Top 10 Outrageous Dubai Construction Projects

[Churchill]

Originally Posted by Taranatar

To be honest, in their position it's a pretty fair deal for them to spend it on their own country's future best interests.

Let's be clear about something here, they are doing this for the best interests of about 500 of the richest people in Dubai, not the country.

[dak]

Meh, with this 700 billion bailout we could build five of everything on that list easy.

Wonder if doing so would create some jobs...

[Wilf McQuade]

Originally Posted by Churchill

Name one that is:
a) in the middle of a fucking desert
b) surrounded by tyrannical governments full of poor, radicalized people
c) so expensive that only CEOs can go
d) A COPY OF OTHER STRUCTURES (gg imagination)
e) difficult for Westerners to visit (in terms of time, cost, and security)
f) /has absolutely no history behind it
g) not tied to culture

EDIT: And if the timeframe of 10-15 years until oil runs out is accurate, none of these points are going to change in time.

a) Pyramids
b) see a, Playboy Mansion and Disney World
C) I actually agree with this point. I would love to see it but that's the way the world works. You want to fly first class, you can't pay economy. While were at it, I would like Sporting events, olympics to come down in price and while we're at it, I would like a Bentley for 10k /derail off
d) there is a lot of imagination in some of those projects. I imagine architects around the world collectively beat it at the thought of being approached by a dubai developer to run wild
f) this is a given and really pointless to comment on. It's too early, though likely it will tell the tale of the how the middle east got rich off the backs of western nations; a resource for which wars were fought, economies collapsed and others thrived...
g) that's what kind of makes it unique to me. There are jews and arabs and non religious others all working and residing in 1 area without religion dominating the landscape (figuratively and literally speaking)

[Stoerm]

Originally Posted by Ailu

I would say this is ignorant if anything. How many engineers and doctors are going to fly planes into buildings and blow up trains and buses before people realize the above statement is a load of crap. Terrorists are born out of beliefs, but unfortunately narrow minded people will never accept this and instead blame it on something that's easier to understand. An islamic nation under dictatorship rule will never be stable.

So your argument is that that followers of Islam are extremists regardless of economic circumstance and are "born out of beliefs" ... Islamic engineers and doctors fly planes into buildings and go unnoticed ...

"An islamic nation under dictatorship rule will never be stable."

Iraq was pretty fucking stable under Saddam. Nice troll, idiot.

Edit: this person who believes muslims are, by belief, justified in ramming planes into buildings, blowing up bus[s]es and trains might need a visit from the local authorities. Plus, his sleeper cell here has been operative since 2002. Who fucking knows what they're up to at this point?

[dak]

It be super lulz if some white trash Americans hijacked an Airbus A380 from Al Maktoum International Airport and crashed it into the Burj Dubai in an attempt to get back at the Bin Laden family for 9/11.

[Hathe]

That would actually be quite hilarious.

[Ailu]

Originally Posted by Scientologist

Wrong. The "engineers and doctors" that are terrorists have legions of willing, poor, retarded motherfuckers to fly the planes for them and strap bombs to themselves. The engineers and doctors stay behind, alive, to run the organization. The foot soldiers of terrorism are born out of poverty and desperation while the leaders are just born out being born as crazy fucks who were going to end up doing something fucking psychotic anyways but happen to latch onto radical Islam first.

Eh, the point of my post was that they don't only stay behind to run the organization. They hijack planes and fly them into WTC or try to blow themselves up next to a crowded area. They aren't necessarily poor or come from a poor background. It's just easier to blame something we don't understand on poverty.

Besides, just for arguments sake, let's say they all were in fact poor and exploited. Why then, is the world filled with poor and exploited people who don't commit acts of terrorism or would never commit terrorism of the sort you see so often from Muslims?

Poverty has very little to do with anything.

Originally Posted by Stoerm

So your argument is that that followers of Islam are extremists regardless of economic circumstance and are "born out of beliefs" ... Islamic engineers and doctors fly planes into buildings and go unnoticed ...

"An islamic nation under dictatorship rule will never be stable."

