top 200 commentsshow all 304

[–]nhdw 44 points45 points ago

So, what color would you like your building?

We have Sun-Baked Tan, Dry Desert Wheat, Apocalypse Orange, Khaki Catastrophe, and Sandstorm Brown.

[–]bender_2982 20 points21 points ago

Khaki Catastrophe

Bravo.

[–]IntlMysteryMan 170 points171 points ago

I've been through Dubai for work many times. It really is not as big of a deal as Reddit seems to make it. On the ground it is filthy, muggy, extremely hot, and not overly friendly to westerners. This is unless of course you are rich and can stay at the super posh locales and pay to be pandered to. But then again, if you were there are many more incredible places to be.

The hotels on the other hand... Most 5 Star hotels are surprisingly affordable and the level of service you get puts anything I have experienced in the US to shame. Example. I had purchased a bottle of Cognac at the airport to enjoy in the room, as practically the only place to purchase alcohol in Dubai are the bars found within the nicer hotels which charge astronomical prices (morality tax?). I had left the mostly unconsumed bottle in the room in order to catch a flight the following day. After being shuttled to the airport in a Mercedes (this is a standard level of service mind you) and waiting at the airport for several hours due to flight delays I learned my flight was canceled. With a quick call to the hotel I was shuttled back (free of charge) and booked into my old room. Then, after a simple inquiry with the front desk as to what happens to food and beverages left behind by a rooms occupant, my bottle VSOP was delivered to my room within minutes with a nod and a smile. No questions asked.

[–]Ninboycl 105 points106 points ago

I've never heard anyone on Reddit say it was a "big deal" or a nice place..

I've only heard terrible things about weather, religious crazies, slave labour, etc.

[–]pigeonsoap 34 points35 points ago

Because Reddit has a habit of exaggerating about places, especially when most of these people have never been there and has Muslims. I've been going* there for 10 years(going next week too) and I've never had any of those problems. It's the slave labor issue that is serious though.

*the thing about Dubai is that you have to be rich pretty well paid in order to enjoy it. You also have to keep your head down when it come to dealing with local Emirati's. You can never ever argue or mess with them or else you're fucked. But they only make up about 10% of the population anyway. If you're rich, level headed and respect some of the rules there you'll be fine and you'll be treated well.

*- I know to some this might sound like shit, "keeping your head down" but for someone like me it's the best travel destination in my area and I'll take it, as do many other people. You can't expect to be treated like you would in your country everywhere you go ya know? I accept that and deal with it like a G mufuckas.

[–]MoT 41 points42 points ago

This is not necessarily an answer to what you've said.. but as an addition to anyone who might be interested.

I visited Abu Dhabi and Dubai quite recently and given the history of the country/region, it's remarkable what they did [the ruling family] for their citizens. In a way it's the most extreme case of wealth redistribution among a population recorded in history.

It is being done in a time when the rest of the world has abandoned the use of slavery for building their infrastructure and increasing their wealth but lets not kid ourselves.. Every colonial country has done so and way worse in the past and in some cases they're still collecting the fruits of that labor. Only 50 years ago, there would be no outrage about this(I am in no way trying to defend this practice, just a sliver of perspective).

Modern day slavery is a very serious problem, as you say. I've gone past one of the camps where workers live, in buildings that seemed to be around 8 stories high and looked like "projects"(public housing). I wasn't allowed to go in and check it out but from a very reliable source(my host) there are rooms rented to construction workers(who have been brought there under false pretenses, in most cases) where they stay in up to 16 in one room and they share their beds with another worker(8 beds and 16 people). One sleeps while the other is on shift. Not sure if that's the extreme, or the norm. But...

I have also spoken extensively to a great fellow from India who has lived there for ~30 years and now works as a driver(not a taxi) who drives a BMW X5 all day and he's got his own tiny room, bathroom with a shower, small kitchen and a tv which is all paid for and makes around $1200 a month(no income tax). Lot of that money is sent back to his family. On a side note he told me that his daughter who has been able to study and finish a University and get a nice job in an IT company in India had told him that she wants to marry some guy.. That led to them not talking for 8 months but in the end he caved in and gave his blessing for the marriage to go through and now he's very happy for her and actually likes his new son in law.

Regardless, the point of this example is that there are many many jobs to fill in a society and yes, the citizens of the UAE make only around 10%(and they're being taken care of like nowhere else) so most of the work is done by immigrants.. That includes doctors, policemen, fire fighters, utilities, services, hotel personnel, government agencies and even state sector jobs in ministries of the interior and foreign affairs(I'd guess the trend is similar across the others as well) up to medium management. A lot of those jobs aren't great but they're feeding whole families and then some half the world away.

