The Factors That Had a Role in Dubai Modernization - Essay Example

Abdulrahman Alsadoun ID 1208653091 ENG 107 June 6, Dubai Located in the heart of the Middle East, is one of the most modernized cities in the whole wide world. Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, has experienced a huge transition from being just a small town of fishermen and fish traders a few decades ago to a global business center attracting multinationals, executives, and tourists from all over the world. This rapid growth has earned it the title of the fastest growing desert city on the planet. It is important to look at the history of Dubai and determine the factors that had a role in its modernization. Dubai got its independence from the British in 1971. According to “UAE” Countries of the World and Their Leaders, the United Kingdom had announced its decision to terminate its treaty relationship with the seven Trucial Sheikhdoms under its protection in 1968. The announcement of the end of the protectorate treaty was the beginning of the steps that led to the independence of Dubai. An attempt was made by the Sheikhdoms to form a union of Arab union but it was unsuccessful due to the disagreement in terms that would govern the union. Dubai natural environment makes it one of the hottest inhospitable places on earth. The city is devoid of any rivers and it does hardly have any rain. About 40 years ago, Dubai was a small port that thrived on local trade of spices, clothing, and fish. Fish traders and fishermen would meet to conduct their trade and do business with the locals. However, the fortune of the country changed when it discovered oil within its borders. Oil is referred to as the black gold. Oil is one of the major sources of energy that fuels the earth. As such, there is a huge demand of it to drive industries and economies in the world. The discovery, production, and sale of oil were responsible for the huge returns of profits that the UAE enjoyed. The government of UAE decided it was best to invest the profits in its own territory and thus, it started to invest in the city of Dubai. The investment in Dubai was guided by the philosophy, “build and they will come.” This philosophy was that of their founding father, Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum. Therefore, with the philosophy as a guideline, the government of UAE set forth to build a city that would be a marvel and amazing place to visit. First on its agenda was to improve the existing small airstrip in Dubai serving a few airlines into an international airport that would accommodate the large number of visitors who would come to Dubai each year. Dubai International Airport was reconstructed and equipped with the best technology and the latest equipment. With the new airport in place, the number of visitors and passengers started to swell, growing in number from one year to the next. The increase in the number of passengers and visitors has seen it be ranked among the top airports in the world. The airport became one of the busiest airports of the planet. According to Middle East, the Dubai International Airport will handle an estimated 75 million passengers by the year 2015. The estimated number of passengers will help it leapfrog London Heathrow to become the biggest and busiest airport in the world. Currently, the Emirates New Civil Aviation Strategy Plan estimates that Dubai is in the number two slot of busiest airports, having overtaken Paris Charles de Gaulle in March. More than 57.6m passengers travelled through Dubai in 2012. In the first quarter of the year 2015, 21.9m passengers have travelled through the airport, putting Dubai International well on the way to another record-breaking year. After the construction of the airport, the next step was to build tourist attractions that would interest tourist to flock to Dubai. With Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum’s philosophy of build and they will come, Dubai started building new islands from land that was reclaimed from the sea. The Sea Islands was a new concept in the world and was a major boost in its attempt to attract people from around the world and especially tourists. To accomplish this vision, Dubai hired foreign companies to develop, design, and engineer the islands. In its pursuit of astonishing and amazing work that is inspired by excellence, Dubai’s new man made islands took the shapes of a palm tree and the other one was shaped into the continents of the world. Georgenes H. Cavalcante opines “Palm Jumeirah is the most completely developed of several man made coastal island mega constructions in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He further observes that the palm shaped island, surrounded by an elliptical breakwater, was developed 7 years ago, has an overall footprint of 23 km², of which the constructed island surface area is 7.9 km², and is connected to shore via a 5 km long spine from the mainland to the crescent tip.” Apart from creating a destination for tourist, the other main goal of building the islands was to benefit from the real estate potential that they possessed. With the unprecedented rise in the number of people in Dubai, a need arose in the real estate sector to construct mega buildings that would accommodate a large number of people together with all the amenities that they would need. Essentially, this mega building would be cities within a city. This need inspired the $1.5 billion Burj Khalifa, a kind vertical city, which is the highest structure in the world ever made by humanity and took 12,000 workers five years to build. According to Current Events, Burj Khalifa has a vertical height of 2,716-foot with 59 elevators to help move people from within its vast structure. Its construction began on January 2004, and the building was officially opened on January 2010. One of the key amenities of the tower is a dancing fountain in front of it similar to the one in Las Vegas. In addition, it also boasts of a mosque in its 158th tower and a swimming pool at the 76th floor both of which hold the record of being the highest above ground of their kinds. The new developments in real estate were also accompanied by shopping malls to offer retail outlets where the huge population of Dubai would do their shopping. One such mall was the $7.4 billion Dubai Mall. Dubai Mall is the largest shopping mall in the entire world covering and estimated 48 million sq. feet of space. It is considered the best destination for shopaholics as it hosts shops that sell anything imaginable with the best of the best brands. Due to its sheer size, the inside of the Dubai Mall has taxies to help one move from one place to another and from on store to another. According to Yaqoob, Tahira, the mall will boast of temperature-controlled streets, 8 million sq. feet of mall, a 15,000-seat stadium, and an indoor theme park. Dubai government had already done a magnificent job in order to turn the city into a modern, amazing, and breath taking place. Key to their success was the philosophy of Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, which was “build and they will come.” The production and sale of oil availed the much-needed funds to use in the building of the City of Dubai. The construction of the Dubai International Airport was a key infrastructure to the success story of Dubai. It facilitated the large number of visitors to the city. The further construction of the Burj Khalifa and the Dubai Mall gave the large number of visitors, expatriates, and local people avenues where they could indulge in shopping for goods in the finest retail outlets. In addition, these structures together with others not covered in this essay expanded the real estate industry of Dubai making it the most sort after in the world, despite its location in the middle of inhospitable climate. Citation Work "United Arab Emirates." Countries of the World and Their Leaders Yearbook 2007. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 1947-1955. "Dubai Airport Aims To Be The Worlds Busiest By 2015." Middle East 446 (2013): 11. Academic Search Premier. Georgenes H., Cavalcante, et al. "Water Currents And Water Budget In A Coastal Megastructure, Palm Jumeirah Lagoon, Dubai, UAE." Journal Of Coastal Research 27.2 (2011): 384-393. Academic Search Premier. "World News Roundup." Current Events 109.14 (2010): 2-3. Academic Search Premier. YAQOOB, TAHIRA. "Shop Till You Drop." Macleans 127.32 (2014): 39. Academic Search Premier. Read More