Wednesday 12 December 2012

What Real Estate Crash? Dubai's Towering Ambitions Return - Arabic Knowledge@Wharton

Where can you build the world's biggest mall? How about digging a canal running from the sea under an already built highway? Would it be possible to construct a giant theme park with five different theme parks inside it? It can happen in Dubai.

In years past, the United Arab Emirates' metropolis made a name for itself by planning projects that seemed to be concocted from sheer flights of fancy -- towers that would revolve, an underwater hotel, a suburb replete with mechanized dinosaurs. Some actually came to fruition, such as the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest freestanding tower, and the man-made Palm Jumeirah island. But most vanished like desert mirages in 2009, when Dubai's debt standstill announcement caused economic shockwaves worldwide.

Owing much to its newfound status as a regional safe haven from Arab Spring discontent, Dubai's economy has inched back. And seeking to capitalize on this momentum, the Emirate's leadership has in recent weeks announced a series of development megaprojects that brought back memories of the days during its boom when outlandish schemes were announced almost daily.

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