In Abu Dhabi you can find a humongous and imposing place of worship for the official religion of the country which is obviously Islam, called the Sheikh Zayed Mosque after the first president of the country Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. It is beautiful. There are however, churches for christians and temples for hindus. The freedom to practice religion is baseline, however missionary work and activities towards converting people to a different faith are criminally prosecuted as an insult to Islam. Muslim men can marry non-muslim women but muslim women can only marry muslim men(converting does the trick). For Expatriates and tourists looking to marry in UAE, there are some small limitations but it's not an interesting topic, overall.

There's also always talk of sustainability in regards to UAE. It is also it's biggest challenge going forward as a country. They have realized that the dependance on oil is not the way to go and they're really diversifiying everywhere. Just outside of Abu Dhabi, on the Saadiyat Island they're building a tourist and cultural complex which will include the Louvre, Guggenheim museum among others. What they are doing conceptually is creating hubs concentrated on certain areas, art and culture in this case but much more so all areas of business and entertainment(Yas Island) elsewhere.

Also, during my visit I had a random and a very pleasant encounter with an Economics professor who teaches at one of the Abu Dhabi's universities. In my inquiry to the challenges that face UAE, the following two are major and so far without a clear plan to dealing with them. 1. water and 2. soil.

  1. As expected, there aren't any accessible sources of underground drinking water in one of the driest deserts on earth so water is being produced from "distilling"(heating up the water to evaporate it and separate from the salt and then condensing it back into liquid form and balancing it so it's drinkable, an extremely expensive process) saltwater into drinking water and with the current population at 10 million(by his estimates, which can't be supported by data availible online) and ever rising due to immigration and estimates of that doubling in the next decade and a half, the expenses to cover that rise in demand for water are astronomical.

  2. The ground everything is built on is a desert. The steel and concrete foundation of the structures run deep into the ground but are affected by erosion(as a testament to the sea penetrating to the inland was my visit to Tal Moreeb, deep in the desert and there is a valley of sorts where* sea water rises at certain times during the year, lots of dried salt when I was there). Not only that but the region is in a moderate hazard of seismic activity which could be devastating because nobody knows the actually deterioration of the foundations of all the extremely heavy structures on the soft land.

I could go on with topics like alcohol, history, the unification of the UAE and it's governmental structure, prostitution and sex trade but I'm the only one reading all this, anyway.

*edit - deleted a word in the 2nd to last paragraph - just to add to it.. it forms a salt lake of sorts.. Not sure how long it lasts or when it occurs. The day in the desert was quite unique because it was raining, which allowed for a long, nice and a very comfortable walk on the dunes and I found some nice sand roses(not sure how they're really called).

[–]MoT 8 points9 points ago

People need to realize a couple of things about this place before dismissing it based on their own xenophobia.

The uniqueness of what occured in the past 50 years in that region is historically unprecedented. Around 1960 is when the first concrete structures were built in Abu Dhabi and all of the region. Most of the population lived a nomadic life and their subsistence consisted of fishing, pearl diving, camel herding and dates growing(boy are they great with almonds). Most living in tents with a roof made out of palm leaves and the wealthy in mud huts. The extremely unwelcoming hot climate made it tough to live there for anyone so it's understandable that without leaps in technological progress.. The way of living of the people there wouldn't change unless... You strike black gold.

As it is customary throughout history in every part of the world there was a family line of a ruling class present, presiding over it's land. Without getting into how they came into power and how the british were involved, mainly because I don't know how that went down, other than they were under the british protectorate and called the Trucial States which lasted 150 years from 1820 to the formation of UAE in 1971, I'll try to further paint a picture of that place. It was after an "agreement" lets say of passing the reins of Sheikh Shakhbut Bin-Sultan Al Nahyan to his younger brother Sheikh Zayed bin Al Nahyan who had a vision. A vision that saw the potential of oil as a way to lead his people to glory.

The UAE is a constitutional monarchy guaranteeing it's citizens rights as good as anywhere. Now, becoming a citizen of UAE if you weren't born there to somebody who already was a citizen is damn near impossible, unless you save one of the royal sheikhs from certain death, singlehandedly bring a couple of billion of profits to the country or if you're really close friends with the ruling family and they happen to like you a lot. So no, it's not happening.

