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261 Comments
- KiTchMe, on 10/12/2007, -1/+141It's like playing SimCity with unlimited money
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+97Comment abuse, but I can't see the pictures so here is a mirror --> http://dubai.isnuts.googlepages.com.nyud.net:8080/
- pintomp3, on 10/12/2007, -4/+84actually, dubai is one of the places in the middle east that doesn't have an economy solely based on exporting oil. they are building a playground for the wealthy, which will bring in serious tourist dollars. think vegas.. but way bigger.
- superbonbon, on 10/12/2007, -3/+64"Pro-tip, regarding terrorist targets:
Terrorists don't target their own. Or relatives of their own. Dubai is uber Muslim."
what's all this nonsense that I keep hearing about Shiite's and Sunni's then? - soogy, on 10/12/2007, -4/+61@nfulton:
Why does the world's tallest building thing have no appeal? The world doesn't have to stop because of 9/11.
And why the hell would we spend money on another space station that will be used by very few people?
The projects underway in Dubai, like the Dubai Mall and the Burj Dubai skyscraper, are going to serve millions of people per year. They will generate immense income and prosperity for the people of Dubai, as well as provide much needed housing and jobs. - WestDC, on 10/12/2007, -8/+49Time to move to Dubai!
- DigiRaven, on 10/12/2007, -1/+38Yeah its a amazing with slave labor and rich oil tycoons can do with a city.
- samsonlonghair, on 10/12/2007, -6/+42It's called slavery. That's what's going on in Dubai.
Look it up; I'm not exaggerating. - suman78, on 10/12/2007, -6/+39It's all "OIL"!!!!
- KiTchMe, on 10/12/2007, -1/+31They're running out of oil, so they're expecting to attract tourists after oil is gone...Good for them
- sevenhelmets, on 10/12/2007, -3/+32Actually the U.A.E group (United Arab Emirates, which Dubai is part of) are a bunch of smart cookies. They are specifically doing this because they have done their projections and realised that their massive income from oil revenue is peaking. With predicted oil production falling away in the next 100 odd years or so (or should I say running out completely), they are basically trying to create a new cash cow - the ultimate tourist spot.
Dubai will be marketed as the new "Las Vegas". Luckily Dubai isn't strict enough (Islam) to disallow alcohol in the country..... - Alexx3k, on 10/12/2007, -1/+30Damn, half that stuff was still making sci-fi films just 20 years ago.
- dagonweb, on 10/12/2007, -3/+30This is what oil buys the last 15 years. You paid for these towers and this city. Thats people having a party financed by the US, China, America and Europe. Because of oil.
If the world world have a cheap, abundant energy source, EVERY city in the world could look like this. EVERY country in the world could have this growth rate or this economic investment rate. - circusbred, on 10/12/2007, -8/+34Russia?
Oh please... - shortarabguy, on 10/12/2007, -3/+28LOL, if only you guys were aware of this a while ago... In Dubai, buildings are built *quickly*. What would you expect from a city that has 15-25% of the planet's construction cranes? It's not just that, though. nfulton's remark had more meaning than he may be aware. In my family, and I'm sure in many other westernized arab families, Dubai is seen, almost literally, as "Las Vegas- Arab style".
And before you guys get all flustered about the wealth of Dubai, remember that it's in the United Arab Emirates... Did you honestly expect something so close to OPEC to be wallowing in poverty...? Lesson of the story: Don't shell out upwards of 3 dollars for a gallon of gasoline and then wonder why the sources of gas are making underwater hotels and artificial islands.
Still, I can't help but laugh sheepishly at what I'm seeing. - neokyotodragon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+24I saw a documentary on the building of those artificial islands that was really cool. I really hope to travel there sometime in my lifetime but I doubt I can afford it O.o
- MEbuDDy6, on 10/12/2007, -1/+23I watched a History Channel episode where they were talking about Dubai. Something about how they main source of wealth, which I believe was oil, will dry up in 30-50 years. So they created this place to replace their oil wealth, with tourism wealth.
I know the above digg poster said that their main export wasn't oil, but I believe it is along the lines of something similair. - aGiit, on 10/12/2007, -2/+22Oh yeah, waging war otherside of the world, is ALOT better use for the money ;p
- Berkana, on 10/12/2007, -5/+24The sad thing is, a lot of those super expensive artifical island arrangements are uninhabitable now; the tide doesn't carry enough water circulation through the maze-work of artificial islands, and the water is choked with stinking algae and dead fish. If this keeps up, Dubai will be an uninhabited rust belt of hastily constructed majestic monuments. Let's hope they plan judiciously. It's not as simple as "if you build it, they will come"; if they don't, the ghost town will scare everyone away, and nobody will ever go. Dubai could be a large empty but pretty shell of a city like Pyongyang (the capital of North Korea, for those who don't know).
