Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< Especially since there is this other $64 Billion EPCOT-type Dubailand coming with, I believe, 5 other theme parks (Uni/Dreamworks/ Formula One Park,HIT Ent., and a Dinosaur park). >>> I was in Dubai two weeks ago for the first time, and the place is quite amazing. It's hard to put into words in so many ways. Regarding DubaiLand, it is absolutely *huge*. The land area is several times the size of the entire WDW complex, and will house tons of stuff. It just goes on and on in the desert. There's an EPCOT-style park called Global Village that's almost complete. There will be something like a Land Of Arabia park based on local themes. There will be an actual Universal Studios and Six Flags parks (not local knock-offs). And tons of other sporting, shopping, residential, and hotel developments. And, what was talked about at the top of this thread, <<< BG, SW, DC, Aq. for Dubai >>> is not even part of DubaiLand - those developments are completely separate and are taking place on the offshore man-made palm island.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Oh superdry, you have me frothing at the mouth. I love Dubai, and I think we will be venturing over when these parks are built out.
Originally Posted By SuperDry I took a cab ride out to the DubaiLand site. Driving through it, you can get the sense of the scale and scope of the place. It's really hard to put to words what's going on there and how enormous it will be once complete.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< Take a look at the Dubai Marina disaster to see that - every skyscraper looks the same and they are literally right next door to each other casting shadows over everything. >>> That's certainly true. There is a development in the marina that stretches some half a mile, and consists of dozens of high-rise apartment towers that all look exactly the same and have almost no external features. I guess you could call them "desert style" but by that I would mean "it all looks like a bunch of sand." Thankfully, not everything in Dubai looks like that. But what leemac said about the infrastructure is very true, especially when it comes to transport: there are hundreds of developments going on, many of them high-rise towers, but the civic infrastructure to service them all is lagging behind. I think that part of the problem is that foreign investors don't directly purchase things like roadways, sewer systems, and electrical grids, so investment in these things has lagged. But it's only a matter of time before these things catch up to Dubai, and I think with road traffic in certain areas at certain times, that time has already arrived.
Originally Posted By leemac <<I think that part of the problem is that foreign investors don't directly purchase things like roadways, sewer systems, and electrical grids, so investment in these things has lagged.>> True in certain circumstances. However the vast majority of development is being done by Emirati-controlled real estate companies so there isn't much of an excuse there. There is very limited foreign development. Dubai was clear that it wanted to control everything. Hence why the big developers are still controlled by the government - see Emaar, Dubai Holdings etc. I believe that is still the case today although many are listed on the Dubai Stock Exchange (but only minority interests or at best the entire management is sovereignty).
Originally Posted By SuperDry I was referring to the purchasers of the individual units of all of those apartment high-rises - aren't those mostly foreigners?
Originally Posted By leemac ^^ Yup - 80% of UAE are ex-pats. I'm not sure you can hold the leaseholders/freeholders responsible for the lack of civil infrastructure. Ultimately it is the developer and government's responsibility to ensure there are adequate utilities.
Originally Posted By SuperDry That's what I was trying to say - I think you may have misunderstood. What I was saying is that because the foreign buyers don't directly purchase the infrastructure, there is a lesser incentive for local developers to invest in such things. Rather, they can turn a quick buck by not worrying about such things and collecting as much foreign capital as possible.