Why would I mention that? There's stories, countless stories I've heard from people living there, visiting for official government business and from ordinary business people that go something like this. Disclaimer: I can in no way vouch for their authenticity but I imagine that in the 90's, when the population of the actual citizens was in the low hundreds of thousands that it's all very plausible. Urban legends or not.. here goes.

Lets say you need a transplant, a complicated surgical operation to replace your <insert an organ>. Well you will be flown to the hospital of your choice, worldwide, all medical expenses paid and not only that.. if you wish your 12 member family to be there with you? No problem, they will be staying at the closest 5* hotel and their entire travel expenses paid for too.

Are you a bright kid? Would you like to study abroad? Harvard, Oxford, Yale, Stanford, Berkley, MIT, you name it. We pay for it.. With generous pocket money so you don't have to work there. Just to further show how ridiculous the place is and using a reliable source unlike a reddit user's testimony, here is a link to an article in the Economist about wages and unemployment for young people, them having to give up political rights and so on. It's from an issue that came out exactly a month ago which I was coincidentally reading on my flight there.

Though alcohol has been covered in many of these threads "about" UAE.. You can drink in hotel restaurants and bars in Abu Dhabi and supposedly there are establishments in Dubai that are not a part of any hotel where you can drink and dance.. I don't know, I just went to the Dubai Mall, up the Burj Khalifa tower and took a ride in the first class of the dubai above-ground subway.

Side note: Burj Khalifa was supposed to be the Burj Dubai originally but funny thing happened, Dubai ran out of money so the President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan(also the emir of Abu Dhabi) decided, fuck you we're paying for it, we'll name it.. After me! There is a significance to it because the emir of Dubai, Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum who happens to be both the Prime Minister and the Vice President is very ambitious but! he's effectively the #3 and forever cut out of running the country because of Khalifa's younger brother [the crown prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the commander of the Armed Forces] who is the de facto leader of the country and he meets with heads of states like Bush, Obama, Queen Elizabeth etc.

From what I gather, prostituton is illegal but pretty common and accessible. I was told something about some licences and what not but it doesn't make much sense all in all. All I know is that under the veil of "Karaoke" bars in a certain hotels there are bars where they serve alcohol and they're filled with usually a certain ethnicity of women. I've been to a bar full of asian, black[african] and white[eastern european] women. Brackets for clarity and because I know so. I found that odd though. Also each place had a different vibe and a common approach from the women there. Asian chicks would never come up to you on their own, white chicks I guess if they like you they will approach you and black chicks were like fighter jets. This was all in Abu Dhabi. I heard that the variety is larger in Dubai but you'll get arrested for kissing in the public anywhere so watch out even with one's SO.

[–]SecretDragoon 1 point2 points ago

Thanks for more information, always interested in learning new things about places I will probably never go to.

[–]pigeonsoap 0 points1 point ago

Well said. This is also what I've discovered over the last 10 years in Dubai.

[–]RBLSTR 5 points6 points ago

I read it (lol reddit) enjoyed it too :)

[–]SecretDragoon 2 points3 points ago

Upvoted you, very very interesting.

[–]xtremebox 1 point2 points ago

Please go on.

[–][deleted] ago

[deleted]

[–]pigeonsoap 11 points12 points ago

lol true that, but its* importance in Dubai is even greater.

[–]Mysteriousdoor 5 points6 points ago

Except Reddit.

[–]General_Handsfree 8 points9 points ago

This just reinforced the picture i already had of this place, sounds like a terrible place. I would rather spend my time somewhere where "keep your head down" is not needed.

[–]Skooginator59 4 points5 points ago

What we mean by keep your head down is " dont get into a fight with locals"

[–]pigeonsoap 3 points4 points ago

In that way it is for sure. Trust me, even though I go there every year I know what the conditions are like, and the lack of personal rights and freedoms if shit ever went down with you, however for many people who travel there it's the closest "modern" city you can go to where there's malls, parks, nice areas etc. Most people from Africa travel to Dubai for holidays as well. They speak English there, they serve alcohol in most hotels, have large malls etc etc. I lived in Canada for four years and would take that anyday over Dubai because even as a non-Canadian I knew my rights would be respected and that everyone was treated fairly. You weren't judged because you weren't a local Canadian. But in my experiences in Dubai I was treated with respect on most occasions so for me personally it's okay. Not saying it's perfect but there are worse places on earth.

[–]yhelothere 8 points9 points ago

Reddit hates Muslims but on the other hand they try to act like super tolerant potheads. Crazy world

[–]thisismy7thusername 13 points14 points ago

Some do, some don't. Reddit isn't homogeneous. Besides, its probably Islamists, not Muslims that you're thinking of. Like Westboro Baptist church vs Protestant Christians.

