on the edge of a definitive moment in Dubai’s history.
Downtown Dubai is an inspired urban concept, which will reconfirm Dubai’s status as a global player. Burj Dubai is the pivotal axis for this revolutionary development. Giving the world a new point of reference, the plan provides the answer to modern city living.
Master Plan:
Click to view (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:openWin%28%27../floorplans/viewplan.php?floorPlan=downTown/masterplan.jpg&pageTitle=Downtown%20/%20Master%20Plan%27,%27floorplans%27,%27toolbar=0, scrollbars=1,location=0,statusbar=1,menubar=1,resi zable=1,width=800,height=850,%20left=100,%20top=10 0%27%29)

The tallest building and the largest shopping mall in the world will give unprecedented dynamism and scale to the overall project, but this is not just about size. It’s about awesome design solutions shaping our lives for the better.
There are vertical and lateral neighborhoods providing sanctuary, when it is wanted and the full exhilaration of the city, when it isn’t.
http://www.rustarrealestate.com/images/downtown_Dubai.jpg

[MidtownGuy]

A bit depresssing, seeing the above renderings, and then remembering we have trouble getting the funds to finish a little ole British Garden.
And then there are the numbskulls that are so completely devoid of vision, that they think the new development in NYC has to continue to develop around the same old "hubs".
"Oh, we have to tear down our architectural legacy so we can build on top of the same freakin' spot cause it's near a freakin' train station."
In places like Dubai, they create whole new business districts.

[Eugenious]

A bit depresssing, seeing the above renderings, and then remembering we have trouble getting the funds to finish a little ole British Garden.
And then there are the numbskulls that are so completely devoid of vision, that they think the new development in NYC has to continue to develop around the same old "hubs".
"Oh, we have to tear down our architectural legacy so we can build on top of the same freakin' spot cause it's near a freaking' train station."
In places like Dubai, they create whole new business districts.

It's not just Dubai, it's Moscow, Shanghai, London, Madrid, so on and so forth. Cities all over the world from India to Europe to South Africa to Australia are investing in infrastracture and new ideas and high speed rail while the New York is being left behind like an old overfilled creaky bus which is barely moving forward spewing tons of pollution and eventually bound to break down as more people get on.

[lofter1]

Dubai ... Moscow, Shanghai, London, Madrid ...

Any of those cities ^^^ you would make your home base over NYC?

[Eugenious]

Any of those cities ^^^ you would make your home base over NYC?

NYC is the best city in the world, but it's pain having to take a subway for 45mins every day back and forth to work...i'd move in a minute if I got a better job elsewhere

[lofter1]

Pretty sure all these have subways. too ...
... Moscow, Shanghai, London, Madrid ...

[User Name]

...it's pain having to take a subway for 45mins every day back and forth to work...

Live closer to where you work or work closer to where you live...

In places like Dubai, they create whole new business districts.

Easy to do when starting with desert scrub. Look at Phoenix - growth upon growth with lots of empty spec buildings. Abandon the old in favor of the new - sprawl for sprawl's sake.

[MidtownGuy]

Business Districts are added in already thriving cities around the world, not only in deserts, Dubai was only one example. Another might be London- an example of an older city creating office towers in areas previously not used for them. London is experiencing tremendous growth and development, yet they know when they've got an historic building that is a keeper.
Dubai doesn't have the magnificent old buildings that NY or London do, that's a given. And my original point was that since WE do, we should encourage office buildings with the oh-so-sacred large floor plates in areas that are in need of projects, creating new transit hubs in the process, instead of demolishing what remain of our historical treasures just for the sake of being next to the same century-old transit hubs.

[Eugenious]

The Dubai Metro will be a driverless, fully automated metro (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro) network under construction in the United Arab Emirates (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Arab_Emirates) city of Dubai (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubai). The network will have two third rail (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_rail) collection system powered lines that will both run underground in the city center and on elevated viaducts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viaducts) elsewhere on double tracks. The first phase of the network is being built by Dubai Rapid Link (DURL) Consortium which comprises Japanese companies including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Corporation, Obayashi Corporation, Kajima Corporation and the Turkish company Yapi Merkezi. The Dubai Metro will be operated by the Dubai Road and Transport Authority.[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubai_Metro#_note-0) The Dubai Metro system will be the longest fully automated rail system in the world. Completion of the first section of the system is projected for 2009 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubai_Metro

[jaja3000jaja]

You would think the black one and the red one would be connected...

[lofter1]

Those people don't like or visit one another :cool:

[malec]

How the hell did that image get on wikipedia? :confused:

Just to tell you that map is only an extremely rough version made by me, not an official one. It was made before information on some of the routes came out so it's purely guesswork. In fact that palm jumeirah one will be connected to the red one, contrary to what's shown there. It'd be stupid if they didn't

[Eugenius]

Just goes to show, you can't always trust Wikipedia.

[Eugenious]

Here's some better ones.

http://img482.imageshack.us/img482/1520/bahnhof1kx5.jpg
http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/121/bahnhof4he7.jpg

http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/8728/bahnhof5ao2.jpg
http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/2104/bahnhof6nn8.jpg
http://img489.imageshack.us/img489/4696/bahnhof7zr0.jpg
http://img489.imageshack.us/img489/4757/bahnhof9cc2.jpg
http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/193/bahnhofinnen1vt9.jpg
http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/7141/bahnhofinnen2qq2.jpg
http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/8272/bahnhofinnen3oi8.jpg
http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/6862/linienxe0.jpg

[malec]

^^ And that map there will probably be revised at least 10 times before all those lines are actually functioning.

BTW some of those artificial islands have been completely redesigned, especially the 3rd palm. It's now quite a bit smaller, although land area is roughly the same.

http://i17.tinypic.com/6fg0ihe.jpg



Phase 1

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/7365/imresolt008qe4.jpg

http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/9828/imresolt024ly6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img160.imageshack.us/img160/3271/imresolt025oo3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/7577/imresolt026go8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/1871/imresolt027rd2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/3190/imresolt037gp2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Ed007Toronto]

And then there are the numbskulls that are so completely devoid of vision, that they think the new development in NYC has to continue to develop around the same old "hubs".
"Oh, we have to tear down our architectural legacy so we can build on top of the same freakin' spot cause it's near a freakin' train station."
In places like Dubai, they create whole new business districts.

Wouldn't Jersey City be New York's version of this?

[Eugenious]

Wouldn't Jersey City be New York's version of this?


no...

[jaja3000jaja]

I'm guessing in the future there will be a monorail or tram or w/e connecting to Dubailand, am I right?

[Zoe]

No amount of money or empty buildings can buy this place a culture or class. Looking at this reminds me of someone playing SIMS.

[ryeler]

I highly doubt that the people behind these projects are interested in culture or class.

[Eugenious]

I highly doubt that the people behind these projects are interested in culture or class.

Hey it beats building palaces, camel racing tracks and giant harems. :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istana_Nurul_Iman

[ryeler]

I am not sure I fully understood your reply, and I'm not sure I agree with it. I believe building cultural palaces and what not is better than all these flashy, excessive, westernized buildings. They should be focusing on maintaiing there heritage by building infastructure (even if it is camel racing tracks), rather than losing whatever culture they have left in the walls of bland skyscrapers.

[Eugenious]

I am not sure I fully understood your reply, and I'm not sure I agree with it. I believe building cultural palaces and what not is better than all these flashy, excessive, westernized buildings. They should be focusing on maintaiing there heritage by building infastructure (even if it is camel racing tracks), rather than losing whatever culture they have left in the walls of bland skyscrapers.

Umm using your oil wealth to create a international business center and create conditions for the development of entrepreneurship is a WAAAY better idea than building extravagant palaces for the benefit of a few and other waste of money that lead to nothing. Dubai is a the most forward thinking place in the middle east (after Israel which has no oil). Though it's technically a monarchy (emirate) it is very much changing for the better. Middle East needs progress like fish needs water, if it doesn't move forward it will not be pretty.

[Alonzo-ny]

This may sound ignorant but i havent heard alot about israel outside the politics, what are they building that is forward thinking?

[malec]

ryeler had a point though. In fact a lot of emiratis are worrying about losing their culture, or being sidelined in their own country and this is not because of the development but because of the proportion of expatriates vs locals. I can't explain this since I don't live there but google it and you'll find out, in fact skyscrapercity.com has some good discussions on this.

IMO they're focusing way too much on tourism. Once peak oil comes cheap flights won't be so common so there goes a big chunk of your tourism industry. The UAE is a small country they can't get into heavy manufacturing since they don't have the manpower but they could get into more specialised stuff. I believe education is the key to pretty much everything, have a very well educated population and the rest falls in place. Imagine what those billions they're pouring into the massive construction projects could do if instead they poured it into creating world class universities, research, etc. And not just that everything from early schools, middle schools and high schools.

edit: BTW, about rich culture, art and so on. All this stuff would arise naturally once a really solid education system is in place

[ryeler]

Thank you, Malec, and I completely agree with your post. Eungenious, I think that our deffinitions of 'pretty' are different.

To me, a, 'pretty' Dubai would be a city with a good economy, good education, good health care, and culture. No amount of shallow buildings can give Dubai these things. I fully believe that Dubai, although somewhat advancing, is not changing for the better. Although I cannot forsee into the future, I wonder what will happen to Dubai once our world's supply of oil is gone.

