Dubai
I've only flown through the Dubai airport, but a friend sent me this report on the city, following a week visit:
Dubai is like Blade Runner mixed with something slightly less dystopic, on Ecstasy. It's like that Mitsubishi commercial for the new Eclipse, with the night lights and Dirty Vegas' "Days Go By" playing. It's the future. The last Sheikh of this Emirate, and now his two successive sons, have somehow decided to evolve and progress. It's still an Arab country, of course. There are public prayer halls, and the women walk the malls in their abayas and veils (some of them). But, still, this city-state is incredible.
25% of the construction cranes in the world are here. The whole city has a vitality, an energy. It's fraught with excess, with clubs and drinking and prostitution (all venerable and non-public Arab traditions), but it's a city being born. They have carved a commercial capital out of the desert. There are hundreds of skyscrapers going up at once, including the Burj Dubai, which will be the tallest building in the world (one new floor per week, 62 out of a planned 160+ completed). During the day, it's like watching a live, life-sized game of SimCity2000 happening before your very eyes. Beautiful towers, everywhere. Landscaping, terraforming, creating something by force of will. It's an incredibly rich city-state, 75% of the population is foreign workers.
The last Sheikh realized that the oil would only last so long, and so he decided to make his emirate the financial capital of the region. And he did it. He was adored by his people, instead of loathed like the House of Saud. He died, and his boys are carrying on the work. Apparently, about 15 years ago, the sheikh thought, "Well, my oil is going to run out in about 46 years. I better leverage that now so that Dubai has something when it's gone." So, he went ahead and turned his city into the finance hub for the entire region. Now oil accounts for only 6% of Dubai's considerable GDP. The rest is finance and commerce and trade. And so, when the rest of the Arab world is tapped out because the oil is gone, Dubai will still have money. (Like the one great line from Syriana, a movie that otherwise simplistically lays every woe of the world at America's feet: "A hundred years ago you were living in tents out here in the desert chopping each other's heads off and that's where you'll be in another hundred years.")
In Dubai, though not in the rest of the Emirates, they made a choice: to advance. They are building something that is at least partially worthwhile. Of course, a corollary result of this is that they've taken all of the age-old vices of Arab Muslim culture (prostitution, alcoholism, misogyny, brutality toward social subordinates, exploitation of workers, absurd materialism, ostentation, extravagance, etc.), and combined them with many of the vices of Western culture (drugs, prostitution, consumerism, flashy cars, dehumanizing bureaucracy, simply enormous shopping malls, fatty foods, etc.). In some senses, it's the worst of both worlds, but in other senses, the sheer audacity and will required to make something that has an actual role in the world beyond oil supply is quite admirable.
By night, Peter... By night, it's the Blade Runner, like I said. It's gorgeous. All of these skyscrapers are illuminated, and they tower over frickin' creation. All of the cranes are illuminated, and they're everywhere. It stretches along the coast for miles. And they're building entire new cities. Marina District, Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City, Knowledge Village, American University Dubai. Billions of square feet of space, most of it vertical. By night, it's all about zipping through the highways at 2:30 AM in the company's brand new BMW 5-series (because Gourgy the Indian driver goes to sleep at 10), with every option imaginable, at 185 km/hr with the techno trance bumping and a beautiful Romanian girl in the back seat, going to the Buddha Bar with two terrific colleagues, for more great trance, and incredible food, and terrific ambience. It's like a futuristic psychedelic dream. The level of service, of course, is unbelievable. The rich Arabs have all of their guest workers trained to be super-attentive. And these Koreans and Indians and Pakistanis love the Americans, because we're actually nice to them, in contrast to the Saudis and Omanis and Abu Dhabi emiratis, who treat them like slaves. So Americans get even more special treatment.
