Is Dubai over-rated?!

"Baber K. Khan" (beekay) 06/27/2014 at 18:53 • Filed to: None

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I prefer natural beauty to man-made one. I do certainly love developed, downtown style cities like Dubai (minus the heat) to live in and go about spend a lot of time as tourists in the wilderness. That's what I enjoy as tourist and daily life should be urban.

This isn't the first time I am in Dubai though, its just an hour's flight away from my city and having grown up in Saudia, I have frequented Dubai via connecting flights when everything was still a dream and in the process of mega plan.

But, is Dubai over-rated? In my opinion, Dubai is the single greatest marketing gimmick sold to the world's tourists by creating engineering wonders. Take for example the Atlantis Hotel and the Jumeirah Island. Its empty. The island has a vast expanse of luxurious ultra-expensive apartments and villas, a disturbing majority of which are empty but the market-runners won't give them out for cheap like normally you and I would do if we owned a flat and we would reduce the rent just to start receiving some money back on our investment by giving it out for a little less.

However, many more residencies are yet announced and are under the process of being built or planned while the old catch dust or desert sand. But since its all artificial, including the prices, the value of real estate mostly has to be artificially controlled to keep the luxury tag good.

I quite like the life in Dubai though and like to settle here (mostly due to how one can fulfill your car ambitions with a little hard work and enjoy all the cultures as well, yeah), it is the greatest mash-up of the cultures from around the world. Europeans, Americans, South Americans, Arabs, Asian, South Asians, etc etc. You name it, it is there.

If Dubai had been advertised as the Cultural Capital of the World, I think that wouldn't be a lie and more importantly. Everyone lives and work hand in hand. Its quite pleasing.

I was bored at this hour, so just wrote my thoughts of being here while sitting on my bed. Sorry folks, didn't bring the camera along as didn't had the right lens to take urban pictures so google them instead.

AM3R > Baber K. Khan 06/27/2014 at 19:06

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I think next time I visit family in Palestine I'll spend time in Dubai and maybe Istanbul. Both places have been raved about by friends and family.

Gimmi-Sagan-Om-Draken > Baber K. Khan 06/27/2014 at 23:43

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Hand in hand, except for the imported slave labor! Horrible situation underneath.

Baber K. Khan > Gimmi-Sagan-Om-Draken 06/28/2014 at 07:51

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True that and I was writing that too but deleted it because they are a lot better of here than where they come from. You won't find them complaining but you can't as well compare labor standards of here with Europe. But I've seen Emiraitis now rallying for their rights as well. Buses are A/C now for example.