I am not an expert in Middle eastern society, but I think that westernizing Dubai is not the best thing for it. I do understand where your coming from in that yes, using there money to create conditions for the development of entrepreneurship is a good idea, but take a second and think of the consequences.

[Eugenius]

This may sound ignorant but i havent heard alot about israel outside the politics, what are they building that is forward thinking?
Israel has one of the most educated workforced on earth (third after US and Netherlands in terms of percentage of population with university degrees). It is a vast high tech hub, producing advanced software, hardware, and electronics. Israel is home to a number of large pharmaceutical companies, and is at the forefront of world biomedical research. Of necessity, Israel has a highly developed military-industrial complex.

Four Israelis have won the Nobel prize in the sciences, as compared to, for example, only two Muslims.

[Luca]

Well duh! (I mean, Oy vey!)
...you are surprised?

BACK to thread:

I'm no pro-Bedouin, but I don 't get all the animus about Dubai. They're trying to improve themselves. I don't much care for their urban planning (very car-centric and almsot defiant of local conditions), but compared to other cities in similar circumstances they are doing some interestign things. I saw a documentary on the Beeb the other day about their artificial islands and I must say that, beyoind teh schlockiness of ti all, it sounded itneresting, from an engineering standpoint, especially some eof the environmental measures they took. The local developer, I've got to say, seemed to me more civilized (as well as eloquent) than a lot of people you meet in the West.

[ablarc]

Dubai: world's largest collection of shopping mall architecture.

[Eugenious]

Thank you, Malec, and I completely agree with your post. Eungenious, I think that our deffinitions of 'pretty' are different.

To me, a, 'pretty' Dubai would be a city with a good economy, good education, good health care, and culture. No amount of shallow buildings can give Dubai these things. I fully believe that Dubai, although somewhat advancing, is not changing for the better. Although I cannot forsee into the future, I wonder what will happen to Dubai once our world's supply of oil is gone.

I am not an expert in Middle eastern society, but I think that westernizing Dubai is not the best thing for it. I do understand where your coming from in that yes, using there money to create conditions for the development of entrepreneurship is a good idea, but take a second and think of the consequences.


This is the kind of stupidity I'm talking about. You have a ancient backwards country with no other resources save oil and trading ports people like you are screaming " Oh My GAWD...SAVE THE CULTURE!!! The evil skyscrapers and shiny buildings AHHHHHH..they will DESTROY ALL CULTURE"....

The culture of UAE and especially of Dubai is one of MERCANTALISM and CENTURIES old traditions of merchant haven and trading ports THAT'S IT. Dubai is NOT losing ANY culture by developing infrastructure and building up. Dubai is NOT a culturally significant place like Jerusalem or Baghdad etc. , Dubai was always a TRADING PORT and always WILL be a center of commerce above all. If Dubai does NOT distinguish itself from the rest of the UAE and middle east arab kingdoms it will NOT be able to survive in it's present form (monarchy), the reason you see the type of spending in Dubai is because the Sheikh's KNOW this...they KNOW they will not be able to sustain oil growth forever...

So to all the people saying Dubai is nothing but a shallow skyscraper mall, yes it is...but that's waaaay better than a backwards trading port in the middle of the desert with lots of oil ruled by a Sheik (like Kuwait).

[ryeler]

Wow. First of all. Who the hell are you to say that the United Arab Emirates is a backwards country? Second, I am not the prissy uninformed brat you make me out to be.

Saying that Dubai is not a culturally significant place is just plain ignorant. Maybe from your comfy office in a western county you see the UAE's cultural as mere non existent, and only consisting of 'MERCANTALISM', but you are in fact wrong. I would hate to be a history teacher, but you are seriously misinformed. I think that you have forgotten about Arab and Islamic ties the UAE has, as well as the fact that the area of and around the UAE has been Islam since the 7th century. Despite what you think Culture is not just art galleries and museums. Culture varies from place to place.

I am not sure where you come from by saying that Monarchy's do not work. Have you forgotten about Great Britain from the 11th century to the 18th? Some monarchies work. The UAE was not formed yesterday, Eugenious. Still, the UAE is leaning towards becoming a democratic country, with now half of its parliament elected, and the other half appointed.

Yes, oil money is eventually going to run out, and yes, the government has been trying to establish an economy, but if the UAE wanted to establish infrastructure, they needed to have started a while ago. Building flashy residential buildings does not build infrastructure. Education, transport, media, and medical projects, along with job opportunities (besides building massive buildings), needs to be created. Who is constructing all of these massive buildings? Cheep laborers imported from countries like Saudi Arabia and India. Do you think that they will want to stay in the blistering heat with nothing to do? No. they will go back to their respective countries when this big boom ends. A large majority of the people in the UAE right now are not in fact citizens. With no money to start these projects there will be no jobs, no infrastructure. There will be no motives for immigrating to the UAE, and the buildings will remain empty. "If you build it, they will come". This quote, although true, will not apply to Dubai if it continues on the path they are on now.

The UAE was never a 'backwards trading port in the middle of the desert'. The UAE was been a cultural hub, an economic sanctuary. Although I respect your opinion, a mass of shallow skyscrapers is not 'waaaay' better than the actual UAE.

Quit trying to portray yourself as being better than me. People that express their opinions are not stupid. People that accuse others of being stupid for expressing their opinions are Stupid.

[Eugenious]

Wow. First of all. Who the hell are you to say that the United Arab Emirates is a backwards country? Second, I am not the prissy uninformed brat you make me out to be.Your words not mine! I said UAE was a 'backwards' country and that's why they started to open up since the 1970's to attract foreign investment. Before that they were a bunch of medieval British protectorates that were no more advanced than the sand which covers a large portion of their territory.


Saying that Dubai is not a culturally significant place is just plain ignorant. Maybe from your comfy office in a western county you see the UAE's cultural as mere non existent, and only consisting of 'MERCANTALISM', but you are in fact wrong. I would hate to be a history teacher, but you are seriously misinformed. I think that you have forgotten about Arab and Islamic ties the UAE has, as well as the fact that the area of and around the UAE has been Islam since the 7th century. Despite what you think Culture is not just art galleries and museums. Culture varies from place to place.Ignorant? I think it is you who is being ignorant! UAE was know as a piece of the desert where a bunch of pirates, raiders and traders on the run used to congregate no more culturally significant than the Carribean or Cook Islands. True Islam was there since 7th century but it is by far NOT the center of Islam and has no religiously significant sites like Saud Kingdom, Persia and Dome of the Rock.


I am not sure where you come from by saying that Monarchy's do not work. Have you forgotten about Great Britain from the 11th century to the 18th? Some monarchies work. The UAE was not formed yesterday, Eugenious. Still, the UAE is leaning towards becoming a democratic country, with now half of its parliament elected, and the other half appointed.

Monarchy's are horrible and inefficiently run forms of government, any effort to paint them as anything but horrible places of inequality and injustice is just besides the point. Until the Arab world embraces universal human values and democratic forms of government they will be 'backwards' places.

Yes, oil money is eventually going to run out, and yes, the government has been trying to establish an economy, but if the UAE wanted to establish infrastructure, they needed to have started a while ago. Building flashy residential buildings does not build infrastructure. Education, transport, media, and medical projects, along with job opportunities (besides building massive buildings), needs to be created. Who is constructing all of these massive buildings? Cheep laborers imported from countries like Saudi Arabia and India. Do you think that they will want to stay in the blistering heat with nothing to do? No. they will go back to their respective countries when this big boom ends. A large majority of the people in the UAE right now are not in fact citizens. With no money to start these projects there will be no jobs, no infrastructure. There will be no motives for immigrating to the UAE, and the buildings will remain empty. "If you build it, they will come". This quote, although true, will not apply to Dubai if it continues on the path they are on now.

UAE has since the 70's has been attracting foreign companies and investment. The building boom is a result of their relative success in this. They are building a lot of residences for the wealthy but with it comes the need for services and other housing for the workers. So Dubai is developing to become not just a city but a destination. People are coming to Dubai and this is because the government has done alot to change people's image of them.


The UAE was never a 'backwards trading port in the middle of the desert'. The UAE was been a cultural hub, an economic sanctuary. Although I respect your opinion, a mass of shallow skyscrapers is not 'waaaay' better than the actual UAE.
Lol, cultural hub? care to elaborate? How is "Pirates coast" a cultural hub? What is the culture? every place has a culture I'm not denying that, but to suggest that Dubai had a significant cultural tradition that is somehow getting destroyed by the rapid development is preposterous. Dubai will be a much more culturally significant place with the theaters and museums being built now.


Quit trying to portray yourself as being better than me. People that express their opinions are not stupid. People that accuse others of being stupid for expressing their opinions are Stupid.
I think you do the job quite well yourself, so I dont have to try so hard :)

just joshing you...


The History Of Dubai

The major part of the Dubai emirate consists of rolling sand dunes lapping the foothills of the arid Hajar mountains in the east. Until a decade or two ago, the dunes were inhabited by nomadic bedouin roaming with their flocks and herds. Today the nomads have all settled, in villages in the few fertile oases or valleys, or else in the city.


Modern Dubai is the product of the past 20 years of intensive development. Prior to that, Dubai was a small trading port, clustered around the mouth of the Creek.

