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127 Comments
- brainache, on 10/12/2007, -3/+19What an idiot. Saudi Arabia are not the same people as the UAE, they are 2 different countries.
So now everyone who is Muslim is a terrorist? Or is it everyone who wears tradition Arabic dress? Or is it just everyone who lives in that general area? What about "everyone not American"? Does that sum up enough people for you.
Please, before you go making accusations, learn a little bit about what you are talking about. - BritOverseas, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15Hee hee, of course it does. These buildings are built for 50 cents an hour by Indians and Bangladeshis that stay in horrendous "Man camps" and are fed gruel every day.
By comparison, yours are built by well paid contractors who are not treated like second rate citizens. - madmack, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10alrite, being from the region, i feel i need to put a little different view on this posting and all the comments here. First of all, i'd like to make it clear that Dubai is not a country, its one of 7 states in the UAE (United Arab Emirates). I'm a local citizen of Qatar, a nearby country.. and all we can do here is envy dubai for their ambitions and futuristic goals. as for the guy that says that 85% of middle easterns are poor. that's certainely not the case in Kuwait, Qatar and UAE where the average car you'll see is probably a mercadez, BMW or Ferraris.
not only the royal families here have big wealth, but many business that arose from that oil revenue boom that we are having now days.
Dubai, as many of you claim, is depending on pure oil to produce all of these buildings. just a little fact, dubai depends on oil in only 15% of its total income. unlike my country, Qatar.. where it would be around 80%. we call dubai here a merchant city, and the city is mostly run by indians. wealthy and not, i agree that the treatment of workers and workers rights need to be improved. however, dubai, again, is not based on oil wealth generated from the "Sheikhs".
indains here in qatar call it "the best indian-run city in the world".
Dubai might have started its success with oil revenues, but they certainely do not today.
there is also a clear distinct between "citizens" and "foriegners" in our countries. almost all UAE and Qatar citizens are rich (in qatar we recently opened a stock exchange market and privatized all government ministeries. Once they were opened up for auctions for very cheap opening prices.. everybody got alot wealthier during this time). as for the californian dude that is worried of earthquakes, well. earthquakes only happen on certain belts in the world. you happen to be on one of them, we don't. we never have earthquakes here. the negative environment feature we have here is noticably the heat.. weather is great until May, and it lasts very hot until end of september. but again, we almost never go outdoors.. our cars, houses, shops, malls, cafes are all airconditioned.
about the ports deal in the US, i feel the UAE have made it to gain publicity, because that's exactly what they want. no body even talks about these port deals here, as one dubai merchant says "we're merchants, that's a business deal, america is build on congress lobbiests and complex rules. we learn from our mistakes, if the deal goes through, its business, if not, we learn to do better next time".
sorry if i made any spelling mistakes as english is not really my first language. - RADicalSatDude, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8I grew up in Dubai, and work there, believe me, its overy hyped.
Traffic is pure hell, and most of those shots show buidling that haven't even started construction yet. Road works have lost to massive greedy builders and there's NO stopping the rent rise as there aren't celar consumer protection laws.
Its all PR, and extreme marketing, sometimes I think this buyout by Dubai Ports of P&O was just a stunt to get loads of free international press. - BitVector, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10Dubai has a massive, growing economy that isn't hampered by outrageous military spending.
In other words, the United States should have stuff like that, yet our budgets are too limited at the moment. - jayred, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Most of those images are just 3D renders of things they are planning to build, but have not yet built. The only thing that actually exists is that indoor skiing place on slide 9 or 10.
- Sell, on 10/12/2007, -5/+11These buildings are absolutely amazing. Why don't we have this stunning ***** in the US? and if we did it would no doubt cost 3 to 4 times more. The cost of those incredible places is next to nothing comparatively. The same structure that cost them 265 million would cost us nearly a billion.
- Jeebugorn, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8"These buildings are absolutely amazing. Why don't we have this stunning ***** in the US?"
"I've always wondered why and how Dubai has such sweet buildings."
oil - SyDIGG, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"Dubai has a massive, growing economy that isn't hampered by outrageous military spending.
In other words, the United States should have stuff like that, yet our budgets are too limited at the moment."
What kind of ill-informed crap is this? Do you know the % the military budget takes up? Well in 2003, the military budget was a mere 3.7% of GDP. What makes you think military does not help the economy? How many jobs do you think military expenditure created? BTW ...in the United States, its the not responsibility of the government to design and built extravagant buildings. We rely on the private sector to do that ...IE Vegas. - CalH, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3nice galleries here http://www.pbase.com/bmcmorrow/dubaiprojects
- brainache, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Yeah you have to remember that in Dubai the government is trying to make it very easy to biuld very fast. So buildings that in the US might take years to be built go up in a matter of months. One reason is much less paper-pushing, and anohter is a very cheap and abundent work-force (the indians). As there is pretty much no minimum wage, the contractors can pay lots and lots and lots of indians to do the job, and it gets done quicker.
