Dubai is Nuts!
 

First let's start with this:

http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/8...990fulloq3.jpg


We've all seen amazing buildings in Dubai but I've not seen anything like this!

http://dubai.isnuts.googlepages.com/

Wow... I think "nuts" is vastly understating it. I've seen the 1990 vs. 2006 pictures, which alone is pretty incredible... but I didn't know there was THAT much expansion planned. Oh how I wish I could go back in time 20 years ago and buy all that property, haha.

Who the heck is investing in all this mumbo-jumbo anyway?

i want in while to boom is still booming!

If you ever fly Emirates Airlines, their in-flight magazine has plenty of advertisements for snagging property on any of those buildings. Millions of dollars. The developments are funded by the oil money in that country. UAE is one of the countries in the Middle East that realized oil money will not last forever, and making a solid tourism industry would keep them going when that runs out in 30-50 years. They are certainly making that desert an appealing place to be.


http://dubai.isnuts.googlepages.com/..._arab-full.jpg

This is by far my favorite building they have produced. It is absolutely gorgeous to see in person.

Extravagance: excessive or unnecessary expenditure or outlay of money.

All I can say is wow!

ya they have some pretty amazing thing! have you seen the indoor ski hill? or the palm islands. i'd love to visit those one day!

edit: i just saw the skyscrappers... i hope theres no earthquakes over there!!:no:

I've never been there, but I do agree, that is one beautiful building.

Look at the picture with all the cranes. The entire downtown is one big construction site. Imagine the deafening roar of equipment that must produce.

Construction work in done around the clock as well.

Pretty pictures. No real reason to go there. Biggest Biggest Biggest Bore.

A fuckin mall that has 50 of every type of store ! Who cares.... Let's go to where the uber-rich try to outdo each other ? Millions die in Africa from poverty and Dubai has chrome fire hydrants and artificial everything.

Jonathan

It's an interesting city. I'm wondering when some terrorist is going to get pissed that these people are living the rich life, while the general poor person i the middle east doesn't see any of the money.

I also wonder if they will have to dam up the straight of hormuz to prevent the global warming sea level rise from having an effect.

I wouldn't mind going there actually, but not at this time.

THEY RUN OUT OF OIL 2012 OR SO AND ARE BUILDING A MEGA TOURIST COUNTRY FOR THE FILTHY RICH!!!...........XOXOXOO

I wouldn't hurt, to feed both their poor, and their neighboring countries poor!

PM me when it's finished, TFP is going to Dubai!!!!!

The UAE has the idea right, preparing for when the rest of the world switches to hydrogen and no longer has need for the largest natural resource in the middle east.

yeah, sort of like the rust belt and coal... let them build it :)

Dubai certainly is nuts. I heard a statistic the other day that only about 5% of the people who live in Dubai are actually Emiratis. Incredible.

Other than that, the city is unbelievably congested, noisy and far too expensive for what it offers. Our Dubai office recently had a big party and all the employees were invited. The party started at 8pm and the official workday ends at 6pm. The employees made a request that they be allowed to leave work early in order to have time to go home and get ready in time for8. Management agreed and they were allowed to leave at 3pm!

Of course...such construction isn't without its setbacks...

http://runbmd.blogspot.com/2007/04/c...-in-dubai.html

There's also this to consider...

Just throwing it out there.

Both those links are sad, but it will take an attitude change in those countries to make conditions better for laborers. I'm not sure about UAE, but in Kuwait, full blooded Kuwaitis are given yearly stipends from the government (much more than enough to live lavishly; if you are full blooded). The Kuwaitis only work government jobs, anything else is seen as below them, and so the division line appears. Kuwaitis in general see themselves as above others, especially Sri Lankans, Indians and Filipinos who are hired for cheap to come build their homes, work their malls and restaurants. I as an American was not seen as an equal, but was definitely treated with respect where I noticed the poor Filipinos being treated like dirt.

It would take the citizens of those countries to realize that construction, and such jobs are respectable, and the people working them are actually people, and not just temporary mouths to feed, bodies to house.

If you've ever been to Delhi, you'll realize that the subpar (to us) housing they are living in in Dubai is a luxury condo compared to the shanty they MIGHT have in Delhi. I didn't see any Indians or Sri Lankans in Kuwait laying immobile on a sidewalk in filth-soiled rags shaking miserably as he held a pan out for money, or young children and adults running around the train tracks searching for anything tossed out a window that would be passable as food, but in Delhi I saw this everytime I rounded a corner or hopped on a train.

The living conditions for these workers are awful, but also look at the living conditions they came from, and maybe then judge if they are better off or not.

I guess the harder questions are why is India not instituting population control so they don't have squalor ? Why doesn't India have good sanitation or even garbage trucks ? (My ex-girlfriend is teaching English in India right now and she says the entire villiage throws garbage off the bridge into the river. ) Instead of building Dubai, they should be building in their own country. The sad thing is that most of the job skills they get in Dubai will be of little use back in India since the materials and machinery will be totally different. But then again maybe every nation has to go thru some sort of trial period where they ship some of their people elsewhere in the world to learn that lesson. The chinese came to america to build the railroads, tunnels, and bridges. But they were treated like slaves and were forcibly sent home when white unemployment rose too high. Hopefully Dubai will someday change for the better.

Jonathan

To what extent are these new developments going to be environmentally sustainable?

It's beautiful.

Have they put a bid in to host the Olympics yet?

Wow - it's amazing that noone was hurt!

Well said. Creating jobs and encouraging foreign investment will ensure a stable economy for the long term. It's a bit over the top, but I think its a step in the right direction. I also like the idea of Dubai helping out their neighbors in the region with the funds and business model.