It had grown gradually from a fishing village inhabited in the 18th century by members of the Bani Yas tribe.



http://www.datadubai.com/about-dubai/history/history/

[Alonzo-ny]

Environmental measures? You mean destroying the marine environment dont you?

[ryeler]

Your words not mine! I said UAE was a 'backwards' country and that's why they started to open up since the 1970's to attract foreign investment. Before that they were a bunch of medieval British protectorates that were no more advanced than the sand which covers a large portion of their territory.

Ignorant? I think it is you who is being ignorant! UAE was know as a piece of the desert where a bunch of pirates, raiders and traders on the run used to congregate no more culturally significant than the Carribean or Cook Islands. True Islam was there since 7th century but it is by far NOT the center of Islam and has no religiously significant sites like Saud Kingdom, Persia and Dome of the Rock.

Monarchy's are horrible and inefficiently run forms of government, any effort to paint them as anything but horrible places of inequality and injustice is just besides the point. Until the Arab world embraces universal human values and democratic forms of government they will be 'backwards' places.


UAE has since the 70's has been attracting foreign companies and investment. The building boom is a result of their relative success in this. They are building a lot of residences for the wealthy but with it comes the need for services and other housing for the workers. So Dubai is developing to become not just a city but a destination. People are coming to Dubai and this is because the government has done alot to change people's image of them.

Lol, cultural hub? care to elaborate? How is "Pirates coast" a cultural hub? What is the culture? every place has a culture I'm not denying that, but to suggest that Dubai had a significant cultural tradition that is somehow getting destroyed by the rapid development is preposterous. Dubai will be a much more culturally significant place with the theaters and museums being built now.


I think you do the job quite well yourself, so I dont have to try so hard :)




The UAE is backwards because they opened up to foreign investment? Ok, woah woah woah. Saying that you are not igornant and then gong on to say 'no more advanced than the sand which covers a large portion of their territory', thats just hypocritical. You can't seem to not look down upon Dubai, so stop insulting them.

So now the Caribean does not have any culture? Just because you cannot name any world famous religous heritage sites, does not mean the UAE doesn't have any.

I think that you are mistaking monarchies for dictatorships. Not all monarchies are bad. Google it. You'll learn something. This is what gets me angry. Just because your society is different from others, it doesn't mean that all other societys are backwards. The Arab world is not backwards, they have different values, religion, and ways of life. Stop thinking your little suburbanized perfect world is superior to all others.

You still didn't address my point. Yes Dubai is building homes for the rich, which are being sold to wealthy foreign buyers, but that is it. Tell me, does one of the flashy skyscrapers contain low-income housing? Is Dubai getting ready for the end of their Boom by building a back up economy? No.

You completely missed my point on this one. Culture does not have to be art and museams. Culture can be a trading post and religion and yes, even 'pirates'. Ever heard of the Louvre ? Building a museam, buying a name for 1 Billion dollars, and borrowing art from other cities does not get them culture. A perfect example how yes, these buildings are ruining the UAE's culture by taking other countries culture.

People like you really P*ss me off. Your society and life is perfect, the rest of the world is backwards, and if they don't change to suit my taste, they will not succeed as a nation. Ridiculous.

[Eugenious]

The UAE is backwards because they opened up to foreign investment? Ok, woah woah woah. Saying that you are not igornant and then gong on to say 'no more advanced than the sand which covers a large portion of their territory', thats just hypocritical. You can't seem to not look down upon Dubai, so stop insulting them.

So now the Caribean does not have any culture? Just because you cannot name any world famous religous heritage sites, does not mean the UAE doesn't have any.

I think that you are mistaking monarchies for dictatorships. Not all monarchies are bad. Google it. You'll learn something. This is what gets me angry. Just because your society is different from others, it doesn't mean that all other societys are backwards. The Arab world is not backwards, they have different values, religion, and ways of life. Stop thinking your little suburbanized perfect world is superior to all others.

You still didn't address my point. Yes Dubai is building homes for the rich, which are being sold to wealthy foreign buyers, but that is it. Tell me, does one of the flashy skyscrapers contain low-income housing? Is Dubai getting ready for the end of their Boom by building a back up economy? No.

You completely missed my point on this one. Culture does not have to be art and museams. Culture can be a trading post and religion and yes, even 'pirates'. Ever heard of the Louvre ? Building a museam, buying a name for 1 Billion dollars, and borrowing art from other cities does not get them culture. A perfect example how yes, these buildings are ruining the UAE's culture by taking other countries culture.

People like you really P*ss me off. Your society and life is perfect, the rest of the world is backwards, and if they don't change to suit my taste, they will not succeed as a nation. Ridiculous.

You're assumptions about me are completely false and ludicrous, I live in Brooklyn the farthest thing from Suburbia in America. I do not think my life is perfect nor my society and that the world is backwards. What I do know is that there are certain forms of government which are of a lesser evil. Dubai and the UAE has acknowledged this and is moving in the right direction but is not there yet.

UAE was an insignificant middle eastern backwater until it opened itself up to the world, this is a fact. The fact that UAE was not known for anything worthwhile for most of 20th century and the centuries prior means that they were forced to seek new ways of development and growth. this is a fact. The fact that you do not know what the heck you are talking about is a fact.

Why can't you get it through your head, DUBAI DOES NOT HAVE ANY SIGNIFICANT CULTURAL HERITAGE TO BE DESTROYED BY DEVELOPMENT, THE DEVELOPMENT IS ON LAND THAT IS NO OCCUPIED AND IS MOSTLY DESERT.

Monarchy's are not bad? Have you heard of the Russian Revolution? how about the French revolution? Google it, YOU will learn something. Cultural differences are totally irrelevant when discussing conditions for growth, investments and incentives. This is always the same, to have up to date infrastructure, a good investment climate, and a democratic form of government. All things which Dubai is trying to build. The rest of the Arab world is not, and that's why it IS backwards. The rise of Islamic fundamentalism is a proof of this.

Dubai doesn't need low income housing silly, there's no low income Dubai residents. You're either rich or you're a migrant worker who is going to go back to his home country. Dubai is building is a destination that not only relies on oil but has a bustling tourism industry and financial hub and other solid sectors which will keep it's economy booming for years to come.

You remind of a NIMBY who argue that it's a crime to build or develop an area because of some vague notion of cultural paternalism. Yet you don't say a word when truly great buildings, neighborhoods are subjected to cynical redevelopment projects. You are whats wrong with NIMBY's in general, you will argue day in and day out about how bad it is that Dubai is building tons of buildings on empty desert land and yet you overlook when buildings in your own city get the wrecking ball.

You should lay off the assumptions and look at your own backyard, im sure you will find enough things to get pissy about.

[ryeler]

I do not assume things aobut you, I know things about you. It's your fault that you took my suburbia comment the wrong way. I used that as an example to emphasise my point. You continue to deny my theories, yet you constantely speak down to the UAE as its some vermin infested country; insuperior to the US.

You have clearly stated several times that you think the UAE is backwards.

Quit trying to act smarter than you are. I cleary said ' not all monarchies are bad ' and you took it as ' I am oblivious to all world history, and think every single monarchy is bad ' .

I am amazed at how you think that a city that has only high class citizens can survive. Wake up. Dubai has lower and middle class citizens, and when this Boom ends, they will be out of jobs.

For some reason you seem unable to get my point. Dubai is building so many new buildings that its old city will get lost in the new developments. I never said they are tearing down old buildings, which you have implied.

Yet again you take this argument out of context. You don't know me. I am not overlooking when great buildings are getting torn down. I know how it works in brooklyn, but here we preserve our heritage. I know how it works in Dubai, but we dont build massive pointless malls and residential complexes that will be empty before next decade's end.

Do not tell me to look in my backyard, you know nothing of my backyard, and this is not the point of this discussion.

It's not in every country's best interest to become westrenized. Yes, a thriving economy is good, but how you get there really shows the true colours of the country. Foreign investors are skipping the dirty work of making a country, and wealthy investors are digging in. They will continue to dig in until the oil is gone, at which time they will leave, and Dubai will be abandoned, unless they have created an economy able to sustain to middle and lower class citizens.

Alas, I grow tired of hurting my fingers attepmting to portray the other side of the story to you.

[Eugenious]

How about using a spell checker it would make your arguments that much more convincing! I'm curious how old are you? let me guess 15? Your arguments are sometimes incoherent and you tend to get very defensive this points to your immaturity.

Dubai is building so many new buildings that its old city will get lost in the new developments.

This is where you are just making things up, Dubai has no old city to get lost to development, Dubai is growing purely on new land. You are unable to grasp this point.


I know how it works in brooklyn, but here we preserve our heritage. I know how it works in Dubai, but we dont build massive pointless malls and residential complexes that will be empty before next decade's end.

Care to elaborate? You need to support your conclusion with facts if you are to be taken seriously.

How does it work in Brooklyn? Do you know how much cultural heritage has been destroyed in Brooklyn? Ever heard of Atlantic Yards? I bet your not against that! Ever heard of Coney Island? This is the definition of development at the cost of preservation. And in Brooklyn they are not building exciting new towers that are super tall and designed by star architects, they are building lame and ugly low rise structure which add nothing to cultural make up of the borough.