- brainache, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5They have loads of oil.
At the moment, their entire ecconomy is based on oil.
So they are spending the money now whilst they have it, in order to turn themselves into one of the most prestigious tourist locations for Europeans and Orientals alike. Their oil is going to run out real soon (like 20 years i think i heard) and they want to secure their future by spending the cash now. Its a kind of investment in their future i spose. - RobotCitizen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3And all you people boohooing "look what our oil money is doing!", no *****, it's called trade. You know, commerce. Capitalism. You want them to give the oil away? Did you just give them your money for nothing? No. It was an exchange. Payment for product.
Redirect your hostility. America is hooked on oil because the American oil and energy industies (and the politicians it owns) want it that way. Dubai is preparing for Peak Oil. Is America? - mushoo, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6"Even George just realised it."
No he just decided to admit it at the last state of the Union.
He's been aware of the oil dependency since before his boozing days. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure something like that out. Don't fall for his retard/mumbling idiot act, the ***** is like Reagan. He'll screw you over while coming off as a retard/mumbling idiot, when in reality the bastard is filling his pockets and those of his friends and laughing it off. - bikeham, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6Dubai has these nice things because the US is addicted to oil.
Even George just realised it. - MrGeneric, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_level_rise
- gamekid, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5"i don't know why this city has such hightech aritechtural plan. what is this city doing that's so profitable and desirable?"
Selling oil to people around the world who badly need it (like the needy people who drive HUMMERS in the US) helps. - Rocketgeek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It's good to see Dubai thinking of the future beyond Oil, and investing in another wealth generation model through their infrastructure. It's a shame that in countries like Saudi Arabia they're more concerned with spending their money supporting terrorism or squandering their money on pastimes that are rather, er, not in keeping with their supposed religious beliefs. I suspect Dubai will have rather more stability after the Oil runs out, whilst Saudia Arabia will reap what it sews.
- a1532b, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Ever wonder what 3 bucks a gallon will buy you?
- mephitix, on 10/12/2007, -6/+8"Who cares, they are still terrorists, and we don't want these Osama sympathizers running our ports"
Oh, so everyone's a terrorist now, huh? Looks like the collective intelligence in these comments just dropped a few notches... - RobotCitizen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Smells like jealousy and racism around here. Two great things that go great together I suppose. I guess only the West should be allowed to benefit from capitalism?
Dubai is one of the very few oil producing states that has the forsight to plan beyond peak oil. They have become a major epicenter for development, commerce and media/telecom in the region.
On the downside, it has become one of the top playgrounds for the decandent superwealthy of the world. And now they've got Micheal Jackson. - BritOverseas, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Unfortunately, you are correct. I have worked all over the GOA and from my observations, the ruling class (Arabs) tend to have an Indian/Phillipino to do everything for them, even the "Not so Rich" ones.
They very rarely learn how to do things themselves, do not like being tought by "infidels" (us) and unless this changes, their one shot at being productive will end when the oil does, then we will see what trouble there is, what we have now will be nothing. A case of "Child Star" I am afraid. Given too much money, (then spirals into drink and drugs when it all goes wrong), too quickly and not learing how to be productive with it. - terrya64, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Having spent some time in Dubai during Operation Desert Storm I was amazed at how westernized this small country was. It was very clean and the people were some of the friendliest I had ever met. Even back then I was amazed by some of the building designs.
- jjk5, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I have a feeling 10 years from now business students will be studying the gigantic failure and overinvestment of Dubai.
- KevinJ, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I love capitalism. No seriously...I DO!
- rino, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The indoor skiing arena is a true sign of the apocalypse. They are draining their own pools and who cares? If they didn't have oil the region would still be a tribal backwater. Oh wait...
My point is this: They are building some amazing things, all off of oil capital. These amazing things require MASSIVE amounts of energy to operate. 135 degrees F outside and you have a snow skiing arena!??? They will drain their very fortunes out from underneath their own feet. Then who will even talk to them? - brainache, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Compared to a lot of European prices, Dubai isnt that expensive. My cousin and her husband live there as Ex-pats (he works for Shell) and let me tell you that its really not as expensive as you may think. Housing costs less than in the UK but is roughly on par with the rest of Europe, foodstuffs and electrical goods etc are mildly cheaper, and Petrol prices, although they did indeed hike by 30%, they are still MEGA cheap compared to the rest of Europe (in the UK you can expect to pay 89p/l or around 7$ per gallon, Germany and France are around EUR 1.40 per litre, which is about 6.50$ gallon). In dubai we are talking still a quater of that price.
So really, its not actually more expensive. Unless of course you want to live in Bur Dubai or in a high-rise appartment or something similar. The only thing Mega expensive is alcohol. Because it is a Muslim country (Muslims do not believe in drinking) alcohol is very expensive (we are talking 2ce the price), and you have to have a license to buy it, which you have to present in the shop when you buy it, and you have a limit per month of how much you can buy. - Korvaras, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@Solarwinds.