The last Sheikh realized that the oil would only last so long, and so he decided to make his emirate the financial capital of the region. And he did it. He was adored by his people, instead of loathed like the House of Saud. He died, and his boys are carrying on the work. Apparently, about 15 years ago, the sheikh thought, "Well, my oil is going to run out in about 46 years. I better leverage that now so that Dubai has something when it's gone." So, he went ahead and turned his city into the finance hub for the entire region. Now oil accounts for only 6% of Dubai's considerable GDP. The rest is finance and commerce and trade. And so, when the rest of the Arab world is tapped out because the oil is gone, Dubai will still have money. (Like the one great line from Syriana, a movie that otherwise simplistically lays every woe of the world at America's feet: "A hundred years ago you were living in tents out here in the desert chopping each other's heads off and that's where you'll be in another hundred years.")In Dubai, though not in the rest of the Emirates, they made a choice: to advance. They are building something that is at least partially worthwhile. Of course, a corollary result of this is that they've taken all of the age-old vices of Arab Muslim culture (prostitution, alcoholism, misogyny, brutality toward social subordinates, exploitation of workers, absurd materialism, ostentation, extravagance, etc.), and combined them with many of the vices of Western culture (drugs, prostitution, consumerism, flashy cars, dehumanizing bureaucracy, simply enormous shopping malls, fatty foods, etc.). In some senses, it's the worst of both worlds, but in other senses, the sheer audacity and will required to make something that has an actual role in the world beyond oil supply is quite admirable. By night, Peter... By night, it's the Blade Runner, like I said. It's gorgeous. All of these skyscrapers are illuminated, and they tower over frickin' creation. All of the cranes are illuminated, and they're everywhere. It stretches along the coast for miles. And they're building entire new cities. Marina District,
Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City, Knowledge Village, American University Dubai. Billions of square feet of space, most of it vertical. By night, it\'s\nall about zipping through the highways at 2:30 AM in the company's brand new BMW n5-series (because Gourgy the Indian driver goes to sleep at 10), withnevery option imaginable, at 185 km/hr with the techno trance bumping and a beautiful Romanian girl in the back seat, going to the Buddha Barwith two terrific colleagues, for more great trance, and incredible food. It's like a futuristic psychedelic dream. The level of service, of course, is unbelievable. The rich Arabs have all of their guest workers trained to be super-attentive. And these Koreans and Indians and Pakistanis love the Americans, because we're actually nice to them, in contrast to the Saudis and Omanis and Abu Dhabi emiratis, who treat them like slaves.
Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City, Knowledge Village, American University Dubai. Billions of square feet of space, most of it vertical. By night, it's all about zipping through the highways at 2:30 AM in the company's brand new BMW 5-series (because Gourgy the Indian driver goes to sleep at 10), with every option imaginable, at 185 km/hr with the techno trance bumping and a beautiful Romanian girl in the back seat, going to the Buddha Bar with two terrific colleagues, for more great trance, and incredible food, and terrific ambience. It's like a futuristic psychedelic dream. The level of service, of course, is unbelievable. The rich Arabs have all of their guest workers trained to be super-attentive. And these Koreans and Indians and Pakistanis love the Americans, because we're actually nice to them, in contrast to the Saudis and Omanis and Abu Dhabi emiratis, who treat them like slaves. So Americans get even more special treatment.
Dubai is like Blade Runner mixed with something slightly less dystopic, on Ecstasy. It's like that Mitsubishi commercial for the new Eclipse, with the night lights and Dirty Vegas' "Days Go By" playing. It's the future. The last Sheikh of this Emirate, and now his two successive sons, have somehow decided to evolve and progress. It's still an Arab country, of course. There are public prayer halls, and the women walk the malls in their abayas and veils (some of them). But, still, this city-state is incredible.
25% of the construction cranes in the world are here. The whole city has a vitality, an energy. It's fraught with excess, with clubs and drinking and prostitution (all venerable and non-public Arab traditions), but it's a city being born. They have carved a commercial capital out of the desert. There are hundreds of skyscrapers going up at once, including the Burj Dubai, which will be the tallest building in the world (one new floor per week, 62 out of a planned 160+ completed). During the day, it's like watching a live, life-sized game of SimCity2000 happening before your very eyes. Beautiful towers, everywhere. Landscaping, terraforming, creating something by force of will. It's an incredibly rich city-state, 75% of the population is foreign workers.
The last Sheikh realized that the oil would only last so long, and so he decided to make his emirate the financial capital of the region. And he did it. He was adored by his people, instead of loathed like the House of Saud. He died, and his boys are carrying on the work. Apparently, about 15 years ago, the sheikh thought, "Well, my oil is going to run out in about 46 years. I better leverage that now so that Dubai has something when it's gone." So, he went ahead and turned his city into the finance hub for the entire region. Now oil accounts for only 6% of Dubai's considerable GDP. The rest is finance and commerce and trade. And so, when the rest of the Arab world is tapped out because the oil is gone, Dubai will still have money. (Like the one great line from Syriana, a movie that otherwise simplistically lays every woe of the world at America's feet: "A hundred years ago you were living in tents out here in the desert chopping each other's heads off and that's where you'll be in another hundred years.")
In Dubai, though not in the rest of the Emirates, they made a choice: to advance. They are building something that is at least partially worthwhile. Of course, a corollary result of this is that they've taken all of the age-old vices of Arab Muslim culture (prostitution, alcoholism, misogyny, brutality toward social subordinates, exploitation of workers, absurd materialism, ostentation, extravagance, etc.), and combined them with many of the vices of Western culture (drugs, prostitution, consumerism, flashy cars, dehumanizing bureaucracy, simply enormous shopping malls, fatty foods, etc.). In some senses, it's the worst of both worlds, but in other senses, the sheer audacity and will required to make something that has an actual role in the world beyond oil supply is quite admirable.
