Saturday, December 10, 2011

Dubai

Dubai is the most famous city in the United Arab Emirates; at least I think so. And if it is not, then it's the most famous to me. Dubai is the city known for the extensive amounts of skyscrapers in the Middle East. The world's only 7 star hotel is located here, the largest man made island in the world is here, the tallest completed building in the world is here, and much more things are located here. Many other famous landmarks here include Dubai Mall, Atlantis The Palms, and Dubai Media City.

What makes Dubai have the right to construct many many skyscrapers? I'm very certain it's not the population. So the people there aren't very demanding. Then what is it? Well, it's the same answer that applies to almost every other "oil" rich countries. Well, there you have it; oil. 2008 was when the oil boom was at its peak because of the high prices of oil. The skyline throughout this time period was dominated by several cranes. Construction was all this city saw.

You may ask yourself why I always talk about economy and money when it comes to Dubai and the other cities. Well, you just answered your own question. It's only those cities, buddy. Because that's all you can talk about when it comes to those cities; that and the policy towards women, which deserves to be cleared up a lot. However, when it comes to culture and other stuff like that, there are plenty of other cities in the Middle East who deserve to be talked about instead of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. I'm sorry, but the natives of these cities are a minority, so the "Arab" culture you're going to look for in these cities is fabricated. The natives are going to try and over do it because they don't want that large expatriate population to be the face of their country; but that's another post.

My focus on Dubai will be nothing more than the mere "achievements" that they have fulfilled such as holding many international records. I wonder why though they think that a skyscraper dominated nation is what defines it as being rich. Look at Switzerland; an extremely wealthy nation, however you don't see large buildings scraping the sky everywhere you go. I have formulated my own answer for this question. And that answer is...Dubai has nothing to offer to make it famous. No past in which they could rely on to formulate an image for them. So what they need to do is formulate an image out of the resources of the present day. And I guess the only answer they found was to make many useless projects that people will seem to find an interest in. I mean, Dubai has enough skyscrapers to sustain a population the size of Turkey, however their own population is somewhere between two and three million. So it's like an empty city over there. Their largest mall is the largest mall in the world by total space, however how many people actually go there.

I know Dubai is meant to be a touristic city, however I think their approaching that goal the wrong way. They should definitely try to become a more modest nation in terms of expressing their wealth.

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