Dude. Your head is somewhere it shouldn't be. Just because they are brown, don't mean they are terrorists, and Dubei is a major oil supplier to the States... terrorism is sort of bad for business... I doubt they harbour terrorists on purpose. - burningheretic6, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Your oil money hard at work!
- BugMeNot2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Yay! The money we spend on oil goes to making really cool buildings!
- capn_caveman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Are those fricken laser beams coming out of the buildings? Where are the sharks?
- DCesque, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Very nice...I'm jealous. DC is also having a building boom, but has a 13 story height restriction, and most of the crap they are throwing together is ugly, concrete, and tacky. Still, I'm even more jealous of London' s development:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=98139
Gotta pack my bags and move across the pond one of these days. - mos6507, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yes, but some of the port workers might be 2nd generation immigrant workers also.
- Stockwell, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Whatever there may be Dubai and the UAE are nice places to stay, visit and/or live
and yup they have a lot of techno goodie stuff.....and some incredible buildings (ahmm Burj Al Arab.....)
And lest not forget ... the UAE is smart enough that $$$ won't keep on coming from oil, they've realised that tourism is good alternative. (hint: 2week stay in 4*-hotel/resort (Jumeirah Beach Resort) all incl. in Duabi flights incl.around 400 €/person - saw this today in a travel agent).
So why not spend your next summer holiday in a friendly Dubai sipping tea and having a hubbly-bubbly.... - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"its a digg but i just want to know where the hell they get all the money to build all that ***** its just crazy."
They get their money from oil exports to the US and China. - bombtrack, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Of course you do, you were told to love it.
- theDrizzle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It seems to me that Dubai is trying to become the Hong Kong of the middle east. Except Hong Kong has proven itself as an economic giant as well as a city determined on improving its skyline. Also, from what I've read in other comments, whether it be true or not, is that there are many many billionaires in Dubai, who are doing most of the funding. If I'm not mistaken, which i very well may be, does not the Hong Kong government pay for some of the large public works projects. All I can say is that they would do this to bring in more businessmen and venture capital and such...not retiring billionaires and tourists (although Hong Kong is becoming a big tourist site, hell I want to go there). This is a little off topic, but I just wanted to make the comparison with how Dubai seems to want to be the new Hong Kong. Just a thought...
- NYCpeon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The reason these buildings are so amazing is that the people in the Middle East have squandered their oil wealth. Rather than investing in export based industries like other countries, they've created this illusion of great material wealth in their countries. Their unemployment numbers are through the roof; many people live on nothing more than government money that is given out to the people. When the oil runs out, these countries won't have a second chance to build stable, strong economies. Pity them.
- oneoffmanmental, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2dsmatthews is right.
Empty and vacuous massive rapid development without concern for sustainability.
Come back in a few decades to see what happens when Dubai's underwater and the oil's run out. - Predicament, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Sucks for us. When the Freedom Tower (WTC) was proposed it was to be the world's tallest building. The Dubai building, as well as being built first, will beat it by over 500ft. It would be nice seeing the Space Elevator actually get built.
- c.trinity, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Wow!So beautiful.
And you guys keep bitching around about terrorism.
You have no apprecition nor value of the things surrounding you.
Anyway...whatever make you happy... - bat-21, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Hmph! Another article about the Dubious project proposals that have been popping up during the past few years. Most of them haven't amounted to anything.
The Hydropolis reminds me of the Japanese Aquapolis that I saw when I was a kid. It was cool at the time but it eventually corroded and was sold as scrap. - inkswamp, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2>No he just decided to admit it at the last state of the Union.
No he didn't. He didn't admit to anything. White House henchmen were out in droves to backpedal and put a spin on that "addicted to oil" stuff within 24 hours. Bush's speeches, including the State of the Union, are all marketing, packed with buzzwords and double-talk. His approval ratings are in the ***** and he said what he thinks most of us want to hear. That's all there was to it. - Spuby, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Just wow. But then again, better invest $265 million in a building than helping those kids in Africa right? M* f*.
- clokwise, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Being a salior doesn't make you right. When were you last in Dubai? If it was any time in the past couple years you'd be hard pressed to miss the Palm Islands which certainly do exist.
- burningheretic6, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1To contrast The United Arab Emirates spends 3.1% of their GDP on the military, so its about the same as America in terms of percentage of GDP. I think the point of all these building projects it to attract foreign investment to diversify their economy away from the dwindling supply of oil.
- trajceski, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Ask what "OIL" can do for ya ... lol
- cwcheang, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1old stuffs but it's nice to see them ALL in one, neat place. great for showing friends how great Dubai's architectures are.
dugg - ConceptJunkie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"just dropped?"
I've been reading Digg for a few months ago, and that comment seems about the norm. The reply option will hopefully help... until this week, Digg's comment system was so 1996 (now it's 1998... hooray!). - brainache, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Here Here.
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