Foreign investors are skipping the dirty work of making a country, and wealthy investors are digging in. They will continue to dig in until the oil is gone, at which time they will leave, and Dubai will be abandoned, unless they have created an economy able to sustain to middle and lower class citizens.

Are you saying Dubai hasn't done enough to diversify from oil? Do you know that most of DUbai's economy comes from other sources? I think you just get so caught up in the fact that you're wrong that you start to ramble on non-nonsensically. If you want to have a discussion prepare to have some facts ready and make sense before getting all huffy with me.

[ryeler]

Can't think of anything else to say so you mock my spelling and age?. That's a new low for you.

So, your saying that in the last 200years there has been now structures or buildings? All of these people just sat in the open space? No buidlings what so ever? I am quite sure that 'cities' require buildings.

You completely made my point. Thank you. They are tearing down cultural buidlings and putting up crap.

You are correct in saying that Dubai's economy is not made up from oil products and selling, and in fact, 3% of there economy comes from oil. But do you honestly think that tourism, or manufacturing pays for all these buildings? Oil money is paying for them. When their oil money runs out, they won't be able to live of revenue from tourism.

You still pick and choose which points of my argument you wish to discuss, ignoring all other arguments because you know I'm right.

I am not rambling on, these are facts. You can't get around the negative side of Dubai, and only see it from your point of view. I've never strayed from the conversation, you have, though. I'm getting defensive because you're getting offensive by simply insulting me.

[malec]

When their oil money runs out, they won't be able to live of revenue from tourism.

Hang on a second. You said 3% of their economy comes from oil, so why are they fcked when their oil money runs out? Once the oil supplies run out all over the world then there'll be a problem since it'll massively affect both tourism and trade (which makes up a large portion of their revenues now), but then every country that depends on oil (which is pretty much the whole world) will be screwed when that happens.

You completely made my point. Thank you. They are tearing down cultural buidlings and putting up crap.

Hmm, no they’re not. Proof? I don’t see all these buildings being torn down do you?

http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/9416/dsc08430eo5.jpg

Eugenious is right in saying the large developments are either being built on barren land, or else in areas where there were just a few houses around.

DUBAI DOES NOT HAVE ANY SIGNIFICANT CULTURAL HERITAGE TO BE DESTROYED BY DEVELOPMENT, THE DEVELOPMENT IS ON LAND THAT IS NO OCCUPIED AND IS MOSTLY DESERT.

The first part of your sentence is wrong, the 2nd part is right. Proof showing your first part is wrong is shown in the picture I posted. Just because a building isn’t 200 years old doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be preserved. Most of those buildings are about 30 or 40 years old but they are just as significant as the centre of Barcelona for example because in Dubai’s case that’s where the character is.
Sure the city doesn’t have a lot of real culturally significant buildings like cathedrals, etc but it does have some nice mosques which I’m sure are being preserved. BTW they’re not more than 50 years old either but that doesn’t matter. In fact I’d even class some new buildings as culturally significant like the burj al arab, I’m sure in 50 years they’re not going to let it be knocked down.

A lot of people say Dubai is losing its culture which I agree with but it’s not because of the new buildings or palm islands and this sort of stuff. It’s because of the fact that many 1000s of expatriates are coming in each year and the percentage of locals gets smaller all the time. Not only that but most of the them aren’t there to stay. The live there a few years, then move. Another reason is the insane traffic, the rising rents, discrimination and so on. When the general population is pissed off then the entire mood of the city changes.

[ryeler]

Currently, 3% of their economy comes from oil revenue. But, most of these new projects are being made with oil money previously made. Don't you think that when all that previously made oil money runs out, it will be hard to sustain the already built projects, the ones that arn't finished, and keeping up their economy in general?

I was talking about brooklyn in that sentance, not sure you realized that but anyway. I just find it hard to believe that the city of Dubai, or there area there before Dubai was created, had no old structures or areas. Plus, it's not like the city has expanded outward, this is all happening either right on the coast, or close to the city center by the creek.

But then theres also the point of the other cities in the UAE. There is a giant migration within the country to Dubai. People are packing up and leaving there homes that have been in their generations for years. What will happen to those cities once their abandonded? This is where I'm trying to get at for infastructure. Everything is just being thrown up before you have time to blink, without regarding consequences.

[SilentPandaesq]

Sorry, but I have been waiting a long time to post this.....


http://www.knitemare.org/cats/serious_cat.jpg (http://community.livejournal.com/cat_macros/1699543.html?thread=11554775#t11554775)


Seriously, what are you guys even arguing about anymore?

Development changes the local character of a place. The rulers of Dubai wanted to change the character of Dubai. They have. The people might not have wanted it, but then again, monarchies don't need to worry about the wants of the people.

[Alonzo-ny]

How does that picture prove culture exactly.

[malec]

What, the one I posted? It proves nothing about culture. But it does prove that the city is more than just skyscrapers in the desert, contrary to what most people believe

[Alonzo-ny]

D[B]UBAI DOES NOT HAVE ANY SIGNIFICANT CULTURAL HERITAGE TO BE DESTROYED BY DEVELOPMENT, THE DEVELOPMENT IS ON LAND THAT IS NO OCCUPIED AND IS MOSTLY DESERT.



The first part of your sentence is wrong, the 2nd part is right. Proof showing your first part is wrong is shown in the picture I posted. .

So why say it does?

[malec]

Sorry, this is what I meant to say:

When Eugenious said " DUBAI DOES NOT HAVE ANY SIGNIFICANT CULTURAL HERITAGE TO BE DESTROYED BY DEVELOPMENT" does that mean big important buildings like churches and stuff like that? Or any general stuff that should be preserved.

That picture proves nothing about culture as in art, people's traditions, etc.
But it does prove that Dubai has a significant amount buildings that are not huge but densely packed. They're the ones that give the city character and should be preserved because of that.


I don't know if this makes any sense, but I'm really not good at essay writing so I often explain things in a way that makes sense to me but not others :)

[Alonzo-ny]

That makes more sense.

What is the character of the old town of Dubai like? What goes on in there?

[Zephyr]

I have reviewed this thread from first to last – and undoubtedly Dubai is one of the most fascinating cities from a modern skyscraper standpoint that I have ever seen.

Dazzling architecture, created by a number of cutting-edge engineers and architects from around the world, it has become for me a goldmine of information to be used in what I do. I would have thought it would be hard to criticize a city that has done so much in such a short period of time on this unprecedented scale. But with some of the comments I’ve seen, especially on the Chicago and New York websites, Dubai has a bulls-eye painted on it – not everyone, but a sizeable number of web posters.

This is too much of an architectural laboratory to ignore, and some things will and will not work as you would expect – but thank goodness it is here to observe, and learn. If I were an urban planner, I might be prone to take a more critical eye of some of the grand design, but if you were to look at the components of an urban plan - the buildings themselves - you'll see some remarkable exploration of structure, materials, and design that will likely be repeated elsewhere, even here in New York.

[ablarc]

If I were an urban planner, I might be prone to take a more critical eye of some of the grand design, but if you were to look at the components of an urban plan - the buildings themselves - you'll see some remarkable exploration of structure, materials, and design that will likely be repeated elsewhere, even here in New York.
Problem is: however interesting the individual buildings may be, they don't cohere into an urban whole.

Could be the zoning is to blame, reflecting a Corbusian paradigm. Or is it the climate?

[Jasonik]

http://www.time.com/time/potw/20070920/potw_01.jpg

Boom Town
Morning fog rolls into the Dubai marina, where construction is underway on three man-made islands and the world's tallest building.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Steve Crisp / Reuters (http://www.time.com/time/picturesoftheweek/0,29409,1663882_1449616,00.html)

[MidtownGuy]

That photo is unbelievable.

If anyone wants to donate some frequent flyer miles, I'd be happy to go get some additional shots and report back.:)

[czsz]

Has any city ever experienced construction on that scale?

[MidtownGuy]

I don't think anything can compare, and that picture shows only a small bit of what's going up.

[BrooklynRider]

It's a compound for Halliburton and Kellog, Brown & Root employees.

[investordude]

I've never been, but I am curious if they were smart enough to build a good pedestrian environment at street level. That is, is this just a canyon of gated skyscrapers like Miami, or does it have the kind of street vibrancy of other rapidly developing cities like Shanghai?

I'm also curious about how many of these buildings are occupied year round rather than just vacation homes for Europeans and pro-western Arabs/Persians escaping oppression in their home countries in the rest of the middle east.

[lofter1]

Dubai? Seems to be a very progressive and thought provoking place -- not bogged down by any of that silly political correctness -- as evidenced by this report ...

"Conqueror - The world is yours"

Harry's Place (http://hurryupharry.bloghouse.net/archives/2007/10/02/conqueror_the_world_is_yours.php)
October 2, 2007

This guy is unbelievable. A Dubai-based company Conqueror Real Estate is standing
by a decision to use Adolf Hitler (http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/741353/Property-firm-stands-provocative-Hitler-ad/)in a national newspaper campaign in the United Arab Emirates.

The ad, which places a picture of the Nazi dictator next to the tagline "Conqueror - The world is yours",
ran in the national newspaper Gulf News and provoked a string of complaints.

http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlny/original/1004hitler.JPG

But David Dakak, general manager of Conqueror Real Estate, said the ad had produced the
desired effect and was part of the company's marketing strategy to provoke a response.

