Dubai: Bursting at the seams

Dubai has been in the news lately, mostly for the wrong reasons. I was in Dubai for a couple of days after a long gap of about five years. During this time, Dubai has grown significantly in terms of buildings, traffic, population among other things.

Like Vegas, Dubai is permanently under construction. I had the pleasure of seeing the Burj-al-arab Hotel. What a cool design!

Traffic seems to have become a complete nightmare. The infrastructure needs to keep pace or else this could soon be another Bangalore (based on traffic comparisons).

The summer had not yet set in. So the weather was quiet pleasant.

College education in Dubai has now become an option with several foreign colleges and universities establishing Dubai campuses (BITS Pilani). In the past most people sent their kids to Europe, America or India for their college education.

It is now possible to own land/property in Dubai. There are some cool villas being built on land reclaimed from the seas. The going rate is around $8M and celebrities such as Shahrukh Khan, Tiger Woods and other have apparently signed up to purchase these villas. (this is through the grapevine).

Dubai now has a stock exchange, an in-door Ski slope, cricket ground (Sharjah), the world ICC headquarters, etc.

Slowly but surely, the UAE Shiekhs are putting their money to create the best from around the world in their own backyards. If they don’t plan the infrastructure to keep pace with their growth plans, it could be a nightmare waiting to happen.