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Dubai - The Hippest City in the World

It’s the latest hot spot for the rich and famous, and it doesn’t have a Park Avenue address or a Los Angeles ZIP code. In fact, it’s a place many Americans can’t find on a map. Dubai — a seaside city in the confederacy of sheikhdoms known as the United Arab Emirates — has gone from being a sleepy desert town to the destination of some of the highest-profile names in the United States and Europe, and the fastest-growing city in the world. “I’m able to say without hesitation that Dubai is the hippest place on the Earth,” said Franko Vatterott, owner of the Human Interest Group, a sports management firm for the crown prince of Dubai. “Nothing there is good enough unless it’s the best.”

Picture with DUBAi in 1991

Pictre with Dubai in 2005

7 Stars Hotel, Burj Al Arab in Dubai

If you are feeling bored you can choose to play a tennis match atop the hotel

Take a look a this indoor sky slope. You could enjoy freezing temperatures when others are sweating in 85 deg Fahrenheit or 45 deg centigrade! Don’t complain about the Sun in Dubai. It’s also in Dubai in the “Mall of the Emirates”.

Mall of the Emirates, The mall looked like this three years ago

Burj Dubai

Burj Dubai, the tallest tower in the world will have the world’s highest elevator installation and also the world’s largest shopping mall, The Dubai Mall. The Observatory Elevators (double deck cabs) will have the world’s highest travel distance from lowest to highest stop and will be the world’s fastest at 18m/sec(40 mph). The building service/fireman’s elevator will have a capacity of 5,500 kg and will be the world’s tallest service elevator. Burj Dubai will be the first mega-high rise in which certain elevators will be programmed to permit controlled evacuation for certain fire or security events. The tip of the spire can be seen by a person 95 km (60 miles) away. Apart from this, the amount of rebar used for the tower is 31,400 metric tons laid end to end. This would extend over a quarter of the way around the world. The concrete used for the Burj Dubai is equivalent to, a solid cube of concrete 61 metres (200 ft) on a side, a sidewalk 1,900 kilometres long (1,200 miles), over five times the volume of concrete used for the CN Tower in Canada and the weight of 100,000 elephants. The curtain wall of the Burj Dubai will be equivalent to 17 football (soccer) fields or 25 American football fields. According to Robert Booth, executive director for Emaar Properties, “History is rising. The tower is taking shape. We’re moving forward and we are on schedule. This is an endeavour whose scope and magnitude reflects the ambitions of the city of Dubai. Our plans and projections are rapidly becoming reality and the moment is not far away when we will see the full scale of our spectacular Downtown Dubai projects emerging.’’ The iconic signature tower is part of Dh73 billion urban development in the heart of Dubai spreading across 500 acres and is a combination of residential and commercial space. It will include a boutique hotel, recreational facilities and entertainment venues, serviced residences and apartments . The tower is due for completion by 2008. The Burj Dubai’s water system will supply an average of about 946,000 litres(250,000 gallons) of water per day. At the peak cooling times, the tower will require approximately 10,000 tons of cooling per hour, which is equivalent to the capacity provided by 10,000 tons (22.4 million lbs or 10.2 million kg) of melting ice in one day. The tower will also have a condensate collection system which will use the hot and humid outside air, combined with the cooling requirements of the building and will result in a significant amount of condensation of moisture from the air. This condensed water will be collected and drained in a separate piping system down to a holding tank located in the basement car park. This water will then be pumped into the site irrigation system for use on the tower’s landscape plantings. This system will provide about 15 million gallons of supplemental water per year, equivalent to nearly 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The tower’s peak electricity demand is estimated at 36 kVA, equivalent to roughly 360,000 100-watt light bulbs all operating at the same time. There will be 200 mtrs of spectacular dancing fountains at the foot of the Burj Dubai. The tower will house the first Armani Hotel and will be surrounded by The Old Town, The Dubai Mall, Burj Dubai Business Hub, Burj Views, Burj Dubai Boulevard, The Residences, restaurants, hotels, residential facilities and much more - all located on the banks of a spectacular man-made lake. The tower once completed will cover 22 million square feet of total development and will include 30,000 homes, 9 world-class hotels,19 residential towers , 6 acres of parkland and 12 hectare Burj Dubai Lake. 12 March 2006 DUBAI

Design plan of the “Dubai Marina” zone showing views of 2 Palm Projects - Palm Jumeirah and Palm Jebel Ali and third one “The World” project. The middle one, the Palm Jumeirah is the smallest and the island is 5 kilometers by 5 kilometers and will add 78 kms to the coastline.