Dakak said: "I'm making business, I don't have any political opinion. He's a famous person --
bad or good, I don't care -- and I want to attract the attention of readers. And yesterday
we had a lot of response. We had complaints, but it was one of the busiest days of the year too,
so it has an affect."

I'm not sure if this is a "Dubai" thing or just the case of one guy and a moral vacuum.

Gene adds: And now "NAZI" bedspreads, promoted with brochures featuring swastikas, are for sale (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/908302.html) in India

***

[Alonzo-ny]

I've never been, but I am curious if they were smart enough to build a good pedestrian environment at street level. That is, is this just a canyon of gated skyscrapers like Miami, or does it have the kind of street vibrancy of other rapidly developing cities like Shanghai?

I'm also curious about how many of these buildings are occupied year round rather than just vacation homes for Europeans and pro-western Arabs/Persians escaping oppression in their home countries in the rest of the middle east.

From what i can tell it is options 1 miami and 2 full of vacation homes

[investordude]

In India, I think people are just ignorant, or confused because the swastica is also an ancient symbol that predates WWII.

But there's no question that many middle eastern states admire Hitler. The Baath party is a case in point, and obviously Ah-Moron-edijad has made it fashionable in Iran apparently. The idea that its just publicity is wrong - he's trying to appeal to antisemitic customers and he knows it.

[Alonzo-ny]

I thinks its us who are ignorant and confused as the swastika is an ancient buddhist symbol.

[investordude]

My take about your question a while back: I don't think it makes sense to build supertall buildings in a country that already has so many terrorist targets, especially because the population of the entire country is just a few million. Israel also has plenty of tourist attractions so it hardly needs to build monuments for people to come visit.

If you combine security risks with the lack of a market for tall buildings, I think Israel should continue its current focus on preeminence in technology. You don't see tall buildings in Silicon Valley but its still an impressive place - I think Israel can emulate that model instead of the New York economic model of tall buildings and urban trade.

[czsz]

NB: The swastika is an ancient Hindu symbol. It predates Buddhism. Indians are not happy that they're often victimised for using it; they actually lobbied the EU parliament and won when that body was considering banning the symbol.

The swastika has actually been used in many other contexts as a takeoff on Hindu tradition; there's a building in Brooklyn from the 1920s emblazoned with one.

On an unrelated note: there was also a Cafe Hitler for many years in Bombay. If I remember correctly, the owner had said he was trying to come up with as controversial a name as possible in order to draw attention.

[Alonzo-ny]

The swastika is an ancient religious symbol dating back 3000 years. Many historians believe it was initially a fire and sun symbol occurring in Asia and later among some Germanic tribes. Up until the 20th century, it evolved as a highly auspicious talisman, evoking thoughts of reverence, good fortune, and well being. In the Buddhist tradition of India, it is referred to as "The Seal on Buddha's Heart". In Japanese and Chinese Buddhism, a swastika often appears on the chest of past and modern images of Gautama Buddha; however, due to the continued consternation of Western tourists, many modern Asian artists have chosen to eliminate it as one of the 32 signs of a supreme being. The debate as to whether this ancient religious symbol can be restored to its rightful place in history tirelessly continues. How such an auspicious and truly noble symbol came to represent tyrannical oppression and racial genocide is perhaps one of the greatest paradoxes of world history.

[ablarc]

I'm also curious about how many of these buildings are occupied year round rather than just vacation homes for Europeans and pro-western Arabs/Persians escaping oppression in their home countries in the rest of the middle east.
Oh, and I think you forgot to mention Michael Jackson.

[lofter1]

Dubai strike threatens building boom

Yahoo News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071028/ap_on_re_mi_ea/dubai_labor_unrest_4)
By BARBARA SURK, Associated Press Writer
Sun Oct 28, 2007

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Thousands of South Asian construction workers went on strike Sunday over harsh working conditions in the latest threat to a spectacular building boom already endangered by a falling currency and labor shortage.

While laborers have long complained about working conditions in this Gulf city known for its avant-garde skyscrapers, luxury dwellings and archipelagoes of artificial islands, their recent action comes as contractors are struggling to find workers to complete their ambitious projects.

Dubai is home to the world's tallest building — the Burj Dubai, expected to be completed in 2008 — and the first Armani luxury hotel. Authorities report an annual average growth rate of 12 percent over the past decade, largely driven by construction.

The boom has been possible due to plentiful investment from oil-rich neighbors and armies of non-unionized south Asian workers whose fear of deportation, until recently, kept them from voicing discontent over low wages.

"The cost of living here has increased so much in the past two years that I cannot survive with my salary," said Rajesh Kumar, a 24-year-old worker from the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh who earns $149 a month.

The laborers ignored the threat of deportation and refused to go to work, staging protests at a labor camp in Dubai's Jebel Ali Industrial Zone and on a construction site in Al Qusais residential neighborhood.

They demanded pay increases, improved housing and better transportation services to construction sites. On Saturday, workers threw stones at the riot police and damaged to police cars.

Emirates' Minister of Labor Ali bin Abdullah al-Kaabi described workers' behavior as "uncivilized," saying they were tampering with national security and endangering residents' safety.

They could have registered their complaints peacefully but instead "turned themselves into rioters," he told state news agency WAM. Those who damaged public property will be deported, the labor minister said.

Companies, however, do not want more workers to leave as they struggle to find enough to complete existing projects following an overwhelming response to a government amnesty program to persuade illegal laborers to leave.

In June, the government offered, no questions asked, a free one-way plane tickets to illegal workers hoping to leave. They have since been swamped by 280,000 workers who, fed up with a rising cost of living and low wages, were ready to go home.

A booming economy in India also means that many there no longer see the need to travel to Dubai and the Gulf, said Bernard Raj, managing director of the Dubai-based Keith International, which supplies Indian workers.

"In the past, when we go for recruitment of workers we were able to choose whomever we wanted. Now the turnout of candidates is very low," he said, estimating that at least 40 percent more workers were needed for the city's projects.

With the usual labor markets like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka drying up, labor companies are turning to less traditional places like Tibet and North Korea.

At the root of the problem is the Emirati Dirham's close connection to the U.S. dollar, which has seen it plummet in value, further decreasing laborers' already low salaries.

Kumar and his fellow workers said they asked their employer, Al Habtoor Engineering Enterprises, for a pay increase several times, but management was not willing to address the issue.

"We were left without any choice but to stage the protest," Kumar said.

Other workers said similar requests to the other main labor company, Al Mussa Contracting, were unsuccessful.

"I can not save anything," said Sunder Raj, a 32-year-old worker who at the end of the month has nothing to send to his family in India from his salary of $162.

"We are working hard for nothing and there is no way for us to continue like this," said Mohammed Hussein, a Bangladeshi worker.

K.V. Shamsudheen of the Pravasi Bhandu Welfare Trust, a group that helps workers, said it is the unskilled labor force that has been especially hard hit, with many no longer able to send money home.

"The low exchange rate of dirham against Indian Rupee left laborers without any savings," he said. "The only way for the UAE to attract workers is to set competitive salaries and assure better living conditions."

While Mohammed al-Shaiba, a UAE-based labor analyst, criticized the strikes, saying they could only harm an economy gripped by a labor shortage, he acknowledged that the government had to do something.

"Now it's the right time to set a minimum wage," he said, adding that government should require companies to pay workers at least $272 a month.

"If they allow a strike today, tomorrow there will be another one," he added.

Copyright © 2007 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.

[newyorkrules]

Is alcohol allowed in Dubai?
no hooks,no alcohol.:mad:

[Alonzo-ny]

http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/714/imresolt07of3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[NoyokA]

Construction workers in Dubai make in a month what construction workers in New York City make in an hour, that is precisely the reason why you are seeing very tall and very innovative buildings there and not here.

[212]

From Imre at Skyscrapercity ...

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/2362/save0015ra0.jpg

Can't help envying a 9-mile transit line built in 21 months.

[lofter1]

I guess when you're digging in sand and not displacing much more than a few scorpions then work goes a bit faster :cool:

[investordude]

We could probably build our subways faster if we used slave labor and had no public review or accountability. I personally think New York's public review process is too cumbesome, but Dubai is kind of another extreme which is also bad.

A better point for me is why a city like Seoul can build their entire subway in the same time we build a small leg of the second avenue subway.

[Encideyamind]

I really would love to visit or eventually live there. I want to own one of those little islands.

[ablarc]

http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/714/imresolt07of3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Corbusier, the 20th Century has arrived.





(Finally.)

[Luca]

I was there (and back) between Monday and Tuesday.

The ‘strip’ of skyscrapers is pretty impressive, whatever one thinks of the place as a whole. For people who love skyscrapers as isolated objects this place is like pornography.

The Tall, tall, tall Burj Dubai is so tall that you cannot get a sense of proportion from a distance (I didn’t have time to go up to it).

Not my kind of place but impressive.

P.S.
Re. the references to “slave labor”. Let’s not be dumb and believe everything left-wing, whingeing journos write, please… People do not queue 12 lines across for a couple of hours (immigration lines at Dubai airport at 1 o’clock in the morning) to be allowed into slavery.
.

[MidtownGuy]

Thanks for sharing your impression.
I had a feeling labor reports were slightly exagerrated. I guess it makes people here feel better about not being able to get anything big built in a reasonable time.
Ground Zero, Hudson Yards, Coned site on the Eastside, 2nd avenue line and #7, etc., these are all projects that have been taking WAY too long.

