Dubai: An Architectural Masterpiece layered on a Third World Country?

[AlvinofDiaspar]

More here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/world/middleeast/12dubai.html?_r=1

Interestingly, it does talk about the relationship with Abu Dhabi.

AoD

 

[kEiThZ]

I have never been a fan of the shift in Dubai to real estate as their growth vehicle. Their other efforts, like the various zones were much more effective and stable. I think the crisis, is a good thing for them. It'll force them to re-think many of their policies. The idiotic one month after lay-off rule should be the first to go if they want to weather the current recession.

As for Abu Dhabi, their promise of better planned, sustainable development will finally provide an alternative to the Dubai model for the rest of the Middle East.

 

[wonderboy416]

I have never been a fan of the shift in Dubai to real estate as their growth vehicle. Their other efforts, like the various zones were much more effective and stable. I think the crisis, is a good thing for them. It'll force them to re-think many of their policies. The idiotic one month after lay-off rule should be the first to go if they want to weather the current recession.

You think Dubai will recover and foreigners will once again flock there to work?
These reports are quite grim... there was never anything there to begin. It seems as if Dubai was a fad and nothing more.

 

[kEiThZ]

You think Dubai will recover and foreigners will once again flock there to work?
These reports are quite grim... there was never anything there to begin. It seems as if Dubai was a fad and nothing more.

It depends what the recovery is based on. It's effort at becoming the commercial and service hub of the Middle East has not faltered yet, despite this real estate crash. And if you look around the Middle East, what other choice is there?

Their goal of being a hub for commerce between Europe and Asia though will probably fall through. And that was iffy to begin with in this age of point to point flying and wired commerce.

They've had their global ambitions clipped but imho their regional ambitions are still fairly intact. In the Gulf, there's not a lot of choice. And in the wider Middle East, there's only a handful of countries that could open up like the UAE...Jordan, Egypt, Syria (down the road) and all of those have their own issues and are too socially and geographically distant for the gulf arabs to really trust with their dough.

 

[urbanfan89]

I have never been a fan of the shift in Dubai to real estate as their growth vehicle. Their other efforts, like the various zones were much more effective and stable. I think the crisis, is a good thing for them. It'll force them to re-think many of their policies. The idiotic one month after lay-off rule should be the first to go if they want to weather the current recession.

No. Dubai is bankrupt, and late last year was quietly given a huge bail out by Abu Dhabi. They had to hock 50% in Emirates Airline (their ultimate crown jewel) to satisfy creditors. It makes Iceland look modest in comparison.

They cannot possibly find all those people to fill the office and residential towers; thus the housing glut will be by far the biggest in the history of the world and I suspect the government will demolish many towers to decrease the empty space.

The world's elite has lost billions in this black hole, and will keep their investment money far away from it.

On the other hand my university is planning to spend billions to build a brand new campus there, while supposedly there isn't enough money to improve existing facilities. That's my tuition dollars at work.

 

[urbanfan89]

They've had their global ambitions clipped but imho their regional ambitions are still fairly intact. In the Gulf, there's not a lot of choice. And in the wider Middle East, there's only a handful of countries that could open up like the UAE...Jordan, Egypt, Syria (down the road) and all of those have their own issues and are too socially and geographically distant for the gulf arabs to really trust with their dough.

Yes, they may become a regional hub, but even for that there is plenty of competition (Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Kuwait, etc).

Even if the world economy recovers robustly, it will be a painful crash for Dubai regardless. The Education/Media/Culture zones are only viable with a wider economy that is robust, and without it they are useless.

Perhaps by then Abu Dhabi becomes Venice on the Gulf, while tourists take day trips to gaze in awe at the Great Ruins of Dubai. That would be a vacation to write home about, right?

 

[Irishmonk]

I'm curious as to what part of tolerance includes banning a Jewish tennis player from a major Dubai tournament on account that she is, well, Jewish. Real classy move, Dubai, establishing yourself as one the world's last official bastions of state sponsored anti-semitism. Good luck with those Olympic aspirations; the IOC will be very impressed.

 

[ganjavih]

That's not exactly accurate. Israeli tennis players were denied visas during the Gaza offensive.

 

[nfitz]

there were Canadian cities which did the same

There still are, every time it rains heavily. And I thought some still dumped straight.

