grapeshisha: Dubai - this time last year...

It's been a year since the Dubai buckled, announced that they were in trouble and that there was way too much debt that they couldn't repay. In the words of who want's to be a millionaire - It needed a lifeline. In the end, Dubai phoned a friend - and the rest is history. But here we are one year on, and Dubai continues to feel pain. Last year, we talked about the Dubai Debt Damage and the Double Dip. That double dip didn't transpire, but let's face facts. The world is in trouble. Dublin got a bailout, and more European countries will follow.



The Dubai headlines of the tail end of 2009 were as notorious as the Lehman crash - and indeed stockmarkets plunged - but it is now etched in history as the end of excess. Dubai, today, is a different place to 10 years ago. For years, people couldn't understand how Dubai was sustaining itself. There were talks of bubbles, and then the bubble burst.

But Dubai continues to run. It may be a city without the occupancy, but the heart still beats, but may just a little fainter. Dubai didn't quite get where it wanted to be. It sprinted as hard as it could, and ultimately didn't reach the finish line. And all the time, in the background chugged Abu Dhabi. And, as with the fable - slow and steady wins the race. Dubai was not all conquering, but it still is an amazing achievement - a modern metropolis, built out of sand.