Iraq was pretty fucking stable under Saddam. Nice troll, idiot.

Edit: this person who believes muslims are, by belief, justified in ramming planes into buildings, blowing up bus[s]es and trains might need a visit from the local authorities. Plus, his sleeper cell here has been operative since 2002. Who fucking knows what they're up to at this point?

How you can make out Iraq to have been stable under Saddam is beyond me. We must have very different ideas of what makes a country stable.

[Cybsled]

A COPY OF OTHER STRUCTURES (gg imagination)

Are you being serious? Dubai is architect fantasy land. You get a near limitless budget + huge creative freedom + a massive workforce to make it happen.

If you threw a bunch of architects into an arena and told them to fight to the death for a chance to get to do their dream project on a mega scale in Dubai, they would all start reaching for their swords.

[warhammer13]

I moved to Dubai a little over a month ago from the states, and here are my impressions:

1) Cost of living -
a) Food - cheaper than in the states
b) Rent - Insane. My 2 bedroom costs ~$3,000 USD/month. It is in a nice area, and it is a nice apartment though. There are cheaper places.
c) Drinking - New York City prices.
d) Services (dry cleaning, ironing, maids, taxis, etc.) - Cheap as hell.
e) Petrol - I've spent the equivalent of 15-20 USD for the entire month of September.
f) Clothes - Anything designer is significantly more expensive than in the states. For example: I bought a pair of Oakley's before I left for about $150. The same pair here was almost double that price.

2) Working here -
a) Leave - I have 25 days of paid leave per year (weekends not included). This is pretty standard for professionals.
b) Salaries - I graduated college two years ago, and was making low/mid 50s when I left. Now, I would have to make low, 6 figures to have the same take home in the states as I have here (taking US taxes into consideration).
c) Commuting - Not too bad for me personally, but it is not out of the ordinary for people to spend an hour and a half+ a day in traffic, getting to and from work.

3) Things to do -
a) Movies - Most movies come out really late here. I'm not sure when Deathrace came out in the states, but it JUST came out here.
b) Social clubs, hobbies, etc - Like I said I've only been here a month, but there seems to be a club or organization for just about anything you're into. Personally, I've been looking into getting some used kitesurfing gear; it looks like a ton of fun, and they have a very active community here.
c) The beach - I've been going about twice a week. It's very clean.
d) Bars, clubbing - Expensive, but very classy.
e) Excursions - www.bluebanana.ae - Cheap, and very fun.

4) Teh suck -
a) Haze - All those crystal clear pictures you see of the Burj Al Arab are not reality. There hasn't been a single clear day since I've been here.
b) The heat - It was bad at first, but unless you're disgustingly fat, you get used to it in about 3 weeks.
c) Smelly, little, brown people - Lots.
d) No system for addresses - GPS systems here are near useless.
e) Censored internet - as I mentioned in FSR, the Screenshots forums is blocked, but other FOH forums are not. No porn either obviously, but all you have to do is get a VPN. http://www.fohguild.org/forums/1200768-post28523.html

5) Teh win -
a) The beach.
b) Western expats are treated very well here (yes, I'm a white, 6'2, 180lb American). I don't know who mentioned above that Dubai was "difficult" for westerners to visit, but that's about the most fucking retarded thing in this thread. You get off your plane, give your passport to the little brown guy, he stamps it, and you leave.
c) I was a little worried about how these people would react to me as an American. These concerns were quelled very quickly. Nobody gives a shit here. And there are tons of British, German, Aussie, French, and South African expats here for you to blend into.
d) Cops - Not at all like in the states. These guys don't want to bust people. Most of the time (unless you're doing something totally fucking retarded), they will tell you to cut it out and be on your way. If they catch you drinking and driving, there is a high chance that they will follow you home to make sure you get there safe. It's just a different mentality. They don't want the pain in the ass of having to haul you in, so they will give you every opportunity to avoid having that happen. As to the story about the British couple caught having sex on the beach...there is a part of that story that isn't mentioned often. The cop actually told them to cut it out, and then he left. He came back, found that they hadn't obeyed his orders, and told them he was going to take them in. The chick got up and tried to strike the cop. What would happen if they did this same shit in Florida? 4 years for assault on an officer in the US? Nobody would raise an eyebrow. It's just that there is something particularly unsettling about being at the mercy of a non-western judicial system, and I do understand that because I feel the same way.