 

[CDL.TO]

Big article on Dubai in The Independent today:

The dark side of Dubai

 

[Whoaccio]

Later, in a hotel bar, I start chatting to a dyspeptic expat American who works in the cosmetics industry and is desperate to get away from these people. She says: "All the people who couldn't succeed in their own countries end up here, and suddenly they're rich and promoted way above their abilities and bragging about how great they are. I've never met so many incompetent people in such senior positions anywhere in the world." She adds: "It's absolutely racist. I had Filipino girls working for me doing the same job as a European girl, and she's paid a quarter of the wages. The people who do the real work are paid next to nothing, while these incompetent managers pay themselves £40,000 a month."

This paragraph struck me as particularly poignant. Some of the stories of the maids were also particularly revolting. Unfortunately I had heard of similar experiences a couple of times before (i.e. withholding payment, refusing to allow them to leave, de facto slavery) so maybe it struck closer to home than it otherwise would have. For whatever reason, I am less disgusted by the "camps" of South Asians run by the Emiratti than the behavior of some expats. I would have imagined that expats from liberal democracies would have brought with them at least some respect for human rights. As it is though, it just ties into the quote above. This sort of Rudyard Kipling inspired treatment of non-westerners.

 

[Hipster Duck]

Someone I talked to recently made a quip about how Dubai and Las Vegas were eerily similar in their unabashed levels of conpicuous consumption. I responded that the major difference is that Las Vegas has a democratizing effect, where bubbas and billionaires can play at the same roulette table, while Dubai has imposed rigid caste structures, with Emirati at the top, Western expats as a sort of petit bourgeoisie and "the rest" at the bottom. What's really fascinating to me is that these groups were all once the cast-offs of their respective societies but they have assembled a hierarchical structure and assume different levels of entitlement.

 

[TKTKTK]

uuuuuuuuurrrggh. I need a shower after reading that.

 

[Whoaccio]

Though I on the whole agree with the article, I would like to take issue with Hari's assertion that Dubai is "Market Fundamentalist Globalisation in One City." This is part of the common assumption of Hari and his kind that fascism is just the ultimate form of capitalism. It completely ignores the democratizing effects of free competition. Just looking at the portrait he paints of Dubai, it strikes me as anything but a "market fundamentalist" society. For starters, the economy is predicated on the public sector. Both to directly provide jobs to Emiratii (thereby insulating them from competition with, say, immigrants) and by tacitly supporting the crimes of the limited private sector. You can't call someplace a market fundamentalist city when basic principles of the market, open competition free of government involvement, are nowhere to be found. There is certainly very little in Dubai that would earn the admiration of Friedman or Hayek.

 

[kEiThZ]

It's sad. It wasn't always like that. Things were markedly different under Sheikh Rashid (Maktoum's father and the founder of modern day Dubai). He had an affinity for workers and often enforced the labour standards. When my dad worked there as a construction engineer in the 70s and 80s, there was no Sonapur. Construction companies were smaller family run firms that usually housed workers on spartan (not squalid) housing compounds usually co-located with the companies other facilities. I guess things have changed for the worse. And that's truly sad.

One thing to note, however, is that this problem cannot be solved entirely by Dubai. For one, such labour practices are common or worse all over the Gulf. And two, as long as there is the potential for making significantly more, workers will always migrate. The problem is how this plays out. The Indian programmer who goes to Dubai will do quite well for himself. His cousin, the construction labourer, won't be as lucky. However, hearing the stories about how well his programmer is doing, the labourer often gets easily falls prey to the recruiters. Word is getting out, however, about the Gulf's working conditions. And with India undergoing its own boom at home, there's little incentive these days for Indian labourers to go overseas. Bangladeshis and Pakistanis, are not so lucky.

The one part of the article I have problems with is the tale of Karen Andrews. Although I sincerely sympathize with her situation, she should have done some research before moving to Dubai and certainly before taking on unsustainable levels of debt. Ignorance of the law is not an excuse. If you move to a foreign country you should be aware of their laws and customs and be ready to follow them. Lastly, she should have reported her situation to the Canadian embassy. They would have helped her out and her husband when he got arrested for sure. She would have been issued a temporary passport and a ticket home. I wish people would register and communicate their issues to the Canadian missions more often. I worked on evacuating Canadians from Lebanon and it was a nightmare as the numbers kept growing while we were planning.