[Luca]

Thanks for sharing your impression.
I had a feeling labor reports were slightly exagerrated. I guess it makes people here feel better about not being able to get anything big built in a reasonable time.
Ground Zero, Hudson Yards, Coned site on the Eastside, 2nd avenue line and #7, etc., these are all projects that have been taking WAY too long.

AS you already know, the big difference is that NYC is probably among the most "democratic" places on earth. everyioen gets a say, a loud, noo yawk say. In Dubai, if the Emir likes, the Emir gets. For better or worse, it makes for faster turnaround.

I'd still much (MUCH) rather live in NYC. Then again, MY favorite NYC buildings are all pre-war; as far as I'm concerned if they'd stopoped after Rock Center that'd be just dandy (but i realize not all peopel feel that way).

[ablarc]

Not my kind of place but impressive.
Do all those skyscrapers cohere into anything even remotely resembling urbanity?

Or is it like Miami (versus Miami Beach)?

[czsz]

Miami.

But from what I hear, the old souk area is vaguely urban, and is earning a sort of Miami Beach-esque cachet with the art set.

[ablarc]

from what I hear, the old souk area is vaguely urban, and is earning a sort of Miami Beach-esque cachet with the art set.
Pics?

Luca? Did you see it on your visit?

[czsz]

I guess it's technically known as Old Dubai or Bastakiya and is across Dubai Creek from the glitz and glamour. Wet your whistle?

http://www.dubai-hotel-saver.co.uk/images/dubai-souk.jpg

http://www.dubai.wolnzach.biz/bilder/soukburdubai1/04.jpg

http://www.macalester.edu/geography/courses/geog261/grobbins/OldSugDubai.jpg

http://www.stage-door.org/photoalbum/vacation/dubai/103-0377_IMG.jpg

http://www.stage-door.org/photoalbum/vacation/dubai/103-0376_IMG.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y146/schoenheit/Shopping.jpg

[ablarc]

And the girl in the last picture ... was not arrested?

[Alonzo-ny]

Read my mind

[MidtownGuy]

It's Dubai, not Khartoum.:)

[investordude]

Actually, people will que up for abusive labor conditions. Here's why - the country they are currently living in is even worse. The UAE is not in the middle of a civil war, and they have food - therefore, the UAE is attractive for people who are desparate and take the risk for a very marginally better life that is still unnecessarily cruel and unjust.

here's a snippet from wikipedia

Migrant and labour rights

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/39/Burj_Dubai_Construction_Workers_on_4_June_2007.jpg/300px-Burj_Dubai_Construction_Workers_on_4_June_2007.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Burj_Dubai_Construction_Workers_on_4_June_20 07.jpg) http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/magnify-clip.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Burj_Dubai_Construction_Workers_on_4_June_20 07.jpg)
Construction workers at the Burj Dubai


Migrants, particularly migrant workers, make up a majority (approximately 80%) of the resident population of the UAE, and account for 90% of its workforce.[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_the_United_Arab_Emirates#_note-0) They lack rights associated with citizenship and face a variety of restrictions on their rights as workers.
It is common practice for employers in the UAE to retain employees' passports (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passports) for the duration of the employment contract to prevent expatriate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expatriate) employees from changing jobs. This is an illegal practice, but it is almost never investigated, let alone punished by the government. On termination of an employment contract, certain categories of expatriates are banned from obtaining a work permit in the country for six months.

In March 2006 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006) NPR (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NPR) reported that workers "typically live eight to a room, sending home a portion of their salary to their families, whom they don't see for years at a time." Others report that their salary has been withheld to pay back loans, making them little more than indentured servants (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indentured_servant).[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_the_United_Arab_Emirates#_note-1)
In December 2005 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005) the Indian consulate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consulate) in Dubai submitted a report to the Government of India (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_India) detailing labour problems faced by Indian expatriates in the emirate. The report highlighted delayed payment of wages, substitution of employment contracts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employment_contract), premature termination of services and excessive working hours as being some of the challenges faced by Indian workers in the city.[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_the_United_Arab_Emirates#_note-2) The consulate also reported that 109 Indian blue collar workers committed suicide in the UAE in 2006. [4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_the_United_Arab_Emirates#_note-3)
The BBC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC) reported in September 2004 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004) that "local newspapers often carry stories of construction workers allegedly not being paid for months on end. They are not allowed to move jobs and if they leave the country to go home they will almost certainly lose the money they say they are owed. The names of the construction companies concerned are not published in the newspapers for fear of offending the often powerful individuals who own them.".[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_the_United_Arab_Emirates#_note-4)
In 2004 the United States Department of State (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_State) has cited widespread instances of blue collar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_collar) labour abuse in the general context of the United Arab Emirates.[6] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_the_United_Arab_Emirates#_note-5)
In September 2003 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003) the government was criticised by Human Rights Watch (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Rights_Watch) for its inaction in addressing the discrimination against Asian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_people) workers in the emirate. [7] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_the_United_Arab_Emirates#_note-6) Though officially there is a labour ministry where workers can go for redress, this is more so in name than in practice. Subcontintent labour from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh working in construction sites cannot speak either Arabic or English, and their claims can drag on in the Labour courts for months by which time the unpaid labourers have little option than to accept any given settlement.
However, the UAE government has denied any kind of labour injustices and has stated that the watchdog's accusations were misguided.[8] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_the_United_Arab_Emirates#_note-7) Towards the end of March 2006, the government announced steps to allow construction unions. UAE labour minister Ali al-Kaabi said: "Labourers will be allowed to form unions."

[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Human_rights_in_the_United_Arab_Em irates&action=edit&section=3)]

[czsz]

And the girl in the last picture ... was not arrested?

Before the civil war, Saudi women used to go to Beirut to party hijab-less. Now they go to Dubai.

Not that all the laws there are liberal. A French boy raped by some guy near a roadside there was convicted of "involuntary homosexuality" recently.

[investordude]

Regarding the homosexuality issue, reform on that is going to come later. Dubai is admittedly trying to do away with the most intolerant traditions of the region and they deserve credit for that.

Still - I'm not sure I agree that area looks exactly like Miami Beach quite yet - a bit too much of a sword fight from the pics you showed and the girl isn't a supermodel in a scantily clad bikini.

[Luca]

Pics?
Do all those skyscrapers cohere into anything even remotely resembling urbanity?

Or is it like Miami (versus Miami Beach)?

Luca? Did you see [the old town] on your visit?

No, there is no great urbanity achieved there. It’s basically one (logn) row of (tall) skyscrapers embedded on a matrix of low-rise suburbs and malls.

Unfortunately my visit was extremely cursory (I was there to speak at a conference but only managed to get in at 3 A.M., sleep, get up, speak, back to airport; that sort of nonsense).

My impressions are extremely superficial.

Actually, people will queue up for abusive labor conditions. Here's why - the country they are currently living in is even worse.[edit]

I was taking issue with the melodramatic / odious label of “slave labor”. I have no doubt that working conditions are generally ‘poor’ for central Asian construction workers and indeed most poor-country immigrants. The fact that, despite some of the abuses enumerated, people keep coming suggests that on balance they believe they are better off. You’ve always got to be careful with “The Jungle”-style exposes. They often represent tail distributions as the mode. That’s inaccurate.

It is worth noting that many of the abuses enumerated by wikipedia (other than withholding of travel documents) are common in central Asia and elsewhere in Asia. It doesn’t make it right, of course, but puts the UAE practices in perspective.

In many way, domestic labor may be subjected to worse abuses (being also more isolated).

[Scraperfannyc]

The new buildings going up in Dubai would be a big wow in any city.

Does anyone know what happend with their plan to develop the world's first rotating skyscraper:

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The Arab city with the palm-shaped islands and the sail-shaped hotel is adding to its eclectic skyline by building the world's first rotating skyscraper, a 30-story apartment tower that revolves on its base.
The tower, announced Wednesday, will use the Persian Gulf's abundant sunshine to power the building's slow rotation that brings it full circle once a week, said Nick Cooper, a British engineer designing the rotation mechanism.

"This will be a fair building," said Cooper, of M.G. Bennett and Associates Ltd. of Rotherham, England. "Everybody will have the same views for the same amount of time, so you won't have certain rooms with the best view."

The 80,000-ton building with 200 apartments will sit on a giant bearing 30 yards in diameter, coated with a nearly frictionless polymer, Cooper said. Twenty small electric engines will turn the building a few degrees each hour, Cooper said.

"It will be indexing around on the hour," Cooper said. "It moves very slowly. It's not a theme park ride."

But a theme park's manmade lakes, malls and simulated dinosaur park will be the primary view from the so-called Time Residences. The developer plans to complete the structure by 2009 as a centerpiece in the giant Dubailand amusement park now under construction.

Work on the rotating tower is supposed to begin in June.

Cooper's previous rotating projects include the drill machine that bored the English Channel Tunnel and a rotating rock crushing unit used in giant mining operations.

Dubai has used a slew of announcements of iconic project to generate publicity. Most — but not all — end up being built. The city's three palm shaped islands are in various states of completion. The smallest is nearly finished while construction of the largest has been halted.

Other improbable projects have been scrapped or delayed, including a heavily touted underwater hotel that was canceled.