- cracell, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17http://duggmirror.com
http://dubai.isnuts.googlepages.com.nyud.net:8080/ (working at the moment)
I didn't realize google pages had a bandwidth limit...wtf - brstilson, on 10/12/2007, -5/+21"Pro-tip, regarding terrorist targets:
Terrorists don't target their own. Or relatives of their own. Dubai is uber Muslim."
Are you joking? You don't think there were muslims in the twin towers? When a muslim terrorist kills another muslim, they are either A) Writing it off as, "oh it's okay, I just sent them to heaven" or B) killing them because they belong to the "wrong" Muslim sect. - DrunkenPirate34, on 10/12/2007, -6/+22Guys, cant you appreciate the wonderful architecture and amazing feats (Building Islands!) without going into a deep discussion about oil, Arab countries, United States, and global warming. Lighten up and enjoy the show.
- Revan01, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16um, hooray?
- gowolverines, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15The reason Dubai is doing this is because UAE is running out of oil, so they decided to take their oil profits and build a tourist attraction. Way more forward thinking than most governments are.
- abdul88, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15I already live here. =)
- biggyfred, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15This stuff isn't being done for tourism, though it is hoped that tourism makes a tidy profit on the side. Dubai is attempting to build a regional stock market that will attract the region's extreme liquid assets (yea, all that oil cash) to a market other than New York or London. As Taiwan + Singapore = China when trying to find safe, Western-style regulation points to enter the market, Dubai is trying to be the same thing to Saudi Arabia and the rest of the oil-money Middle East. They have competition in the form of Kuwait and others, and so these projects are attempts to differentiate their brand. It's a bold move that could backfire spectacularly, but could also mean an economy insulated from the whims of the oil market.
These projects aren't all they're doing. These are built within "special economic zones", in which taxation and regulation are slashed in order to lure Western banking, capital, etc. They also have the biggest regional player in the airline industry (Emirates Air), and that's not a mistake either. If they're crazy, they're crazy like a fox.
It's a great idea and kudos to them for trying. Whether it'll work is another question. - headzoo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13"dubai is one of the places in the middle east that doesn't have an economy solely based on exporting oil."
Isn't that the point of all this building? The president of Dubai realized that they could never stay a rich country if they relied on oil -- which many middle eastern countries haven't figured out yet -- so he started all these projects to start a new economy in the country. - dagonweb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12A small 1% of the world can go here and have whatever luxury they want. Already the number of professional escorts here is higher on average than in most US metropolitans; an ex of mine works there in that capacity. The affluence is BIZARRE, completely un-islamic.
The duality between wealthy and poor is even worse. There is no middle ground middle class here. In this part of dubai you are either filthy obscenely tens of millions of euro wealthy (or wealthier) or you are a servant in a uniform sleeping in a semi airconditioned apartment with 50 on bunk beds. - Danial, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13"Pro-tip, regarding terrorist targets:
Terrorists don't target their own. Or relatives of their own. Dubai is uber Muslim"
Go tell that to the 60 Jordanians murdered in Amman on 11/9/05 by Zarqawi. Or the 150,000 Algerians murdered in the civil war there. Or the Shi'as in Iraq that are constantly butchered by Sunni insurgents.
Shi'as are not even considered Muslim by many Sunnis, so who are you to make a dubious claim about them not targeting their own, when the evidence above is proof of it. - JeffH, on 10/12/2007, -5/+17Yeah, the architecture is amazing, on "sci-fi" movie levels with some of them. Such an amazing city to see the growth of, this is the first city that even begins to touch the "Metropolis"'s of comic books, and the futuristic cities of sci-fi fame.
My question though: Where the hell are they getting all of this money? And what's the security going to be like (it seems like a terrorist playground with all the huge, expensive targets)? - cuoops, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12I go to Dubai quite a lot. It's nice but not as nice as some you think it is. You'll have a high class hotel or nice shopping mall and one street over is slum. There's a lot of construction and they pay the workers nothing. I still like it though. You can have a good time there.
- littlebylittle, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11They better hope Al Gore and all the Global Warming Scientists are wrong about that little Sea Level thing.
- aOenEz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11Wow, I actually LOL'd. I just had to tell you. I'd give you 100 thumbs up if I could.
- Beaver6813, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10You sound like you're on crack, let alone Dubai.
- knifin, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12The best of the entire US condensed into some man made islands!
- skuppy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Aside from the island hotel and the first two before-and-after pictures, all of those images were generated on a computer. What is and what will be are two entirely different realities.
- kevxross, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8I hope they know what they're doing. Man has yet to figure out beach stabilization and they've tried many many things (jetties, groins, sea walls, replenishment, etc). Replenishment is basically pumping in sand from elsewhere to rebuild a beach that was washed away. Almost none of these replenishment projects last over 5 years, and that's with a natural beach/island.. they built these islands from scratch. I can't wait to see how long they last. Nature is very fickle with its coastlines. Sea level IS rising, and if the scientists are right about global climate change increasing that rise, it's only gonna get worse.
