The demise of Dubai

Another pipe dream of the bubble era on the ropes...

In promotional materials, the World looks impressive: a scattering of computer-generated islands lush with palm trees and peppered with lavish hotels and villas. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were supposedly interested in buying Ethiopia, although a representative for the couple later denied the deal. An Irish investor (who committed suicide in February, after his company went broke) planned to build a theme resort on Ireland; never mind that the gulf's extreme heat would turn a pint of Guinness into a bubbling black stew. Only one island, reportedly belonging to Sheik Mohammed, ended up occupied, its palms shading a large mansion. The 299 others are barren smears of sand. From his lonely vantage point in the eye of the World, the sheik, a horse-racing enthusiast and multibillionaire, recently waved aside Dubai's financial crisis — economists say the emirate is $80 billion in the hole — as a "passing cloud."

The World is one of many architectural fantasies in Dubai that now appear to be shimmering mirages. The emirate boasts the 2,684-ft. Burj Dubai, the world's tallest skyscraper; a man-made island shaped like a giant palm; a ski slope in a shopping mall; and an 18-hole golf course (unfinished) in the middle of the desert that will slurp down a million gallons of water a day. But the dozens of giant cranes that once littered the skyline have migrated elsewhere. Dubai today has the feel of a futuristic, five-star ghost town blasted by sandstorms.

With a relieved wave, the boatman let me off at a souk filled with Indians, Pakistanis, Filipinos and Yemenis — the immigrants who built Dubai and keep it ticking. But even there the mood was grim. The best-selling items were suitcases. At the rate of 5,000 a day, workers are heading home. Once, the world came to Dubai. Now all that's left of the World in Dubai is hundreds of empty islands.

More at source
www.time.com...

Dubai has been in decline for a while now. When their economy went south, they started blaming Westerners- arresting, detaining and torturing them. The Westerners have been blamed for their economic failures, and many are either missing or known to be detained.

There's a good book on the subject, which just came out-


link

Is there another place in the world called "Dubai", apart from the place i am living in now? because this article, articulate as it may be, is not telling the whole story.

Yes, Dubai has been affected by the GLOBAL economic crisis. As has the USA and UK. Just look at the US motor industry. Is there actually anything much left of it? Similarly in the UK, times are hard. And yes, Dubai has seen a decline in the number of ongoing building projects.

But it will bounce back. Without a doubt. $80Billion in debt. yes - maybe. But this is more than offset by $400Billion of assets. BurJ Dubai is set to open in December, on 9 September the new Metro line opened (it will be the longest driverless train system in the world). There are actually 3 palm islands in Dubai - Palm Jumeirah (where i may well be moving to in the next fortnight), Palm Jebel Ali (even bigger than the "original" palm at Jumeriah, and Palm Deira (under construction, and even bigger still).

When the recovery, or re-start comes, yes, things will now be slower i think - the pace was rather frantic in the lead up to the financial crisis, but rest assured Dubai will be back on track. The leadership has a long term plan for Dubai, and that will not deviate.

It is far, far, far from a ghost town. You only have to try and drive a car here to realise that.

And as for Herve Jaubert.....well.....all i would say is there are two sides to every story, and he has turned his version into a book. If he had done wrong, he wouldnb't admit it in a book, would he. Of course, the nasty arabns took his passport and threatened him. Of course it is all theri fault, and he is innocent. BUt he has recently been in court "in absentia" for the theft of around AED14m i believe, and i did see an intersting shipping document on a local forum that someone had acquired via the internet, detailing the shipping of a Hummer to the US shorlty before his dramatic "escape" back to Florida. So he wasn't so in fear of his life/liberty, whatever to forget to take his car with him!

Dubai is more relaxed than any nearby muslim country, and it benefits greatly from this. It'sa melting pot of cultures and nationalities. And yes, sometimes the arab way of doing things does not entirely fit with the "western" norms, especially in business. But when in Rome.......

See my signature below - a recent quote from the big man himself, here. Think about it, and it makes sense. Although he may have said this just after he opened his bank statement a while ago.......

reply to post by BlueOrb


Seems to me any time people mention a non-American part of the world in some sort of trouble, the threads quickly pile up with Detroit or Arizona threads or stories of tent cities and homelesness in the US, always asking, "yeah, but is it any better over there?"

Why compare? This thread is about the decay of Dubai, not the Decay of America. There are 15 quintillion threads on troubles in the USA; a quick parusal of ATS or other popular boards will yield more than you could possibly read on this topic in a lifetime. Do we really need to make this another such thread? Can't I start jsut one single, solitary thread on troubles in another nation without the America comparisons (be they positive or negative) getting dragged in?

My best wishes for a smooth recovery in Dubai, but don't get caught in denial, either.

Don't misunderstand me - I'm not saying Dubai isn't affected by the crisis. But having been over here for 18 months now, i have seen countless newspaper articles and web blogs, reports, etc, which are hyper-critical of Dubai, and that seem to take a great deal of pleasure in the fact that, like the rest of the world, Dubai has suffered.

But many of these articles are not accurate, and problems are exaggerated to make the point - for example the sale of suitcases (implying a mass exodus). It's a fact that the UAE population is GROWING, and will in fact pass the 6 million mark very shortly. Whilst people are undoubtedly leave, as jobs are cut, people are arriving too, and life is going on.

And "westerners" are not being rounded up, blamed for everything and tortured. Any such people who are currently held in detention (and yes, there are a few), are the subject of investigations into fraud, embezzlement, etc - predominantly in government owned companies. Like i said in my previous post, things are done differently here, and if you put yourself in a position where your actions can be challenged legally, then you have to accept that imprisonment (without being found guilty of anything), is a likely outcome.

Like you told me - don't believe the hype. Don't believe everything you read online and in the newspapers.

yeah... there's info. that the only items being sold in Dubai are suitcases as an average 5000 construction related workers flee the modern Ghost Town per day/week...


bet the employees at Haliburton are very perplexed and going broke fast...

their company relocated there during the heyday of the Gulf States,
but now its the dumps (but high-class dumps at that)


~~~~~

I really don't expect Dubai to remain in the doledrums,
because their international finance center hub is where the new Gold Dinar
will have its home base.... just wait for the 2010 launch -->and the stampede from the finance centers in NYC & London...which recede into the G-20 backwater
& the Dubai bankers control the gold dinar portion of the new basket of currencies for oil
& other commodities at the world's largest commodities exchange



[edit on 13-10-2009 by St Udio]

remember the good times?