Palm Jebel Ali

Palm Jumeirah

This is the “World Project” shaped like a world map, another man made archipelago of 300 islands. The development will cover an area of 9 km in length and 6 km in width, surrounded by an oval breakwater. Transport between the islands will be by boat and helicopter! Island prices range from $15 million to $45 million! Think you can have one?

Formula One - International Dubai Autodrome

Formula One World to be set up in Dubailand
Union Properties is investing Dh1.32 billion in creating Formula One World at the newly-conceptualised MotorCity in Dubailand, in association with Formula One Administration. Although Dubai already has an FIA certified racetrack, Dubai Autodrome, it has yet to host a Formula One race. The region’s only Formula One event took place in Bahrain last year. With Formula One World, however, Dubai could outplay its regional rivals in hosting these events. “Dubai is building these for the future. Facilities like DSC and MotorCity will help the emirate to bid for larger sporting events,” said an industry analyst. “Cities are known to build Olympic villages once they win the bid. But Dubai is doing it much ahead.” Spread over 5 million square feet, Formula One World will include a hotel and advanced conference centres. The project, to be built next to Dubai Autodrome, is scheduled to begin construction in 2006 and will be completed in 2008. The facility will be located between Dubai Sports City (DSC) and Arabian Ranches. “I’m pleased to be working with Union Properties and have every confidence that they will deliver an outstanding development, which Formula One fans the world over will enjoy, said Bernie Ecclestone, CEO of Formula One Administration Ltd. Dubai MotorCity and DSC will both help Dubai bid for major global sporting events and meets like a Formula One race to service the tourism industry, which drew more than 5.42 million visitors last year and is poised draw 15 million a year by 2010. In 2002, the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, Dubai’s tourism regulatory body, established the Dubai Convention Bureau to bid for 2,200 global annual rotating events. In 2003, the city hosted the annual meetings of the boards of governors of the World Bank Group and IMF, which brought 16,000 delegates and global leaders to the city. Despite substantial success in the trade, tourism, real estate and construction sectors, Dubai so far has failed to attract any large international sporting tournaments like the Asian Games or the World Cup. The emirate, however, is building a solid reputation as a strong sports destination by hosting the Dubai Tennis Open and the Dubai World Cup the most lucrative horse race in the world.

Dubai World Central

Dubai World Central: A city in its own right
Promoters call it a “true city-within-a-city.” A look at the project’s development plans shows the statement to be slightly misleading. In sheer size it will be a new city in its own right, and not a city within anything. Being developed on an area of 140 square kilometres, Dubai World Central (DWC) will add 900,000 inhabitants to the city’s current population of 1.35 million. The government launched DWC in May last year with the aim of making Dubai a global aviation and logistics hub serving two billion people in neighbouring regions. Officials point out that most major cities in these regions are within a distance of three-to-four flying hours from Dubai. Initial development cost estimate for the entire project is about $33 billion. There is no deadline for finishing the project, but the main facilities will be operational within 10 to 15 years. The central part is an international airport, 40 kilometres from the existing Dubai International Airport, that will have a capacity to handle 120 million passengers and 12 million tonnes of cargo per year. “Dubai does not have to worry about passenger and cargo capacity for the next 50 years and beyond,” Michael Proffitt, chief executive officer of Dubai Logistics City (DLC), told reporters during a recent site tour to show construction progress. DLC is another key part of DWC and a Kuwaiti firm has been awarded a Dh1.5-billion contract for the main buildings. Work on the first 4.5-kilometre runway is almost half complete. The Dubai World Central International Airport (JXB) will have six parallel runways and as many concourses. A 92-metre high control tower is set to become another aviation landmark in the Middle East.

Main components

Airport: It will be the world’s biggest passenger and cargo hub. It will have an annual handling capacity of 120 million passengers and 12 million tonnes of cargo.

Logistics city: The logistics zone will benefit from its proximity with the Jebel Ali Free Zone and Jebel Ali Port. It is designed to become the region’s leading logistics hub catering to some two billion people living in the Middle East, South Asia, Africa and Central Asia. Commercial city: This section will be DWC’s business and finance hub featuring more than 850 towers, from 6 to 75 storeys in height. The city, expected to employ 130,000 people, will also have 25 hotels.

Residential city: It will have a mix of two-storey villas and luxury apartment blocks ranging up to 24-storeys in height. Up to 250,000 people are expected to live in the area.

Golf resort: It will feature two 18-hole golf courses, practice facilities, driving ranges, putting greens, a luxury clubhouse with restaurants and a pro-shop.

Extreme nature - disasters

flood

earthquake

San Francisco - 1906 - earthquake

 disaster

floo river