[–]pigeonsoap 8 points9 points ago

It's mostly r/worldnews that hates Muslims to be fair.

[–]_ingenuo_ 6 points7 points ago

and r/europe

[–]MikeBruski 6 points7 points ago

no, thats gypsies

[–]_ingenuo_ 5 points6 points ago

nah. there's a whole lot of racism going on that sub.

[–]Snow_Monky -1 points0 points ago

Reddit never hated on Muslims, just those Muslims that went nutso because of that unfunny Muhammad comic. And this was years ago. Reddit hates religious extremists, not Muslims.

[–]gummers 3 points4 points ago

You do not have to be rich to enjoy Dubai.

I'm not rich and I love it here. Sure, there are tons of things to do that require lots of cash such as fancy restaurants and cruises. But there is even more cheap/free things to do that are geared towards the large amount of middle class people and families.

[–]gummers 8 points9 points ago

This has not been my experience. I don't think its filthy, at least not compared to India or Athens. Hot and muggy is spot on. As for paying to be pandered too... rents here are cheaper than many places. I'm Canadian living in dubai and a house or apartment in Toronto or Vancouver is going to go for more than a similar place here. People have been friendly enough - more than friendly actually as I keep getting invited into people's houses and I'm not sure how to politely refuse.

[–]MightyChimp 8 points9 points ago

I absolutely detest Athens. Disgusting city. They have no respect for their antiquities. You go to ancient sites and there is no organization. Stuff is just laying around.

[–]gummers 1 point2 points ago

You'd really hate Jordan then. Even worse - people just climbing all over the ancient structures. Especially the stuff around Amman.

[–]Huggebugge 3 points4 points ago

Obviously cleanliness depends on what you compare to. India and Athens aren't really the cleanest places on earth.

[–]gummers 2 points3 points ago

Agreed. Coming from Canada though and I still don't consider this place overly dirty.

[–]FlippyWippy 1 point2 points ago

On the ground it is filthy, muggy

Are you serrious lol? Dubai is one of the cleanest cities I've ever been too. There is no litter or chewing gum ground into the floor anywhere like there is in other large cities.

[–]IntlMysteryMan 0 points1 point ago

You obviously never had to use any of the public restrooms for starters. Anytime you mix limited space, fecal matter, and a hose you do not get sanitary conditions. Several times I have gotten off of a 15 hour flight needing to use the facilities only to have a serious NOPE! moment.

[–]empireminer -1 points0 points ago

That's some real life five star sevice there.

[–]summiter -3 points-2 points ago

First, in Berlin their taxis are black, top-of-the-line Mercedes. Second, VSOP cognac is nothing for which to take your hat off, the only reason they kept it is because they probably already had an ample supply of cheap window cleaner. Third, all hotels 3-5star have airport shuttles. They are generally on-call to the airport and have regular cycles from the airport (or you can call and request them). So you either don't travel very much or you stay at Motel 6's domestically. :(

True service is suite upgrades, executive lounge access, personal driver to/from client sites, free beer and spirits provided en-suite, direct billing to the hotel on all incidental charges (in Vegas this latter is quite easy).

[–]IntlMysteryMan 17 points18 points ago

I wasn't trying to sound like a pompous ass by mentioning the cognac or the shuttle, merely highlight the level of service. You on the other hand...

[–]summiter 0 points1 point ago

...will accept his pompous ass award under the terms that you acknowledge the level of service in Dubai is no greater than in America, depending only on where you stay.

[–]IntlMysteryMan 0 points1 point ago

So how often do you go through Dubai? You have me wondering.

[–]summiter 0 points1 point ago

Just give me my reward!

[–]Cybrknight 211 points212 points ago

Still wouldn't go.

[–]JustHereToDerp 20 points21 points ago

Why not?

[–]cyberslick188 161 points162 points ago

It's like if you gave Donald Trump a trillion dollars and said build a city of the dumbest, most excessive shit for absolutely no reason.

[–]DangerousIdeas 130 points131 points ago

No, its when you give the most corrupt people in the region money for their oil, who use that money to build fancy shit instead of reinvesting in their country to help the other 99% of the people living in Dubai.

Oh, and these people also happen to be religious authorities as well.

[–]gummers 10 points11 points ago

Not quite right. They have a pretty amazing welfare and education programs for all citizens and they are investing in infrastructure and making livable communities. Its not all about bling.