By night, Peter... By night, it's the Blade Runner, like I said. It's gorgeous. All of these skyscrapers are illuminated, and they tower over frickin' creation. All of the cranes are illuminated, and they're everywhere. It stretches along the coast for miles. And they're building entire new cities. Marina District, Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City, Knowledge Village, American University Dubai. Billions of square feet of space, most of it vertical. By night, it's all about zipping through the highways at 2:30 AM in the company's brand new BMW 5-series (because Gourgy the Indian driver goes to sleep at 10), with every option imaginable, at 185 km/hr with the techno trance bumping and a beautiful Romanian girl in the back seat, going to the Buddha Bar with two terrific colleagues, for more great trance, and incredible food, and terrific ambience. It's like a futuristic psychedelic dream. The level of service, of course, is unbelievable. The rich Arabs have all of their guest workers trained to be super-attentive. And these Koreans and Indians and Pakistanis love the Americans, because we're actually nice to them, in contrast to the Saudis and Omanis and Abu Dhabi emiratis, who treat them like slaves. So Americans get even more special treatment.
The last Sheikh realized that the oil would only last so long, and so he decided to make his emirate the financial capital of the region. And he did it. He was adored by his people, instead of loathed like the House of Saud. He died, and his boys are carrying on the work. Apparently, about 15 years ago, the sheikh thought, "Well, my oil is going to run out in about 46 years. I better leverage that now so that Dubai has something when it's gone." So, he went ahead and turned his city into the finance hub for the entire region. Now oil accounts for only 6% of Dubai's considerable GDP. The rest is finance and commerce and trade. And so, when the rest of the Arab world is tapped out because the oil is gone, Dubai will still have money. (Like the one great line from Syriana, a movie that otherwise simplistically lays every woe of the world at America's feet: "A hundred years ago you were living in tents out here in the desert chopping each other's heads off and that's where you'll be in another hundred years.")In Dubai, though not in the rest of the Emirates, they made a choice: to advance. They are building something that is at least partially worthwhile. Of course, a corollary result of this is that they've taken all of the age-old vices of Arab Muslim culture (prostitution, alcoholism, misogyny, brutality toward social subordinates, exploitation of workers, absurd materialism, ostentation, extravagance, etc.), and combined them with many of the vices of Western culture (drugs, prostitution, consumerism, flashy cars, dehumanizing bureaucracy, simply enormous shopping malls, fatty foods, etc.). In some senses, it's the worst of both worlds, but in other senses, the sheer audacity and will required to make something that has an actual role in the world beyond oil supply is quite admirable. By night, Peter... By night, it's the Blade Runner, like I said. It's gorgeous. All of these skyscrapers are illuminated, and they tower over frickin' creation. All of the cranes are illuminated, and they're everywhere. It stretches along the coast for miles. And they're building entire new cities. Marina District,
Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City, Knowledge Village, American University Dubai. Billions of square feet of space, most of it vertical. By night, it\'s\nall about zipping through the highways at 2:30 AM in the company's brand new BMW n5-series (because Gourgy the Indian driver goes to sleep at 10), withnevery option imaginable, at 185 km/hr with the techno trance bumping and a beautiful Romanian girl in the back seat, going to the Buddha Barwith two terrific colleagues, for more great trance, and incredible food. It's like a futuristic psychedelic dream. The level of service, of course, is unbelievable. The rich Arabs have all of their guest workers trained to be super-attentive. And these Koreans and Indians and Pakistanis love the Americans, because we're actually nice to them, in contrast to the Saudis and Omanis and Abu Dhabi emiratis, who treat them like slaves.
Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City, Knowledge Village, American University Dubai. Billions of square feet of space, most of it vertical. By night, it's all about zipping through the highways at 2:30 AM in the company's brand new BMW 5-series (because Gourgy the Indian driver goes to sleep at 10), with every option imaginable, at 185 km/hr with the techno trance bumping and a beautiful Romanian girl in the back seat, going to the Buddha Bar with two terrific colleagues, for more great trance, and incredible food, and terrific ambience. It's like a futuristic psychedelic dream. The level of service, of course, is unbelievable. The rich Arabs have all of their guest workers trained to be super-attentive. And these Koreans and Indians and Pakistanis love the Americans, because we're actually nice to them, in contrast to the Saudis and Omanis and Abu Dhabi emiratis, who treat them like slaves. So Americans get even more special treatment.
posted by PWN at 8:26 AM
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