If you've been to one of my presentations either in person or through a virtual classroom, you know that I refer to our Dubai center and the massive amount of real estate available there. So with Dubai in the headlines for the last month, I thought I'd take the opportunity to look a little closer at Dubai's real estate market and their investments in the U.S.
Here's a short history lesson on Dubai, known as the home of sand, sun and shopping. A century ago, it was a peaceful town where Bedouin traders and pearl divers lodged. Today those merchants are gone. The city stands with its futuristic skyscrapers, alongside mosques, as one of the greatest cities in the world. Dubai boasts of its tremendous development at a pace unparalleled anywhere in the world. If you look into the ancient history of the region, there are suggestions that humans have been living there since at least 3000 BC. What a dramatic change!
Dubai has a prime location between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. These trade routes have been exceptionally valuable for much of this area's history. By the late 16th century, the Portuguese controlled local trade routes. This pushed the tribes that had lived on the land to oases, far from the coast. The British gained control of the region's waterways in 1766. Dubai was amidst local power struggles and European Imperialism. In 1833, the Bani Yas (a neighboring tribal power), under the leadership of Maktoum bin Butti, raided Dubai and took the area. The Al-Maktoum family still rules the emirate today. In 1971, Dubai became the seventh emirate of the newly formed UAE. Dubai's story is amazing, as one writer put it, "A rags-to-riches tale."
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