[–]MaleFascistAdvice 99 points100 points ago

Sure, for citizens. But they just import Philippinos and Indians and stuff for slave labour.

[–]with_an_axe 5 points6 points ago

True

[–]Threedawg 1 point2 points ago

Source?

[–]illtakethebox 3 points4 points ago

Religion and money are like peas in a pod

[–]fernguts 16 points17 points ago

Tell that to Bill Gates.

[–]Exar_T 33 points34 points ago

It's a city built with the help of modern day slavery.

[–]Sparkling_Poo_Dragon 7 points8 points ago

In fairness. What cities haven't been built without slavery?

[–]Gumberculese 6 points7 points ago

Omaha, Nebraska

[–]ChiefBromden 22 points23 points ago

He said cities...not cows and buildings.

[–]anticockblockmissle 41 points42 points ago

It's illegal to kiss.

[–][deleted] 24 points25 points ago

its illegal to kiss in public

otherwise, you can do anything you want at home

[–]estrtshffl 110 points111 points ago

You say that as if it's acceptable.

[–]NotEntirelyUnlike 10 points11 points ago

It's still illegal to have anal sex here in Virginia :(

[–]airmasszero 1 point2 points ago

what happens if a married couple has anal sex, according to whatever law says it is illegal?

[–]NotEntirelyUnlike 6 points7 points ago

Sex offender registry for you!

It also includes oral sex.

[–]airmasszero 4 points5 points ago

Wow. Invasion of the state in the reproductive behaviors of individuals.

[–]NotEntirelyUnlike 2 points3 points ago

Ha... well.... That's 'small government' type people for you.

Shit, I'm just happy we can finally buy liquor on a Sunday. I'll take my illegal blow jobs quietly when I'm free to sin in a gutter on the Sabbath.

[–]kingtrewq 9 points10 points ago

There is no way that is banned. Maybe in public

[–]AmericanDerp 13 points14 points ago

Banned from /r/dubai

[–]gummers 5 points6 points ago

:(

[–]emar749 6 points7 points ago

For me it would be the lack of a sewer system

[–]EntityDamage 1 point2 points ago

Holy shit!

[–]DubaiCM 0 points1 point ago

There is a sewer system in Dubai. The youtube video you linked to refers to an event in 2009 where there was a temporary failure.

[–]AKA_Squanchy 1 point2 points ago

I went. You're all good.

[–]pfhayter 105 points106 points ago

It looks so unsustainable.

[–]reddit-ulous 24 points25 points ago

Agreed. But they're actually at the forefront of sustainability studies and efforts in the entire region. Look up Al Masdar city.

[–]IJIrving 0 points1 point ago

I'm curious why you say that.

Because there isn't any green?

[–]Skvid 0 points1 point ago

City was built on the oil craze, when fudning from the oil buisness ceases the city is going to bankrupt. They know that and they are trying to make dubai once of the most exquisite tourism locales in the world. I don't know how sucessfull it is atm, but i share a feeling that the incomes from tourism isnt going to be enough to keep the city afloat.

[–]che-singh 3 points4 points ago

So without having done any, ANY, sort of reading or learning about Dubai you decide you have its economy and future figured out?

First fucking paragraph from Wikipedia on the economy of Dubai

The International Herald Tribune has described it as "centrally-planned free-market capitalism."[2] Although Dubai's economy was built on the back of the oil industry,[3] revenue from petroleum and natural gas currently account for less than 6% of the emirate's gross domestic product. Dubai became important ports of call for Western manufacturers. Most of the new city's banking and financial centres were headquartered in the port area. Dubai maintained its importance as a trade route through the 1970s and 1980s. The city of Dubai has a free trade in gold and until the 1990s was the hub of a "brisk smuggling trade" of gold ingots to India, where gold import was restricted.

[–]IJIrving 2 points3 points ago

Most of Dubai's money is in banking now, not oil.

They are well aware of relying on a limited resource and are already taking action to move away from it.

[–]IsaacJDean 10 points11 points ago

Got rid of that pesky logo at the top left http://i.imgur.com/qiyaP.jpg

[–]CapnRedd 14 points15 points ago

I think you meant "Coruscant."

[–]MalcolmReynoldsWrap 29 points30 points ago

Gentlemen, welcome to Dubai.

[–]likwitsnake 31 points32 points ago

Reference is to the game Spec Ops: The Line

[–]awesomemanftw 6 points7 points ago

You're a wonderful person.

[–]alllen 13 points14 points ago

nice, I understand that reference.

great game.