Not to mention how they're screwing up circulation to all that beach area they've got on those "palm fronds." Those beaches won't be the best for swimming.
Sorry, I'm a Geography major who just took a Coastal Processes course and these man made islands defy everything I learned so I had to comment. I just hope they researched the natural implications of that project, not just the immediate engineering of it. - blackjack75, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Are you insinuating the buildings in the crackwhore district do not have exactly the same architectural magnificence?
- truck87bp, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11Whats going on there is the same thing happening everywhere in the world except in the USA. Reason, Its our money being spent! All America does is send our dollar$ abroad. Cars, Electronics...everything we buy comes from somewhere else. The illegal Mexican workers send most of their paychecks back home, it doesn't go back into our economy. We donate $ overseas to help the starving and that doesn't go into our economy. Oil, the worst!
When you see Digg's about Americans supporting the U.S. auto industry, its because they see whats happening to the USA and are very worried. I am very worried. This is the last Industry we have left. How long can we sustain giving away our money? How really stupid is America? Not at all...we just have too many new faces that have no Duty to support the country.
The American Dream is being destroyed by the very people seeking it. (That is my Quote for the year) - eimersaufen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I completely agree. I've been to Abu Dhabi in the beginning of December and i liked it a lot more. It's smaller and not as "insane" as Dubai, including less traffic jams. As a plus, 25°C in December are very nice if you are used to -10°C back home in Austria.
Pictures available on request ;) - bioskope, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7*hammers caddars head with the hardbound atlas
- jb978, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7the last two decades over priced gas.
- abradleyjr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Here is some info on some things that have been said in previous posts. I love what is going on over there, I'm a construction junky. I will be visiting soon I hope.
"The booming country, which is roughly the size of Maine, is home to a large percentage of the world's cranes. In Dubai alone, manufacturers estimate 1,800 to 2,000 tower cranes are taking part in hundreds of large-scale developments there. Local reports place Dubai's cranes at 15 to 25% of the global population. Suppliers think it is more like 1 to 2%."
"Liebherr's (One of the world's largest makers of tower cranes) research puts the number of tower cranes in Dubai at somewhere between 1,800 and 2,000—only 1-2% of the world's population. In contrast, the number of new tower cranes sold across the world annually is about 4,300, excluding cranes built in China and Italy, which drive the number closer to 10,000."
"To say that Dubai has 25% of the world's tower cranes is to conclude that it is home to 25,000 or more units, which Reim says is impossible considering it buys only a few dozen new units each year. "This is all good marketing," he says, adding that Dubai probably has the most cranes per capita of any other region."
"A 2003 study by two students at Ohio State University shows that Abu Dhabi, the capital city, and Dubai employ 71% of UAE's labor. But few locals want to work in construction, so most laborers are imported from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka." ---> Importing labor is common in the construction industry. There just is not enough craft people in one area to sustain construction. This happens in the US too.
"Nico van Dyk, equipment manager for Dubai-based Al Jaber Engineering & Contracting LLC (ALEC), says his firm is tough on safety. It starts operators at $817 per month, with free room, board and medical benefits. Most UAE workers earn between $108 and $217 per month."
Source: December 2006 Engineering News-Record "2006 Global Construction Sourcebook" - JaytB, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I saw on the news some time ago that they will be importing millions of (exotic) birds just to create a more relaxing climate. Most of it is sponsored by rich oil industries with an unlimited budget. I'm sure it will be something special to visit when it's completely finished but I'm also sure it'll cost ya.
- Revan01, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10Yeah, but can they attract tourism with the middle east like it is?
violent area, and even if dubai isnt, the standard tourist is an idiot, and doesent know that
this is a good thing for the world, if dubai wants tourism, they pressure other countries to chill out on the violence, a cultural ally to the west in the middle east, basically - dagonweb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Will all these tourists be able to come once oil costs 200 Euro a barrel? I mean, a plane ticket might become a little expensive.
- WaterDragon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8It is a resort obviously intended for millionaires, so that won't be an issue.
Behind all that oil money is, for sure, a lot of blood spilled, and a lot of decent people kept in poverty or worse, by all those sleazy, thieving 'millionaires'.
I bet it will stink there! - scotty588, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I saw that also. They were building "The Palms" island i think.
- nostartnoend, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9@ DrunkenPirate34
Yeah, totally, man. I agree. These people need to lighten up. Who cares if all these frivolities end up threatening our very existence? They look cool, and that's all that matters. I bet it'll look really cool when the Earth sizzles in the greenhouse gases we created. Just sit back and enjoy the show, dude. - wildjohn999, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7What language will predominate?
English then the native language - Arabic.
Where will the cleaning people live?
In the slums around the developments.
Will nearby slums develop?
Yep.
For examples of the above check out India, Hong Kong, and the Philippines:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangalore
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manila -
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