Being brainwashed in Dubai

From 12 to 17 July 2006, Els, Papoe and I visited Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, the city that has "the record to have the most records in the Guinness book of records." The trip was organized by the architectenkrant, a Belgian newspaper for architects (my wife Els, and dad are both architects). We had a very good time on the extremely impressive Dubai tour. The experiences that we have gained in Dubai have been sinking in for a couple of days now, here are some of our afterthoughts.

On the right, Els and I in front of the world famous "7 star" Burj al Arab hotel, a fantastic structure and exclusive place to visit. We have visited a two bed room suite in this hotel as part of our trip. Gossips are doing their round that it costs around 60 euros for a tourist to enter the lobby of the hotel, and we've seen a whole lot more than that. As a souvenir, and to prove we've been inside the Burj al Arab hotel, I've taken a match box with the Burj al Arab logo home.

Stuff we've seen

We have visited a lot of places in Dubai. In just four days, our excellent guide showed us around Dubai, we have seen all of the biggest developments in the whole world, in one city. Since the trip was organized for architects (that might be interested in a job in Dubai), we have seen many construction projects in Dubai, such as the Palm Islands, Burj Dubai, the new Dubai Marina, City of Arabia (part of Dubai Land), Festival city and Healthcare city, the Emirates Towers, the financial center and other parts of the Sheikh Zayed Road. We often visited sales centers (like those of Nakheel, Emaar and Damac) that had massive models and good views of the extremely huge projects. We received lots of information on the projects, and the public relations people were willing to answer our questions. We have also seen some huge shopping malls (and very big Carrefour shops that sell everything you can buy in Europe) and the biggest indoor ski park in the world. We have also visited the world's most exclusive "7 star" hotel in the world, Burj al Arab. On the last day, our trip ended in downtown Dubai, visiting a very nice museum on the history of Dubai, spice and gold souks, a boat ride across the Creek, nice food and a visit to one of the most exclusive golf clubs in the world, which offered the perfect overview over the construction of a mega city.

Some afterthoughts

A city of cities

Dubai, as an emirate, is a very big place. Its historic down town is situated around a natural creek. The modern city of Dubai stretches along the coast, which is 75km long (the clear seawater at our private hotel beach was 34 degrees Celsius). Up to about 50km inland, the emirate is a desert. Dubai plans to fill the whole desert with construction projects, around a 75km long artificial river. Because of the Palm Islands and World projects, a massive 1,500km of beach is being added. Residential, commercial and industrial projects form patches that create sub cities within the big city of Dubai. It's like a game of Sim City with unlimited funds.

His Highness Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler and visionary of Dubai (there is no democracy), seems to be very aware that he has the possibility to create a mega city, and become a center of our new world and its developing global economy. All the recent developments, achievements and future plans of Dubai show that they might actually be able to accomplish such a project. The projects in Dubai are on a grand scale. I have visited several big Western cities around the world, but have never seen anything like what is happening in Dubai. Comparing La Defense in Paris and the whole city of Las Vegas to Dubai, is like comparing a mosquito and a mouse to an elephant. Dubai wants to take the next step for human society and build the first mega city of cities. Doing this from scratch is an advantage. Because of all the huge projects we have witnessed, I am convinced that Dubai is able to do something on an unseen scale.

On the right, Papoe in front of the Burj Dubai ("tower of Dubai") project. The project intends to build a 700-800 meter tower, the biggest in the world upon completion, 50% higher than current other projects. The construction of the building proceeds very quickly; every 5 days, a floor is added. The picture was taken from the luxurious sales center of Emaar, which sports a two floor-high model of the Burj. To the left of the Burj Dubai, you can see the Emirates towers in the distance, and other buildings on the Sheikh Zayed road.

Demand, credits

I find the overall accounting and financial picture of the whole project hard to understand. Credits and debits don't seem to be in balance. But the demand is very high. In mid-summer, a bad season for Dubai, all hotels are 85-90% fully booked (Burj Al Arab was fully booked). The speed at which the city evolves and grows (75,000 new inhabitants in the last 6 months, not counting work forces), is incredible. Only one third of the houses for inhabitants can be completed in time. And all major companies want a headquarter in the Jebel Ali Free Trade Zones (specific zones where international companies can start a business without local partners, and free of taxes), which are limited and have very long waiting lists. As an example, Healthcare city, which we visited, had a waiting list of 750 companies that wanted a spot to become part of a city of hospitals. That must be bringing in some credit.