[–]MalcolmReynoldsWrap 17 points18 points ago

That game left me so depressed and sick with myself. I love that.

[–]pigeonsoap 4 points5 points ago

Wish more games focused on doing things like that. You know, interesting.

[–]Knubinator 4 points5 points ago

It's next on my play list. So excited.

[–]pacifist112 2 points3 points ago

amazing game, one of the most underrated games in a while

[–]Baraka_Obama 3 points4 points ago

Me too. The Walking Dead and Spec Ops left me feeling terrible and depressed but that made them both some of most memorable games I've played all year.
Definitely steps forward in game storytelling.

[–]RageGodReed 8 points9 points ago

Do you feel like a hero yet?

I assume were talking about The Line? right?

[–]alllen 1 point2 points ago

yup

[–]SoloWing1 -1 points0 points ago

I was waiting for that. Upvote.

[–]Bourbeau 8 points9 points ago

[–]cybrbeast 2 points3 points ago

I think it's from here, you have full panoramas of the area from helicopter, really impressive.

http://www.airpano.com/360Degree-VirtualTour.php?3D=UAE-Dubai-City-Virtual-Tour

[–]dkaz46 68 points69 points ago

Place is going to be a ghost town the moment all the oil dries up

[–]Knubinator 38 points39 points ago

No, the Arabs in general are going to stay fairly wealthy due to wise money loaning back in the 80's and 90's. With interest and principal payments, they'll be fine for a while longer still.

[–]renaldomoon 11 points12 points ago

Interesting, I didn't know that. Looks like someone was paying attention to what happened to the Spanish.

[–]Knubinator 10 points11 points ago

Well the Saudis especially learned from the gas crisis in the 70's, realized that oil is very finite, and took wise steps to safeguard their national futures. Saudi Arabia before oil was very poor and undeveloped, and although they basically exploded as a nation, they seem to be taking practical steps to future security, by expanding non-oil and natural gas sectors of their economy. In fact, a lot of the economic booms you saw in South America in the last 20 years were fueled by Saudi loans, and though not as much, they had a part in the '80s-'90s Asian Tiger Economies.

[–]powernut 52 points53 points ago

Although Dubai's economy was built on the back of the oil industry, revenues from oil and natural gas currently account for less than 7% of the emirate's revenues. -- Wikipedia

Even worse for them: the moment their credibility dries up, they're sunk, and credibility dissipates a lot faster than oil.

[–]2Mobile 21 points22 points ago

just look at Donald Trump

[–]godofallcows 11 points12 points ago

So Dubai will get a toupé?

[–]JustHereToDerp 6 points7 points ago

Get a big military. It's working for us isn't it?

[–]Mysteriousdoor 1 point2 points ago

DARPA keeps on chugging out amazing stuff, and it presents companies with problems that they can expect to be paid up the yin yang to solve so engineers are encouraged to do a good job. You can link a lot of innovation to the military because they are willing to pay for solutions to really wacky problems. I'm playing devils advocate here but I hang out with a lot of engineering students that are destined to become Air Force Officers in a lab.

[–]reddit-ulous 3 points4 points ago

Exactly this. Lots of tourism and businesses everywhere. Dubai has had some great leadership that drove the country to diversify its economy.

[–]C0mmun1ty 1 point2 points ago

Where is their money from now, tourism?

[–]FlippyWippy 1 point2 points ago

Tourism and the vast, vast amount of companies that do business there. Despite what Reddit wants to happen if you have been to Dubai or live there you can see that its not going to turn into a ghost town.

[–]che-singh 2 points3 points ago

The International Herald Tribune has described it as "centrally-planned free-market capitalism."[2] Although Dubai's economy was built on the back of the oil industry,[3] revenue from petroleum and natural gas currently account for less than 6% of the emirate's gross domestic product. Dubai became important ports of call for Western manufacturers. Most of the new city's banking and financial centres were headquartered in the port area. Dubai maintained its importance as a trade route through the 1970s and 1980s. The city of Dubai has a free trade in gold and until the 1990s was the hub of a "brisk smuggling trade" of gold ingots to India, where gold import was restricted.

Dumbass

[–]dmonster2012 18 points19 points ago

fuck bitches, get money

[–]Swangger 7 points8 points ago

[–]sammythemc 3 points4 points ago

You shouldn't be allowed to say "let's get straight to it" 40 seconds into your music video

[–]2Mobile 9 points10 points ago

then throw acid on said bitches

[–]DGChainZ 1 point2 points ago

*Sand bitches

FTFY

[–]reddit-ulous 4 points5 points ago

Really guys? They do that almost exclusively in Afghanistan. Dubai can't be more different.