Plans call for the rotating building to incorporate a swimming pool and a crescent-shaped "moon lounge" on the rooftop, with a theater and observatory.

"Not only will it defy the laws of gravity and momentum, but also it stands to redefine the standards for luxury living in the region and the world," said Tav Singh of developer Dubai Property Ring.

[zupermaus]

Dubai is amazing in demographic too, 80% of the population is foreign born.

Its interesting to note the whole idea of Dubai was based on a coming oil crisis for UAE, with its wells scheduled to run out in a few decades. The forethought of the King was a grand plan to transform the city from a reliance on trade and oil to one of tourism and shopping (read: luxury goods). The start was The Sail, the first icon, and an immediate success, and from there it kind of escalated.

[stache]

Go to http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7317519825407450338 to watch the Burj Al Arab being constructed and finished.

[Jasonik]

http://www.burjdubaiskyscraper.com/2008/01January/Burj_Dubai010906.jpg

[Zephyr]

/\ Nice photo ... to get the detail in the foreground and still capture that skyline so far away is a marvel.

[lofter1]

The latest from Nakheel / Dubai (http://www.nakheel.com/News/2008_new_era/) ...

Masterplanners of the Universe- Stunning island reclamation project unveiled
- Historic Port Rashid to be redeveloped


Dubai, 20 January 2008

Nakheel, one of the world’s largest privately-held property developers, has announced two major new projects at their initial concept stages - The Universe, a reclaimed island development which draws its inspiration from the wonders of the solar system, with islands in the shape of the sun, the moon and the planets; and the redevelopment of Port Rashid, with Nakheel announcing its plans to preserve and expand the area which has played a central role in Dubai’s development.

The Universe will take shape off Dubai’s coastline close to The Palm Jumeirah, inshore from The World. The Universe is a further indication of Nakheel’s pioneering approach to waterfront developments and will provide a stunning new addition to Nakheel’s groundbreaking and iconic coastal developments The Palm trilogy, The World and Waterfront. The development will create new luxury living space, commercial opportunities and additional coastline – playing a role in the continued economic growth and success of Dubai as a global business and tourism destination.

The Universe was being launched at its initial concept stage and will evolve following engineering, feasibility and environmental studies that are already underway. Once these studies have been conducted, a full masterplan will be created. The Universe will be a flagship development of Nakheel’s recently launched sustainability initiative Blue Communities, reflecting a firm commitment to creating a truly sustainable community. Blue Communities seeks to fund research and development activity, and promote active engagement with international experts on the issues of sustainable development, construction, management and governance of coastal communities around the world.

Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman, Nakheel, said:

"With the completion of phase one of The World and the successful progress of the Palm Trilogy and Waterfront, we are delighted to announce the concept of The Universe to reveal Sheikh Mohammed’s vision for the new era of waterfront development. Waterfront living is an aspiration for many; a growing number of people from the region and from around the world would prefer to live, work, and entertain in coastal communities and that is why coastal communities are among the fastest growing communities around the globe.

Dubai has always been a city that looks forward and the planned development of The Universe will satisfy the future demand for further waterfront investment opportunities and development in Dubai. The real estate market is driven by the dynamics of demand and supply - The Universe will be a phased project that will evolve to meet future demand. "

The second concept project is the redevelopment of Port Rashid. Given the change in the market, port dynamics, and the rise of Jebel Ali Port, port operations are moving from Port Rashid to Jebel Ali Port. Nakheel is committed to preserving and expanding this site of historic importance with a new urban waterfront that will create real estate, generate jobs, attract tourism and help drive economic growth for Dubai and the UAE.

Redevelopment plans are underway, which involve the expansion of the existing Port Rashid land area through land reclamation. The proposed development is a vibrant mixed use urban waterfront set in Port Rashid’s strategic waterside location and proximity adjacent to Bur Dubai. The estimated residential population will be 200,000.

Port Rashid will continue to operate as the main port in Dubai for tourist and cruise vessels and this will be integral to the redevelopment. The decommissioning of the general and non-containerised cargo handling operations has been planned for some time and are being transferred to Jebel Ali as a result of increased customer demand for its state-of the art facilities.

Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem added:

“Nakheel takes great pride in Dubai’s heritage – as well as in building its future. The redevelopment of Port Rashid will be sympathetic and pay homage to the maritime history that helped shape the success of the emirate. The development will include a maritime museum, and we will ensure that the importance of the site and the people who have worked and lived there since its creation are preserved for future generations.”
http://www.nakheel.com/resources/images/spacer.gif

[Alonzo-ny]

The whole reclaimed island thing is getting a bit played out now, no?

[lofter1]

And if it's shopping you want, try Dubai's Dragon Mart (http://www.index.chinamexmart.com/) ...

http://www.nakheel.com/Developments/International_City/Dragon_Mart/Dragon_Mart_Photo_Ga/DM_1/dm_1.jpg

Dragon Mart Complex (http://www.nakheel.com/Developments/International_City/Dragon_Mart/)

http://www.nakheel.com/resources/images/spacer.gifDragon Mart Complex is the first and only project of its kind in the region. The construction of the project commenced on July 12th, 2003 and was completed within 17 months. On December 7th, 2004, the 1.2 kilometer-long Dragon Mart, the largest trading hub for Chinese products outside mainland China, opened its doors to business.

Dragon Mart Complex consists of the Dragon Mart, eight fully equipped warehouses and 25 residential buildings. Dragon Mart’s uniqueness lies in that fact that it offers customers from the Middle East and Africa, the widest range of Chinese goods and commodities all under one roof, on both wholesale and retail basis.

By developing Dragon Mart Complex, Nakheel has demonstrated its resourcefulness to identify and cater to the expanding needs of Dubai and of the region, by offering to Chinese traders and manufacturers a unique platform, from which they can offer their services to the lucrative Middle East markets.


Location: Within International City in Al Warsan

Dubai, United Arab Emirates
http://www.nakheel.com/Developments/International_City/Dragon_Mart/Dragon_Mart_Photo_Ga/DM_3/dm_3.jpg

http://www.nakheel.com/Developments/International_City/Dragon_Mart/Dragon_Mart_Photo_Ga/DM_4/dm_4.jpg

http://www.chinamexmart.com/english/images/bigmap2.jpg (http://www.chinamexmart.com/english/images/bigmap.jpg)

[Alonzo-ny]

They obviously ignored architectural history class in Dubai.

[lofter1]

The whole reclaimed island thing is getting a bit played out now, no?

Apparently there are lots of rich folks who think otherwise.

We did the same kind of thing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balboa_Island) over here.

Everybody wants to live at the beach.

[Alonzo-ny]

If they want to stay on top of their game they better come up with some new ideas, islands and ridiculously big malls are getting repetitive!

[lofter1]

Sometimes that "build an island (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Minerva)" thing doesn't work out so well :cool:

[Alonzo-ny]

If someone successfully created a utopia on an island then Id be impressed.

[MidtownGuy]

DM undertakes 109 landscape projects at a cost of Dhs463 million

Dubai, 21 January 2008

Dubai Municipality has announced that it will undertake this year 109 landscape and beautification projects worth Dhs463 million which will include development of the existing six public parks, setting up of 21 neighbourhood parks, 23 community facilities, four Ponds Parks and several other beautification projects.
This was revealed by Eng. Rashad Bukhash, Director of General Projects Department, while addressing GLADAC 2008, the first Gulf Landscape Architecture and Design Awards Conference, which was held on Monday at the Conference Centre of Knowledge Village.
He said the upcoming projects would add a total of 113 hectors of greenery to the urban landscape and would include several beautification projects for different areas across the city in line with the Strategic Plan for Dubai Municipality (2007-2011) which seeks to increase the per capita share of greenery to 23.4 square meter and raise the total area of cultivated land to 3.15 per cent of the total urban land by 2011.
Bukhash added that expansion of public parks would cover all the six existing parks i.e. Jumeirah Beach Park which was originally built in 1990 with a total area of 52 hectors at a cost of Dhs31 million, Mushrif Park (1992, 525 hectors, Dhs66 million), Creek Park (1994, 96 hectors, Dhs172 million), Safa Park (1975, expanded in 1992, 64 hectors, Dhs56 million), Mamzar Park (1996, 90 hectors, Dhs56 million), and Zabeel Park (2005, 52 hectors, Dhs180 million).
The new neighbourhood parks, which would include facilities such as jogging track, play-grounds for a variety of games, water features, walkways, shaded sitting areas, include Safouh Park (cost Dhs12 million, area: 2.1 hectors), Mirdif 3 Park (Dhs10 million, 2.3 hectors), Mizhar 2 Park (Dhs10 million, 1.7 hectors), Nad Al Sheba Park (Dhs8 million, 9537 square meters), Al Barsha Pond Park (Dhs2.7 million, 6.7 hectors), and Qusais Pond Park (Dhs5.5 million, 4.7 hectors).
The new community facilities, which will include sports courts for football, tennis, basketball and volleyball apart from soft landscape, walkways, shaded sitting areas, and children's play areas, are coming up in Al Qusais 3 (Dhs1.2 million), Nad Al Hamr (Dhs2.3 million), and Abu Hail (Dhs1 million).
Other beautification projects include the Port Saeed Plaza at a cost of Dhs12 million.
Dr. Diane Menzies, President of the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA), which organised the event in a Gulf city for the first time, Ingrid Duchhart, Senior Lecturer at Department of Landscape Architecture of Wageningen University, Amsterdam, and Alfonoso Vegara, ISoCarp Former President, also addressed the audience.
The conference brought together presidents, vice presidents & senior executives from world-renowned organisations as well as an audience of up to 200 industry-related professionals and delegates hailing from all corners of the globe.
Bukhash said the conference was highly beneficial for all participants, including those from Dubai Municipality, a great opportunity to learn and exchange expert knowledge in the field of landscape architecture and design as well as to highlight the importance of spatial design and landscape planning in the city.
"We, at Dubai Municipality, are pleased to associate ourselves with IFLA in organising this prestigious event for the first time in the region," said Bukhash.
Dr. Menzies said GLADAC 2008 recognized the landscape architecture industry’s immense growth and development within Dubai, the UAE and the GCC region.
"This event marks an historic first for the Middle East region. IFLA, in partnership with Dubai Municipality, is proud to bring some 35 eminent speakers in the field of landscape architecture including senior officials of the UN, IFLA, UN-Habitat, Union of International Architects, the UNESCO, the Council for Education in Landscape Architecture, Crisis Group International, ISOCARP, as well as presidents of international landscape architect associations from America, Europe, UK, South Africa, Far East, India and Australia. Apart from them, parliament dignitaries from Malawi, South Africa, and Kenya, professors from faculties of landscape architecture of major global universities including King Saud University of Saudi Arabia. Also taking part are renowned landscape architects from the Middle East, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Australia, the Americas and Africa.
"As global environmental and development issues are impacting the face of landscape we need professionals and professional bodies to make sure that the stewardship of the Earth is maintained for the better. The relationship between IFLA and the local associations can drive educational, environmental, heritage, cultural and conservation issues in all landscape matters and we welcome the opportunity of helping in this region," she said.

