somewhat OT: Dubai's building boom

[Scott Coan]

Some of you may have seen this email floating about summarizing the current building boom in Dubai.

Tiger's new "design" will anchor Dubailand and I think Ernie has one opening in Dubai Sports City.

Dubai in 1990 prior to the craziness


The same street in 2003


Last year


Dubai is said to currently have 15-25% of all the world's cranes.


The Dubai Waterfront.  When completed it will become the largest waterfront development in the world .


All of this was built in the last 5 years, including that island that looks like a palm tree.


The Palm Islands in Dubai. New Dutch dredging technology was used to create these massive man made islands.
They are the largest artificial islands in the world and can be seen from space.  Three of these Palms will be made with the last one being the largest of them all.


Upon completion, the resort will have 2,000 villas, 40 luxury hotels, shopping centers, movie theaters, and many other facilities. It is expected to support a population of approximately 500,000 people.  


The World Islands.  300 artificially created islands in the shape of the world.  Each island will have an estimated cost of $25-30 million.


The Burj al-Arab hotel in Dubai.  The worlds tallest hotel.  
Considered the only '7 star' hotel and the most luxurious hotel in the world.  It stands on an artificial island in the sea.


Hydropolis, the world's first underwater hotel.  Entirely built in Germany and then assembled in Dubai, it is scheduled to be completed by 2009 after many delays.


The Burj Dubai.  Construction began in 2005 and is expected to be complete by 2008.  At an estimated height of over 800 meters, it will easily be world's tallest building when finished. It will be almost 40% taller than the the current tallest building, the Yaipei 101.


The Al Burj . This will be the centerpiece of the Dubai Waterfront.  Once completed it will take over the title of the tallest structure in the world from the Burj Dubai.


Recently it was announced that the final height of this tower will be 1200 meters.  That would make it more than 30% taller than the Burj Dubai and three times as tall as the Empire State Building.


Dubailand. Currently, the largest amusement park collection in the world is Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando , which is also the largest single-site employer in the United states with 58,000 employees.  Dubailand will be twice the size.



Dubailand will be built on 3 billion square feet (107 miles^2) at an estimated $20 billion price tag. The site will include a purported 45 mega projects and 200 hundred other smaller projects.


Dubai  Sports City.  A huge collection of sports arenas located in Dubailand.



Currently, the Walt Disney World Resort is the #1 tourist destination in the world. Once fully completed, Dubailand will easily take over that title since it is expected to attract 200,000 visitors daily.


The Dubai Marina is an entirely man made development that will contain over 200 highrise buildings when finished.  It will be home to some of the tallest residential structures in the world. The completed first phase of the project is shown. Most of the other high rise buildings will be finished by 2009-2010. The Dubai Mall will be the largest shopping mall in the world with over 9 million square feet of shopping and around 1000 stores. It will be completed in 2008.


Ski Dubai , which is already open, is the largest indoor skiing facility in the world. This is a rendered image of another future indoor skiing facility that is being planned.



Some of the tallest buildings in the world, such as Ocean Heights and The Princess Tower , which will be the largest residential building in the world at over a 100 stories, will line  the  DubaiMarina.  

The UAE Spaceport would be the first spaceport in the world if construction ever gets under way.  

Some other crazy .. The Dubai Metro system, once completed, will become the largest fully automated rail system in the world. The Dubai World Central International Airport will become the largest airport in size when it is completed.  It will also eventually become the busiest airport in the world, based on passenger volume.  There are more construction workers in Dubai than there are actual citizens.  

[Kalen Braley]

This does not surprise me one bit.

After all, its you and I are who are the main funders of these projects every time we stand at the pump to feed our nations unquenchable thirst for gas.

[ChipRoyce]

You have to give the UAE a ton of credit. They seem to be the only nation currently reliant on Petro-Dollars who is spending on infrastructure neccesary to thrive in a post-oil economy.

[henrye]

Absurdity beyond belief.

[David Druzisky]

And so we spend all our $ on fighting back the extremists over there that they apparently could afford to deal with themselves.  Whos the smart one in that.

Now I guess I wont ever get a commission over there now for saying that huh.

[George Freeman]

You have to give the UAE a ton of credit. They seem to be the only nation currently reliant on Petro-Dollars who is spending on infrastructure neccesary to thrive in a post-oil economy.

Agreed

[ChipRoyce]

And so we spend all our $ on fighting back the extremists over there that they apparently could afford to deal with themselves.  Whos the smart one in that.

Now I guess I wont ever get a commission over there now for saying that huh.

David;
Funny you say that - the 1991 Gulf War was seemingly paid for by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. For all intents, US military was operating under contract for our gulf allines.

[JLahrman]

I find it hard to support the development of golf courses in a region so environmentally unsuited to the game, especially given the unbelievable consumption of resources associated with these over-the-top construction projects and Dubai's treatment of foreign workers.

Not that many of our own countries couldn't have better track records, and many of us individually as well, but I personally find displays of this scale to be distasteful.

[Tim Pitner]

Certainly interesting--thanks Scott.  

Personally, I don't see the appeal and agree with Mr. Lipe.  

I also can't help but think that these developments will make attractive targets for terrorists,
especially as they draw more and more foreigners.  

[Kalen Braley]

I find it hard to support the development of golf courses in a region so environmentally unsuited to the game, especially given the unbelievable consumption of resources associated with these over-the-top construction projects and Dubai's treatment of foreign workers.

Not that many of our own countries couldn't have better track records, and many of us individually as well, but I personally find displays of this scale to be distasteful.

JAL,

Does this mean you will not be "supporting" this by refusing to buy petrol or other petroleum based products in thier many shapes and forms?  If not, like it or not, you are supporting it!!  

[JLahrman]

Kalen,

I have a small car, a short commute to work, and a bicycle which I sometimes use.  So I am a customer of theirs, although I have curbed usage.  However, if tomorrow Dubai announced that they would cease all construction projects and invest all profits in the environment, I would not purchase a larger car to help give them more of my business.

[George Freeman]

I find it hard to support the development of golf courses in a region so environmentally unsuited to the game, especially given the unbelievable consumption of resources associated with these over-the-top construction projects and Dubai's treatment of foreign workers.

JAL,

Do you feel the same way about US desert courses?

[Mark Pearce]

And so we spend all our $ on fighting back the extremists over there that they apparently could afford to deal with themselves.  Whos the smart one in that.

Now I guess I wont ever get a commission over there now for saying that huh.

Dear God.  There are so many intelligent, educated people on here that it still comes as a surprise when someone expresses a view that quite so completely demonstrates an ignorance of world affairs.  Still, I guess Lebanon and the UAE are pretty difficult to distinguish from where you're sitting?

[JLahrman]

George,

For the most part I do.  I'm sure there has been environmental progress made in the way desert courses are irrigated, but when I fly into Phoenix and 90% of the green I see is golf courses, it has to be draining the water supply.

Of course, non-desert courses need water as well.

Anybody have any idea about the water requirements for typical courses in different areas of the US?

I'm sure there are other arguments to consider as well, especially relating to golf courses essentially being green spaces without buildings and often with trees, but the effect on the water supply in the desert has to be large.