DUBAI_FINAL:22nov
29/11/07
18:52
Dubai: Not the modern centre of the Arab world, but the Arab centre of the modern world
Page 70
There’s to be an underwater hotel ($500 million). One
velopment called Dubai Waterfront/Arabian Canal covers an
indoor ski resort, with real snow and its own black run, ex-
area larger than Barbados and will house, when completed
ists already, a startling presence on the city’s southern sky-
($6 billion), more people than Paris.
line. There is to be a second, with a revolving mountain.
It sounds good. It looks fantastic. But the global eco-
Plans are mooted for a Chess City, with 32 tower blocks of 64
nomic outlook for 2008 is darkening with the ongoing US
floors, each in the form of a chess piece. There’s to be a 60-
sub-prime lending crisis and the credit crunch. How will
floor apartment block in the shape of London’s famous Big
Dubai fare in a global downturn?
Ben. One company selling flats is giving away a free Jag with
To make an accurate prediction, we must first find a
each one. There will be a pyramid and a building called At-
‘control’: another economy that bears striking resemblance to
lantis that will cost $600 million and include a ‘swim-with-
the UAE. Thankfully, this is not the US. The UAE economy
the-dolphins encounter programme’. An Aviation City and a
is running high on the back of a five-year boom that is still
Cargo Village, an Aid City and a Humanitarian Free Zone,
on a rising trajectory. In the US, house prices have been drop-
an Exhibition City and a Festival City, a Healthcare City and
ping for 18 months, and the dollar has been devaluing to
a Flower City, a $4 billion extension to the airport and an-
boost exports and support share prices.
other entirely new airport along the coast towards Abu Dhabi,
The best parallel might be Hong Kong in the early
for which no figures are available but you can take a guess
1990s, which continued to boom at a time when the US and
at a few billion: six runways, annual capacity 120 million
UK economies were stuck in recessionary mode. Then local
passengers, 12 million tonnes of cargo.
and foreign investors poured money into new investments
The Middle East’s answer to Disneyland, called Dubailand, which is far larger than Monaco, is costing $4.5 billion.
70
100 Thousand Club
like the Hong Kong airport project at a dismal time for many other economies.
It will employ 300,000 people in the various joylands, serv-
It has to be said that the comparison between Dubai and
icing 15 million visitors. A new urban railway, with 37 stops,
Hong Kong is often made. Dubai is also a highly developed
has begun construction. Dubai is to have its own Silicon
trading hub, a logistics centre for a wider region and has a
Oasis ($1.7 billion) for computer companies. A mixed de-
skilled population comprised largely of hard working, recent