[–]m00mi 8 points9 points ago

Incredible feats of engineering. Through modern slavery.

[–]mongoos3 1 point2 points ago

This is a classic wallpaper of mine. Simply stunning.

[–]spillitshootit 2 points3 points ago

Reminds me of the world de caprio made in inception

[–]Elxnder 1 point2 points ago

Dat dust.

[–]Plavonica 2 points3 points ago

It really is amazing. Vast stretches of desert filled with poor people right next to rich skyscrapers and palaces. This place is truly amazing.

[–]timetravel_fanof 26 points27 points ago

I wish Reddit would stop its asinine bitching about this place. Much of United States consumerism is built on slave labor, the only reason you idiots think it's any different comes down to the very insignificant fact that US slave labor occurs in other countries.

[–]gummers 12 points13 points ago

I think the nearly-slave labour is a serious issue, but I don't think that anything positive coming out of Dubai should be ignored or criticized because of it. I mean, we don't turn every single comment made about the US into a criticism of its foreign policy and wars. The issue of exploited labour also is more complicated than evil-greedy-arabs - often times the companies that are guilty of these abuses are owned or partly based in the same countries from which the exploited labour comes. Its corruption and insufficient law enforcement across the entire area.

[–]Threedawg 0 points1 point ago

we don't turn every single comment made about the US into a criticism of its foreign policy and wars

Have you been on reddit?

Although I do agree with your point.

[–]loulan 6 points7 points ago

BUT DUBAI BAD SWEDEN GOOD

[–]DubaiCM 0 points1 point ago

The funny thing is that there are thousands of Swedish people in Dubai who love living there.

[–]mcdxi11 7 points8 points ago

Looks like a sandy shit hole.

[–]HeWhoWalksWithTigers 2 points3 points ago

Are those just all hotels?

[–]iufreak 1 point2 points ago

No. I had a family member who lived in one of the buildings on the left.

[–]gummers 1 point2 points ago

No.

[–]Synthetic_Hitman 2 points3 points ago

Was this taken from the Burj Khalifa?

[–]StephanBotha 2 points3 points ago

No. This is from Dubai Marina, opposite Jumeirah Lake Towers.

Buildings at the bottom-side are mostly apartments while the ones at the top are a mix of hotels and apartments.

[–]MikeBruski 1 point2 points ago

Burj Khalifa is 20km away from this picture...

[–]Synthetic_Hitman 0 points1 point ago

My bad.

[–]bobosaurs[!] 0 points1 point ago

Is it just me, or does that look like something out of Star Wars?

I'm genuinely excited to see what marvels mankind can produce before I die.

[–]Passive_activist 2 points3 points ago

The buildings look like churros

[–]cartermnyc 0 points1 point ago

[–]pinkiepiepie 2 points3 points ago

This is an old ass picture

[–]fernguts 0 points1 point ago

Obligatory SimCity reference.

[–]MSpainting 0 points1 point ago

It looks so skeletal.

[–]mafidamosa 0 points1 point ago

The future is now.

[–]guyanonymous 1 point2 points ago

Yeah, oil prices are reasonable. ಠ_ಠ

[–]blasto_blastocyst 6 points7 points ago

It's how I would imagine the City of the Dead.

[–]StephanBotha 3 points4 points ago

Ugh, here we go:

  • Slave labour
  • Why would you want to live in a desert
  • Blah blah blah

I live in Dubai, it's awesome. Love the people. Love living with 100+ different nationalities

Not everything you read in the news is true people. Take it from me, I have been here 7 years and I am just an ordinary Joe. No fancy sportscars etc.

[–]MONEY_AND_POWER 1 point2 points ago

Could you tell a bit more? Maybe an AMA?

[–]StephanBotha 3 points4 points ago

There are loads of AMAs done already. Just search for Dubai or UAE in that subreddit

[–]LonelyNixon 0 points1 point ago

Isn't that most cities though? Tons of nationalities and blah blah blah?

I mean there is a lot of sand on those buildings and slave labor is sort of bad. One could live in nyc or london, or paris, or the citadel, and have all that minus the slave labor and desert.

[–]StephanBotha 1 point2 points ago

Yes but you would still be paying taxes.

[–]youngchul 0 points1 point ago

Yeah, but you'd have to deal with dirty cities, especially Paris.

[–]chonny 4 points5 points ago

Looks to me like "Dubai" is basically just a glorified Las Vegas Strip.

