Why is Dubai called a fake city?
Well, we have been living in Dubai, one of the emirates (state) in UAE since 2000 and have visited almost all the nooks and corners in UAE, specially Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi. Just wondering where I should start from, many have highlighted different views about Dubai as per their perception but I will still try to throw off some of my thoughts. Dubai is one of the fastest developed city in the world since 1976, it has transformed from sand dunes to awesome city with stunning high rise architectural designs.
Below are some of the images of change in Dubai from 1976 till 2020.
Vegetables market Dubai 1976
Bur Dubai waterside 1977
Charcoal market Dubai 1979
Little typing office in Bur Dubai souk in 1979
Pearl and coffee shop, old souk Sharjah 1977
Proud shop owner in Deira Dubai in 1978
Dubai is one of the great metropolitan city and till now holds the record of world’s tallest tower, the Burj khalifa, but it lacks some social culture.
Charcoal market Dubai 1979
Near old slaughterhouse Bur Dubai 1978
Daily life in Deira-Dubai souk 1977
Dubai Deira old Souk 1976
Building Dubai dry docks, world trade centre in the back 1979
Rowing Abra on the creek from Bur Dubai 1978
Abra activity on the Creek in Dubai 1979
Age old trade at the creek Deira-Dubai 1979
Camel caravan from al-ain to Dubai 1975
Orchestra at a Jumeirah wedding Dubai 1978
One barrel of Caltex oil in Jumeirah Dubai 1975
Arab man's world, falconers near Dubai 1978
Little girl in her wooden village, Dubai 1976
Arab man walking out of Hatta Fort 1978
Below Deira Dubai Creek skyline back in 1978
Dubai creek looking towards the newly built Sheraton hotel, 1978
Dubai creek 1978, in the far back ground you can see the world trade centre under construction at the time
Again trade centre view from the creek 1978
Lots of construction around the Sheraton 1978
Cars parked near Sheraton, 1978
Sheraton hotel Deira Dubai 1978
These ones are a few years later from 1982
Al Garhoud bridge 1982
Deira and Bur Dubai from air 1982
Jumeirah back in 1982
Dubai creek 1982
This was Dubai's main skyline back in 1989
What a difference in 17 years. Just shows what a little oil money can do.
Dubai in 1990
The same street in 2003
All of this was built in the last 5 years, including that island that looks like a palm tree.
The Palm Islands in Dubai. New Dutch dredging technology was used to create these massive man made islands. They are the largest artificial islands in the world and can be seen from space. Three of these Palms will be made with the last one being the largest of them all.
The resort will have 2,000 villas, 40 luxury hotels, shopping centres, movie theatres, and many other facilities. It is expected to support a population of approximately 500,000 people. It is advertised as being visible from the moon.
The World Islands. 300 artificially created islands in the shape of the world. Each island will have an estimated cost of $25-30 million.
The Burj al-Arab hotel in Dubai .. The worlds tallest hotel. Considered the only '7 star' hotel and the most luxurious hotel in the world. It stands on an artificial island in the sea.
Hydro polis, the world's first under water hotel. Entirely built in Germany and then assembled in Dubai, it is scheduled to be completed by 2009 after many delays.
The Burj khalifa construction began in 2005 and completed by 2009. At an estimated height of over 800 meters, it is still world's tallest building in the world. It is 40% taller than the the previous tallest building, the Taipei 101.
This is what downtown Dubai look like. More than 163 stories of the Burj khalifa and it is already the worlds tallest man made structure.
The Al Burj. This will be the centrepiece of the Dubai Waterfront. Once completed it will take over the title of the tallest structure in the world from the Burj Khalifa.
Recently it was announced that the final height of this tower will be 1200 meters. That would make it more than 30% taller than the Burj khalifa and three times as tall as the Empire State Building
The Burj al Alam or The World Tower is the world's highest hotel. At 480 meters it will only be 28 meters shorter than the Taipei 101.
The Trump International Hotel & Tower, which will be the centrepiece of one of the palm islands, The Palm Jumeirah.
Currently, the largest amusement park collection in the world is Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, which is also the largest single-site employer in the United states with 58,000 employees. Dubai land will be twice the size.
Dubai land will be built on 3 billion square feet (107 miles^2) at an estimated $20 billion price tag. The site will include a purported 45 mega projects and 200 hundred other smaller projects.
Dubai Sports City is a huge collection of sports arenas located in Dubai land.
Currently, the Walt Disney World Resort is the #1 tourist destination in the world. Once fully completed, Dubai land will easily take over that title since it is expected to attract 200,000 visitors daily.
The Dubai Marina is an entirely man made development that will contain over 200 high rise buildings when finished. It will be home to some of the tallest residential structures in the world. The completed first phase of the project is shown. Most of the other high rise buildings are finished in 2009-2010.
The Dubai Mall is the largest shopping mall in the world with over 9 million square feet of shopping and around 1000 stores. It is completed in 2008.
Ski Dubai, which is already open, is the largest indoor skiing facility in the world. This is a rendered image of another future indoor skiing facility that is being planned.
