Dubai is a very silly place

(More blog entries from bbirney)

<p>My seatmate on the plane to Dubai claimed that Dubai is "just like Las Vegas, but in the Middle East." To set the record straight: Dubai is like "the Las Vegas of the Middle East" in that it allows smoking and drinking and has some ostentiatiously large fountains. It is NOT like Las Vegas in that there are no hookers or gambling, and in fact&nbsp;impropriety of any sort strongly is frowned upon. On the balance, I would have to say it is in fact NOTHING like Las Vegas. The fountains are quite impressive, however.</p>

The larger mall is four stories tall and is larger than some municipalities in America. It contains a skating rink, a massive waterfall that spans all four stories, and an aquarium larger than Boston's. (The smaller mall actually has a fully operational - if not very challenging - downhill ski slope.) Women in full burkhas shop at Victoria's Secret for lacy underwear. The California Pizza Kitchen is of average quality, and Starbucks has established an every-other-block presence. And most of the city is less than seven years old.

Interestingly, the city planners have enshrined the middle eastern tradition of narrow windy roads while building an otherwise bustling modern city. You cannot walk between ANY two points in the city without going three to four times out of your way to avoid construction or the backsides of poorly thought out palaces.

The Burj Dubai, the tallest tower in the world, is extremely impressive in the daytime, but is nearly invisible at night, since there are no tenants. This actually describes a great many of the buildings in the city. Since the real estate downturn, most of the city has emptied out. (Apparently a fair majority of the inhabitants prior to 2007 were real estate and development speculators.) It's a city of two million built for a population about the size of New York.

It's as clean, modern and safe a city as I have ever seen in my travels. It is also, at first blush, a wholly unsustainable waste of some very rich peoples' money. If whoever dies with most toys win, Sheik Mohammed wins, hands down. The rest of us can stop playing. He has built a very attractive monument to his wealth (actually to his credit rating, since Abu Dhabi financed most of it) in the middle of the desert, just as did the Caliphs of old. If that is the purpose of Dubai, it serves well.

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