[–]Popozuda72 0 points1 point ago

Something so soulless about the place. Like if you only had riches but no soul, that's how everything would look. Maybe soulless is wrong, lacking femininity maybe?

[–]Tovora 2 points3 points ago

Fucking men, ruining our sand cities!

[–]Hrash0 0 points1 point ago

No. You're right. It gives off much the same vibe as the city in limbo in Inception. Unsustainable, empty, unrealistic...

[–]Oncocerca 0 points1 point ago

The old Hindu myth "The Ramayana" makes a joke about this. The island of Lanka was a beautiful place, tree lined roads, advanced technology, learned scholars. Yet, it was inhabited only by demons.

[–]sad_banana 1 point2 points ago

WOW ,, why are you people so mad? ,,, i can see envy just by looking at your comments ,, haha

[–]Guhn 0 points1 point ago

Amazing city planning

[–]counterplex 5 points6 points ago

I hope you're being sarcastic :-) Dubai is a nightmare city planners warn their kids about.

[–]TareXmd 1 point2 points ago

Wait till you try to walk there. This city is not Pedestrian friendly. You'd still need a car to go to a place across the street.

[–]Jean-Paul_Manzo 8 points9 points ago

Not unlike most cities in the US.

[–]6h057 0 points1 point ago

Thus the problems with bike lanes. I'm looking at you Chicago.

[–]DubaiCM 0 points1 point ago

Some areas, such as JBR and Downtown, are pedestrian friendly but you are right that roads like Sheikh Zayed Road are a bit of a nightmare.

[–]gummers 1 point2 points ago

Not quite, unless you are trying to cross a major highway.

[–]IsTheNewBlack 0 points1 point ago

Dubai has no character or soul. It's a manufactured city and I could not think of any place I would desire less to live in.

[–]Wilcows 9 points10 points ago

although I dislike dubai, I can think of countless places I'd hate more to live.

[–]TheSexyWaffle35 -2 points-1 points ago

All built on the toiling of slave labour!

[–]bikiniduck -2 points-1 points ago

And primarily funded by money laundering.

[–]Anttic 1 point2 points ago

megalomania

[–]xelf 0 points1 point ago

Looks like a preview for the new SimCity!

[–]HowsItBeenBen 0 points1 point ago

It'd be cool if this pic weren't so pixelated.

[–]tijoy 0 points1 point ago

looks so unnatural, it all blends together...

[–]giaquinto 0 points1 point ago

Kinda reminds you of Grand Theft Auto

[–]ispythecolorred 0 points1 point ago

"Welcome to the desert...of the real."

[–]steen73 0 points1 point ago

A few trees or some grass would make it more appealing to me, but I didn't grow up in the desert. Very interesting looking place though.

[–]joewaffle1 0 points1 point ago

I want to see the city come through on its crazy eco-friendliness and underwater hotel.

[–]cb2014 1 point2 points ago

This looks like something straight out of Final Fantasy.

[–]HSVampire -1 points0 points ago

I think I see Dragonsreach

[–]PhiX1337 1 point2 points ago

Ah, Dubai Marina. My favorite place in Dubai.

[–]b33k3rz 0 points1 point ago

Not sure if Dubai or Coruscant

[–]Kezler 0 points1 point ago

Cutting edge buildings and 3rd world laws.

[–]6Bunny 0 points1 point ago

What du-bai next?

[–]Burf-_- 0 points1 point ago

The day is coming when all this opulence and extravagant living will end very suddenly, and people who think money is the be all of power and privilege will have nowhere to run but the sewers, not that there are sewers in Dubai.... so they might need to hitch a ride on a poop truck...good luck maybe you can ride IN the tank.

[–]Barcade 0 points1 point ago

looks like a waste land after a nuclear war in movies

[–]spit0flip 0 points1 point ago

and more than 50% are empty

[–]hombre_lobo 0 points1 point ago

so ugly

[–]ChiefBromden 0 points1 point ago

If the shoe fits.

[–]capripwn 0 points1 point ago

It's amazing how a city can remain beautiful despite being covered in sand.

[–]ColdWarRussia 0 points1 point ago

And all on the backs of slave labor.

[–]wizurd -4 points-3 points ago

What a dusty shithole

[–]belfong 1 point2 points ago

Stupid question: is that a real or just a mock up?

[–]chaklong 2 points3 points ago

Real.

[–]Mannex 0 points1 point ago

holy crap spec ops the line is real

[–]caveat_cogitor -3 points-2 points ago

All the slave labor in the world couldn't make that place look beautiful to me anymore :/