Some of the tallest buildings in the world, such as Ocean Heights and The Princess Tower, which are the largest residential building in the world at over a 100 stories, are in Dubai Marina .The UAE Spaceport would be the first spaceport in the world if construction ever gets under way.
The Dubai Metro system is the largest fully automated rail system in the world. The Dubai World Central International Airport will become the largest airport in size when it is completed. It will also eventually become the busiest airport .
Dubai is located in the Middle of the desert, but you won’t feel as standing in the middle of the desert as you are surrounded by high rise skyscrapers. Dubai culture is somewhat like westernised from food to shopping and brands. It’s in some ways one of the luxurious living city in the world.
The city is not massive but like a super fun theme park. It's super fun to visit once or twice, but you must have more reasons to visit Dubai again and again like business meeting or events.. About 80% of UAE population are expats, mostly Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Philippines, UK, France, Italy etc. Expats from more than 194 countries live in the UAE, mainly Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Only 20% of total population are local emirati population. Most of the locals are nice and hospitable.
The local emirate culture is not very visible in the city. If you’re really interested to experience emirati culture, you must visit to Al Ras and gold souk in Deira and bur Dubai (the old part of the city). You must visit the other emirates like Fujairah, Al-Ain, Umm Al Quwain and Ras Al Khaimah if you truly want to explore and know more about Dubai and United Arab Emirates.
The city is not walk able, especially in summer, you must have car to drive everywhere and the public transport is within some limits. Dubai metro is one of the world class metro with strict rules and regulations. Getting cab is much costlier here. The metro is divided into two different zones, red line and green line and both the lines intersect at two metro stations i.e. union metro station and Burjaman metro station. Expansion of Dubai metro work is going on to cover other parts of Dubai. Riding Dubai metro, you’re not allowed to eat, drink, and chew gum or nap.
Dubai is somewhat not Eco-friendly as if it rains it will be flooded within an hour; however, the government is investing a lot to make Dubai very Green and Eco-friendly. Pollution is high sometimes because of the sand storm and too many cars driving around. There is less greenery because the city is fast developing, there are very less outdoor public green parks or any outdoor activity year around during the month of May to September because it’s burning hot.
Dubai temperature is unbearable in the month of May to September, but as we are living since long we are used to Dubai heat now. But the climate from November to March is really amazing and you can see lot of tourists in these months. Dubai is one of the shopping destinations in the world with biggest world class awesome malls like Dubai mall and mall of the emirates.
- Apart from malls and shopping, shopping festivals, going to the beach, eating in your favourite restaurant, there isn't really much to do. The city of Dubai is super fun for a visit. Great nightlife, great entertainment and lots of fun things to do. But there is a problem with most expat community, no one is having time to have a decent interaction, most expats are there to work and make money and then leave if they are terminated or lose job. You can see tons of different expats with different personalities.
- It's a difficult city to make friends as the social life is almost nil, it’s more of a commercial city after all. People are there to make money, most are not there to live long term even if they want to, as UAE does not give nationality or permanent residency even if you live there for 30 years.
- The Dubai architecture design is beautiful, modern and its stunning at night but the most buildings in prime areas are mostly empty these days because they are highly expensive. Many buy their properties in Dubai as an investment but live either in India, Pakistan, Iran, US, UK, Russia, China or Europe.
Above is Dubai Creek Tower, as suggested would be at least a hundred metres taller than the Burj Khalifa. Dubai Creek Tower is a hyper-tall tower under development in Dubai; the tower will become the World's Tallest Tower and Tallest Man-made Structure upon completion in 2022. Since the mid 2017 they started using the new name Dubai Creek Tower, as it is planned to be the centre piece of Dubai Creek Harbour.
Dubai Creek Tower will be mainly used for observation decks or sky gardens. And there will be 20 floors occupied by hotels and restaurants as well, and even residences. At least 828 m (2,717 ft). Dubai Creek Tower is an observation tower under construction located in Dubai, at a preliminary cost of AED 3.67 billion (US$1 billion) and is expected to be completed in 2022.
On the other side, there is a big massive gap between social classes. The most Indians, Pakistanis and South East Asians are at the bottom of the social, but that also depends on the regional, social and economic situation of the region. European and American expats are being treated like royalties, unlike other nationalities. I have been treated differently when out with a westerner or a local national. Most of the locals love Indians and many love to visit India for different reasons.
Mostly nobody is interested in being your friend or having a drink with you. The different expats are of different nature; some are arrogant and most are working class even the western expats.
No dating scene. If you are with a family with good source of income living in Dubai you’re lucky.
Most of the locals are very friendly, though many are arrogant as well, willing to integrate with the outsiders, especially if you’re a professional. However, many in the expat communities pretend to be your friend but in reality they are not.
The city is a great fun, glamorous, super shiny high rise skyscrapers and very futuristic. I find Dubai beautiful with great restaurants, festivals, and parties but it’s not a city with its local culture. It's a business commercial city with too many nice things distracting you.
Even though Dubai is surrounded by desert but still it has its own charm and nature. Despite many odds, we will always love UAE, it has given us a lot, specially Dubai, its local emirate culture, desert safari on sand dunes, amazing stunning architectural design of high rise tower, as we are living here for the last 2 decades almost and it’s like a second home for us.