A Western world in an Arab location

The city of Dubai is a very Western city. All of the accommodations that are present in any big Western city are present in Dubai (and lots more). All of the huge shopping malls we've visited in Dubai carry all well-known shop chains. All of the luxury that we're used to in Europe is available in Dubai. The mix of people in the city is a very interesting one. You have, besides a massive amount of (mostly European) expatriates, of course the original population of Emirati. A lot of people from Iran live in Dubai, and the laborers are mostly Indians and Pakistani. In contrast with the (very negative) public image of Muslims in Belgium, we have met very friendly, helpful and kind Muslim people in Dubai. My view of the Muslim world has completely changed because of our visit to Dubai. (Note, on the first day of our visit, bombings between Hezbollah and Israel started, which is a big event in the Arab world, we have seen very neutral news coverage from both Arab and European news media) If you're planning on moving to Dubai, the presence of Islam shouldn't be an issue in deciding whether to go or not. Western laws and habits are perfectly integrated in the United Arab Emirates. If you are stuck on Western luxury, don't be afraid, you can drink alcohol (in international hotel chains, about 5 dollars for a beer), you can buy pork meat in the shops, women aren't limited by Islam law (you are allowed work, you don't have to adhere to Muslim dress code, ...) and being woken up by chanting from the Mosques (at 4:09 in the morning) is just part of the experience of visiting an Arab country.

On the right, Els and Papoe learn how the original inhabitants of Dubai lived, in a house of the historical site, by the Creek in down town Dubai. Note that everyone is carrying bottles of water. The temperature on that day rose above 40 Celsius. It's very humid in mid-summer, and you sweat a lot. Water is a necessity, and small bottles were given to us by the tour operator. Half liter bottles can be bought everywhere and cost 1 Dirham, which is about 25 cents. You can pay with euros and dollars as well, almost everywhere.

Labor

There seems to be a very dark flip side of the Dubai we've seen. I don't know how many people are classified as low-class work force, it must be multiple millions. Wherever we came in the huge city, day or night, "phantom" work forces are building this city (in Dubai, construction work goes on 24/7). They are doing the actual construction work in Dubai, and I'm afraid they're not appreciated and treated as well as we might believe. A documentary earlier this week on "Ter Zake" on VRT pointed out that work forces have to hand over their passports to their bosses, which allow the bosses to do anything with their people. Delayed payment of wages, substitution of employment contracts, premature termination of services, excessive working hours and bad accommodation (barracks of 2000 laborers burnt down the first day we were in Dubai, due to which the inhabitants lost all of their belongings) are some of the complaints that have been filed. Those people are in a class that is just a small step away from slavery.

Bubble?

It is very hard to predict what the future holds for Dubai. I might sound pessimistic, but it feels like the speed of evolution in Dubai is very fast, maybe too fast. Many factors could play against the idea of the mega city and may start a bubble effect. What if a building collapsed, or when key businesses fail? What if laborers riot? How do you go about organizing the city with an environmentally viable perspective? Many things can go wrong, and have large effects if the city is too brittle to handle risks that have no precedent.

Group photo, down town Dubai in the background. This photo was taken at the Creek, and shows the part of Dubai where the city took its first steps. In contrary with Western cities, the massive projects and high rise skyscrapers are all around the long coast of Dubai, away from down town.

Brainwash

Our trip was like an interactive commercial for Dubai. We've seen all the nice places and projects. It's hard to believe that the fee we had to pay (1,200euros) covers the bills of the trip. Some sponsoring must have been coming in (update, 7 august 2006: The organizers of this trip have confirmed me that "there was'nt any sponsoring or financial support of any kind"). We've seen the "bling bling" side of Dubai. At times, the bus driver took dubious long trips to drive from one site to the next (It's easy to get around in Dubai because of an extensive highway system, and the huge landmarks can easily be recognized. I could easily figure out how the bus driver was driving, and it wasn't near the optimal route). We've never seen any of the laborers' barracks, industrial, or transportation (sea nor air) projects in Dubai. Everyone was talking about an illusive metro system but we have not seen anything real.

We have the feeling we've been completely brainwashed in Dubai. On our arrival among family and friends, we just couldn't shut up telling about the beautiful projects, ideas and people we have met in Dubai. Dubai left a tremendous impression, I haven't stopped thinking about Dubai for the last whole week. Dubai is not about dreaming and talking about the future. It's about having to make the future, instead of waiting for it to come. Maybe, it is even possible to become part of that huge project.

Here's a hint to explore Dubai's enormous projects from your computer. Try to locate Dubai with Google Earth. A lot of very detailed and up-to-date satellite pictures of Dubai have recently been added. Try to find some of the enormous projects and use the ruler to measure their sizes. It's incredible. Besides the two Palm islands and the World project, which are clearly visible and already well-developed, a third Palm is about to be constructed, and will be at the same size as the city of San Francisco. The leftmost palm will be encircled by a giant croissant shaped development, know as the Dubai Waterfront.(image copyrighted by Google, Europa Technologies, Digital Globe, Terra Metrics)

Press coverage

Our trip to Dubai, experiences gained, and the demand for Belgian architects in Dubai has been covered by Flemish media. We have been interviewed and covered by De Morgen, De Standaard, radio Donna and FM Brussel.