Dr. Menzies added that the UAE and GCC are currently going through a development boom and have unique environmental issues that need to be addressed in a careful and rigorous manner. Landscape architects should be and will be at the forefront of addressing these issues.

[MidtownGuy]

What a bad imitation. In duplicate. Scroll down for views of the ticky tacky crowns.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=217417&page=10

[Alonzo-ny]

Disgusting

[Tectonic]

Ha!

[RandySavage]

Busch Entertainment announced plans to build four theme parks on Nakheel's new Palm Jebel Ali today: a Sea World, a Busch Gardens and two water parks.

http://www.screamscape.com/assets/images/db_images/db_satelite_whale1.jpg

http://www.screamscape.com/assets/images/db_images/db_satelite_whale21.jpg


Universal Studios is being built in Dubailand. I believe Disney was in discussions to put their theme parks in Dubai first, several years ago, but opted not to.

[Alonzo-ny]

Corniest looking thing I ever saw.

[JCMAN320]

I thought it was a joke by someone on the forum. I can't believe they allow this and this is real. Ugh absolutely tasteless.

[Rotten]

The response of New Yorkers on this thread is very depressing. Deny deny deny. The fact is that your city is quickly becoming eclipsed. Dubai builds some very interesting things, some designs are tacky, but many are some of the best designs I have seen worldwide for skyscrapers. I live in Boston, a city which is used to being a non-starter when it comes to architecture. Boston's interesting architecture is all old, everything new that is built is just bland suburban looking bullshit. This is because we have a bunch of snobby, limousine liberals running the hideous BRA and they prevent anything interesting from being built.

God how I wish we could kick the phonies out of this city and build something groundbreaking like what Dubai is doing.

But NYers are going to have to face the facts, the politics, NIMBY's, and bullshit of NYC are putting their once great city on a one way road to mediocrity. And believe me, it's worse here in Boston.

[RandySavage]

I don't think anyone here denies that Dubai's current building boom is eclipsing New York's (as well as every other city on the planet). We're all aware of the factors in Dubai that make it much easier to build tall, massive projects (cheap labor, lots of space, government dedicated to development, etc.).

And, yes, a lot about the current state of NYC development is frustrating, but NYC still has some very exciting projects happening... the new WTC is easily a Dubai-scale project. 99 Church, Beekman Tower, and the Nouvel Tower, to name a few, all have the potential to be very exciting, and hopefully will go forward even in the face of a slowing economy. Boston development is moribund by comparison.

But clearly, on a city-to-city basis, Dubai isn't anywhere close to the same league as a New York, a London, a Chicago, a Hong Kong, a Paris or even a Boston. It should be compared to Las Vegas, Orlando, Abu Dhabi and their ilk (towns that have sprung up fairly recently centered around a single industry). Dubai has potential, and who knows where it will stand in 30 years. I admire Dubai's brash march towards the future and hope to visit in person one day.

[Rotten]

I don't think anyone here denies that Dubai's current building boom is eclipsing New York's (as well as every other city on the planet). We're all aware of the factors in Dubai that make it much easier to build tall, massive projects (cheap labor, lots of space, government dedicated to development, etc.).

And, yes, a lot about the current state of NYC development is frustrating, but NYC still has some very exciting projects happening... the new WTC is easily a Dubai-scale project. 99 Church, Beekman Tower, and the Nouvel Tower, to name a few, all have the potential to be very exciting, and hopefully will go forward even in the face of a slowing economy. Boston development is moribund by comparison.

But clearly, on a city-to-city basis, Dubai isn't anywhere close to the same league as a New York, a London, a Chicago, a Hong Kong, a Paris or even a Boston. It should be compared to Las Vegas, Orlando, Abu Dhabi and their ilk (towns that have sprung up fairly recently centered around a single industry). Dubai has potential, and who knows where it will stand in 30 years. I admire Dubai's brash march towards the future and hope to visit in person one day.

I wish I could understand how Dubai isn't in an equal or greater league as Boston. Boston has great 19th century architecture, which is due to no other reason than it was developed in the 19th (and earlier century). But aside from it's old buildings, Boston's skyline has got to be one of the most boring in the country for a city of it's size, hell I think Hartford's is almost comparable (now there's a boring city).

We Americans deny deny deny. The buildings in Dubai are "too far apart" or "aren't as dense"? I looked at the aerial photos on this thread too, Dubai's buildings look just as dense as Manhattan's and something about their cityscape makes it seem even more intense. Which is something I wanted never to happen: a city more intense than NY.

Like someone else said, I'm sure citizens in European cities were saying the same thing about NYC back when it was booming: tacky, gaudy, greedy, etc.

[Alonzo-ny]

Boston is a real city that grew up organically. Dubai is a disneyland created for a artificial reason. I dont know what photos you are looking at but Dubai is far from dense.

[OmegaNYC]

What a bad imitation. In duplicate. Scroll down for views of the ticky tacky crowns.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=217417&page=10

Can NYC sue and take Dubai to court? :cool:

[RandySavage]

I looked at the aerial photos on this thread too, Dubai's buildings look just as dense as Manhattan's and something about their cityscape makes it seem even more intense.

It's silly to argue, but it's fun to compare some aerial photos.

Part of NYC from high elevation:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/55/136270121_468b4aab0d.jpg
credithttp://www.flickr.com/photos/artolog/

Here's Dubai's main strip from lower elevation:
http://i.pbase.com/o3/93/329493/1/88631167.dPyq5VDl.GRUaerialsNov07013.jpg
credit http://www.pbase.com/bmcmorrow/profile

Here is Midtown from a similar elevation as the the Dubai photo above for an apples-to-apples density comparison:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/152/351149486_48506c625e.jpg?v=0
credithttp://www.flickr.com/photos/charlestilford/

America's Dubai:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/52/133064984_3c2dbce471.jpg?v=0
credithttp://www.flickr.com/photos/saribrett/

To see urban density at its finest, it takes a helicopter over Manhattan:
http://206.136.32.66/comp/04/500/1082846.jpg
http://206.136.32.66/comp/04/500/1083717.jpg
http://206.136.32.66/comp/04/500/1083705.jpg
http://206.136.32.66/comp/04/500/1083057.jpg
credit http://www.ngsimages.com/ngsimages/explore/explore.jsf#


Boston could use some better skyscraper development...
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/46/117611002_f3f43ad926.jpg
credit http://www.flickr.com/photos/tostie14/

But, as was mentioned above, Boston is a real city, with a variety of industries, diverse people and incomes, a great and fascinating history, good public transit, civic pride, etc. Dubai has none of these things yet, as far as I can tell. It is being designed as a playground for tourists, expats and handful of wealthy Emarati, built by an army of non-citizens who live in tenements away from the glitz and send their earnings back their families in South Asia. Granted, it is a hugely impressive playground, and maybe a real city will spring out of it. I hope that is the case and it becomes a model for the Middle East.

[RandySavage]

Can NYC sue and take Dubai to court? :cool:

First I've seen of the "Twin Chyslers"... leave it to Dubai.

[TREPYE]

What a bad imitation. In duplicate. Scroll down for views of the ticky tacky crowns.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=217417&page=10


Its not the crowns quality that irritate me as much as the shamless plagirism that is occuring. Perhaps NYC should start trademarking its famous scrapers so that it could generate some revenue from these cities that are desperately trying to be like NYC. (ie: las vegas, dubai)

[RandySavage]

Imitation is flattery... these replicas only elevate New York's prestige.