Dubai's Developmental Projects
Dubai, which is located on the Persian Gulf, is one of the the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates. Initially Dubai's revenue solely came from the oil industry, but currently Dubai's construction projects has brought it major publicity and even more money. In a 2008 survey done by City Mayors, Dubai was ranked 44th in the world when talking about the world's best financial cities[1]. Dubai is the eighth most visited city in the world.
With ongoing construction happening in Dubai, it is quickly becoming one of the world's fastest growing cities. Every year the state is adding more tourist attractions to their already huge list. Here are just a few of their future attractions, and already finished attractions;
Hydropolis The Hydropolis Hotel, which was planned to be completed around 2006, but was delayed, will be the world's first underwater Hotel. The Hotel will consist of over 220 rooms; including conference rooms, a marine research laboratory, and even a plastic surgery clinic[2].
Burj Khalifa The Burj Khalifa, formerly known as the Burj Dubai is the world's largest man made building. Construction started in 2004 and the skyscraper just opened January 4, 2010. The cost for this project was projected to be approximately 1.5 billion U.S. dollars. Inside the skyscraper are hotel suites, broadcast stations, apartments, etc[3].
Dubai Mall The Dubai mall, which opened on November 4, 2008, is the world's largest mall, with over 600 retailers. The mall gets over 750, 000 visits weekly and has a parking structure to fit 14,000 vehicles[4]. The mall has more than 150 food and beverage outlets all masterfully spread over an astonishing area totaling 12.1 million square feet and even has an Olympic size skating rink.
Palm Islands The palm islands, located on the coast of Dubai, are the world's largest man made islands. The island is in the shape of a palm tree with 16 fronds on both sides of a long trunk, this island itself is 5 kilometers. Part of the island called Palm Jumeirah will consist of residential areas, hotels, theme parks, spas, etc. Residents have already begun to move into their homes on this particular part of the island[5].
Dubailand Dubailand is an entertainment park, something like Walt Disney Resort, but twice the size, some consider it to be a city within a city. The park is divided into six themes; Attractions and Experience World, Sports and Outdoor World, Eco-Tourism World, Themed Leisure and Vacation World, Retail and Entertainment World, and Downtown[6]. Though the park is fully yet to be finished and is still under construction, there are still many open attractions for tourist. The completion Dubailand is said to be in four phases, all four phases are expected to be completed by the year 2018.
References
- http://www.citymayors.com/economics/financial-cities.html
- http://www.vacationindubai.com/Pages/development_in_Dubai.htm
- http://web.archive.org/web/20110723173544/http://business.maktoob.com/20090000412054/Inside_the_Burj_Dubai/Article.htm
- http://web.archive.org/web/20200128105220/https://www.emaar.com/index.aspx%3Fpage%3Dthe-dubai-mall
- http://web.archive.org/web/20191017062211/http://guide.theemiratesnetwork.com:80/living/dubai/the_palm_islands.php
- http://web.archive.org/web/20191127061756/http://guide.theemiratesnetwork.com:80/living/dubai/dubailand.php