6) Misc. -
a) Humanitarian issues - Whoever said that the locals here are suffering blah blah blah is also misinformed. The locals here are VERY well off. Better off than your average family in rural America. Most of them have live-in maids, luxury cars, and jobs in the government (only locals can enter government buildings). You may be confusing "locals" with the imported labor. I haven't seen their living conditions, so I can't really speak on that other than to say these people make enough to live in Dubai, and still support their families back home.
b) Terrorists here? - The way I figure it is, if hundreds of huge, multi-national corporations have invested billions of dollars here, the threat can't be any higher than the US.
c) The oil drying up? - I don't really care because I'll have already milked this place and left. Although, post-steel-boom Pittsburgh seems to be doing ok.
d) It's not that expensive to visit here. My company flew me out for a 3 day interview, and I ended up coming early at my own expense. I stayed in a $60 a night hotel, and spent about $300 on drinking and excursions, and I had a fucking blast.

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask.

Desert quad riding:

[Wilf McQuade]

Always good to hear the facts straight fromt he camel's mouth

What do you do out of curiosity?

Are jobs plentiful there and how easy or difficult is it for a Westerner with a solid resume to just show up and get hired as a professional (not that I am looking, just curious how it works). I know you may not know given you took a different route to get there.


If you are just walking downtown do you look at the infrastructure and still go wow, this is crazy shit. What were your first impressions when you got off the plane re. the landscape.

[r3probate]

Originally Posted by Rush

Sand Nigger Rich.

A thousand internets for you, if only I could.

[kegkilla]

Originally Posted by dak

It be super lulz if some white trash Americans hijacked an Airbus A380 from Al Maktoum International Airport and crashed it into the Burj Dubai in an attempt to get back at the Bin Laden family for 9/11.

lmao


it will be interesting to see what comes of all of this in 10-15 years or so.

[Churchill]

Originally Posted by Wilf McQuade

a) Pyramids
b) see a, Playboy Mansion and Disney World
C) I actually agree with this point. I would love to see it but that's the way the world works. You want to fly first class, you can't pay economy. While were at it, I would like Sporting events, olympics to come down in price and while we're at it, I would like a Bentley for 10k /derail off
d) there is a lot of imagination in some of those projects. I imagine architects around the world collectively beat it at the thought of being approached by a dubai developer to run wild
f) this is a given and really pointless to comment on. It's too early, though likely it will tell the tale of the how the middle east got rich off the backs of western nations; a resource for which wars were fought, economies collapsed and others thrived...
g) that's what kind of makes it unique to me. There are jews and arabs and non religious others all working and residing in 1 area without religion dominating the landscape (figuratively and literally speaking)

I should have been clearer...i want you to name something we all want to visit that is all of those.

[Zeste]

I live next to Vegas.

Vegas is dirty, disgusting, smelly, full of disgusting homeless and crack addicts, hotter than a mother fucker, in the middle of nowhere, has very little originality or creativity...

Seriously. Vegas is a unwiped buttcrack with lights and sounds. And yet, the place is fucking packed 24/7/365.


If you haven't visited Vegas, all of it, you can't really judge dubai. God Vegas is awful.

And yet, awesome.

[Itzena]

Originally Posted by Churchill

Name one that is:
a) in the middle of a fucking desert
b) surrounded by tyrannical governments full of poor, radicalized people
c) so expensive that only CEOs can go
d) A COPY OF OTHER STRUCTURES (gg imagination)
e) difficult for Westerners to visit (in terms of time, cost, and security)
f) /has absolutely no history behind it
g) not tied to culture

EDIT: And if the timeframe of 10-15 years until oil runs out is accurate, none of these points are going to change in time.

Las Vegas hits over half of those.