"You don't build a sustainable community based solely on greed. And thats the problem with Dubai."
So said a new acquaintance I met at the Emirate on a press trip to the airshow. The people who come to Dubai (whose 400,000 odd population includes only 1,500 natives according to my guide) come for the money, and nothing else.
I had expected to be impressed by the architecture (more on that later), but what I have been musing on since I left Dubai is not the buildings, but how wasteful so much of what they are doing there is. Sure it's very pleasant for a break (see me enjoying the reclaimed Palm Resort beach), but it's inefficient to build such big buildings for which
there is no need (a local architect told me above 10 storeys in higely costly and inefficient, and not in any way justified 
by land costs in what is effectively a desert), and yes its quirky to have a ski resort there, but at what cost? Even growing vegetables costs the earth given the scarcity of water in the area.Dubai wants to show it can do anything better and bigger than anywhere else. And for the moment, thanks to the oil money, it can. The glass chandelier in a hotel lobby (pictured) is bigger than the one at the V&A, but much less tasteful. The acquarium (pictured) in the hotel lobby of the Atlantis houses enormous sharks, sting rays and all host of sub-acquatic creatures - but they are so much more impressive in the wild. The hotels may have five or six enormous restaurants to choose from, with decent food and lavish furnishings, but they still look like Disneyland and lobster is better enjoyed with lemon juice than in a curry. The lavish parties are fun (thanks to Sheikh Mohammed for a fabulous gala dinner with Tom Jones), but possibly boring after a while.
The Burj Khalifa (world's tallest building pictured left) is rather ugly I thought, and Sheikh Zayed Road, the strip where all the big buildings are (pictured right), looks rather disorganised during the day (although the lightin
g has a certain magic at night). The Emirates buildings and the Burj Al Ara
b (7 star hotel shaped like a sail on the coastline - unfotunately the photo I took is from the road but it looks much better, magical even, from the sea) do have a certain beauty to them, but they are in a minority.Recently, the authorities have discovered the importance of history (and culture) and efforts to save the old Arab trading quarter are underway. There's a very worthwhile museum in the old fort, which explains the efficiency of the traditional air conditioning systems (wind towers) in the pre-oil era. Ships from Somalia were docking in the port when we took the 1 dirham boat across the creek, a reminder of eras past.
You'd have thought that with the power the local authorities have, planning would be easy. But a friend tells me there is no organisation or structure. The main interchange with Abu Dhabi has apparently been rebuilt three times.
I couldn't help thinking that when the oil money runs out, the winds will sweep the sand back over all this garguantuan edifices and someday in centuries to come, people will look at them like we do the pyramids and think "what were they doing there?"
The Dark Side of Dubai
ReplyDeletehttp://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/the-dark-side-of-dubai-1664368.html
- the absolute pinnacle of Neo-Liberal Market Fundamentalist Capitalism, complete with a helpful "servant class" of slaves serving Emirati and rich foreigners. An Adult Disneyland
---
One doctor told him he had a year to live; another said it was benign and he'd be okay. But the debts were growing. "Before I came here, I didn't know anything about Dubai law. I assumed if all these big companies come here, it must be pretty like Canada's or any other liberal democracy's," she says. Nobody told her there is no concept of bankruptcy. If you get into debt and you can't pay, you go to prison.
"When we realised that, I sat Daniel down and told him: listen, we need to get out of here. He knew he was guaranteed a pay-off when he resigned, so we said – right, let's take the pay-off, clear the debt, and go." So Daniel resigned – but he was given a lower pay-off than his contract suggested. The debt remained. As soon as you quit your job in Dubai, your employer has to inform your bank. If you have any outstanding debts that aren't covered by your savings, then all your accounts are frozen, and you are forbidden to leave the country.
"Suddenly our cards stopped working. We had nothing. We were thrown out of our apartment." Karen can't speak about what happened next for a long time; she is shaking.
[...]
She is not alone. All over the city, there are maxed-out expats sleeping secretly in the sand-dunes or the airport or in their cars.
---
Sonapur is a rubble-strewn patchwork of miles and miles of identical concrete buildings. Some 300,000 men live piled up here, in a place whose name in Hindi means "City of Gold". In the first camp I stop at – riven with the smell of sewage and sweat – the men huddle around, eager to tell someone, anyone, what is happening to them.
Sahinal Monir, a slim 24-year-old from the deltas of Bangladesh. "To get you here, they tell you Dubai is heaven. Then you get here and realise it is hell," he says.
Four years ago, an employment agent arrived in Sahinal's village in Southern Bangladesh. He told the men of the village that there was a place where they could earn 40,000 takka a month (£400) just for working nine-to-five on construction projects. It was a place where they would be given great accommodation, great food, and treated well. All they had to do was pay an up-front fee of 220,000 takka (£2,300) for the work visa – a fee they'd pay off in the first six months, easy.
So Sahinal sold his family land, and took out a loan from the local lender, to head to this paradise.
As soon as he arrived at Dubai airport, his passport was taken from him by his construction company. He has not seen it since. He was told brusquely that from now on he would be working 14-hour days in the desert heat – where western tourists are advised not to stay outside for even five minutes in summer, when it hits 55 degrees Celsius – for 500 dirhams a month (£90), less than a quarter of the wage he was promised. If you don't like it, the company told him, go home.
"But how can I go home? You have my passport, and I have no money for the ticket," he said.
"Well, then you'd better get to work," they replied.
cont... http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/the-dark-side-of-dubai-1664368.html