Dubai wants its own Eiffel Tower, higher than any other building in the world......

[Bilad al-Haramayn]

:O Excellence? What is excellent of having a slave labor force that can be deported once they demand to have their wages given to them?

What is excellent in the palm islands?

Where they designed by an Emiriti?

Where they built by an Emiriti?

I'll watch a video of NASA ground imaging satellites showing them getting washed away in a decade. I'll give it a 'like' or 'thumbs up' on youtube.

First of all why are you so butthurt? Did anyone ask for your opinion? Do you think that anyone in UAE cares? Basically did an Emirati hurt you or what?

All of your examples are fantastic examples of unique architectural feats seen nowhere else on the planet. Attractions that apparently attract millions of tourists each year.
In fact Dubai on its own was the fourth most visited city in the world last year. Almost 15 million foreign tourists (14.2 million precisely) visited. That number alone is bigger than the number of foreign tourists who visited South Asia (Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Nepal) last year.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/nation/dubai/20160127/dubai-is-fourth-most-visited-city-in-the-world

Dubai went from being 1 out of 1000's upon 1000's of sleepy fishing villages in the Arab world to a major metropolis recognized worldwide in various sectors be it tourism, banking, trade etc. UAE as a whole has done tremendously well on many fronts and should be an example to follow for many Muslim and developing states. UAE is a success story on many fronts and that is recognized worldwide whether you like this fact or not.

There are plenty of Emirati architects whose projects have been built in the UAE. However it seems that the geniuses who are commenting in this thread do not realize that there are only 2 million native Emiratis in the UAE and that this fact obviously limits their possibilities greatly. Yeah, let's compare their abilities with 200 million big Pakistan or better 1.2 billion big India. Only on PDF do we see such kind of moronic nonsense again and again from the same butthurt users.

All this is coming from a person who is not even a big fan of Dubai as I much rather prefer the numerous ancient cities in Arabia and the wider Arab world or some of the 100 World UNESCO Heritage Sites found within our part of the world, many of which are the most well-known ancient heritage sites. Or our fantastic and wild nature.

Good luck to Dubai and may UAE and the GCC as a region continue to prosper on all fronts and cause further pains for all the senseless haters!

 

[EasyNow]

:O Excellence? What is excellent of having a slave labor force that can be deported once they demand to have their wages given to them?

What is excellent in the palm islands?

Where they designed by an Emiriti?

Where they built by an Emiriti?

I'll watch a video of NASA ground imaging satellites showing them getting washed away in a decade. I'll give it a 'like' or 'thumbs up' on youtube.

I was being objective about the clear vision and the audacious strategy they adopted, not how they actually delivered it. I am with you 100% about exploitation of poor labourers. That will forever reflect on these achievements.

But You have to admit in terms of terrestrial development no one in the world is pushing the envelope like they are. And yes they are buying in excellence, but that was a risky and expensive strategy which proved to be the right one.

 

[Thəorətic Muslim]

First of all why are you so butthurt? Did anyone ask for your opinion? Do you think that anyone in UAE cares? Basically did an Emirati hurt you or what?

Good luck to Dubai and may UAE and the GCC as a region continue to prosper on all fronts and cause further pains for all the senseless haters!

I was going to give you a long reply, but, why dont we do this... We'll talk about how great the Gulf Arab States are once they run out of oil.

Sounds like a good compromise?

 

[Bilad al-Haramayn]

I was going to give you a long reply, but, why dont we do this... We'll talk about how great the Gulf Arab States are once they run out of oil.

Sounds like a good compromise?

I don't think that I or anyone else missed anything worthy so I guess that you did us all a favor.

I am afraid that you will have to wait a long time for that to happen and long before that even becomes relevant the economies will not be dependent on oil anymore. I am sorry to tell you this. Go worry about your ancestral country instead of worrying about countries that are much better off on almost every front.

Save us all the butthurt and the same old ignorant song.

 

[Thəorətic Muslim]

I am afraid that you will have to wait a long time for that to happen and long before that even becomes relevant the economies will not be dependent on oil anymore. I am sorry to tell you this. Go worry about your ancestral country instead of worrying about countries that are much better off on almost every front.

My ancestral country is a piece of sh!t. In every sense of the word.

But then again, which Muslim country isn't?

 

[jamahir]

Go worry about your ancestral country instead of worrying about countries that are much better off on almost every front.

in what way are gulfi monarchies ( monarchies in 2016 !! ) better??

and i am never impressed with silly sky scrapers... i find them ugly.

 

[Bilad al-Haramayn]

My ancestral country is a piece of sh!t. In every sense of the word.

But then again, which Muslim country isn't?

That is your opinion besides nothing is static. What is bad today might not necessarily be bad in 50 years time or less. If you are a student of history as I am you will realize that the fortune or misfortune of regions and countries of the world change depending on internal and external circumstances in a given time period.

Another thing did you realize that all the monuments across the world that millions of tourists marvel over were built by what we would consider today as slaves and under circumstances (safety regulations etc.) that would not be allowed today? Even today thousands upon thousands of infrastructural projects in the West are done by low-paid and often illegal laborers. I am not even going to talk about Latin America, Africa, CHINA, India, South Asia as a whole, Southeast Asia etc. Yet as usual GCC is singled out, despite that region also being a developing region of the world and not the West.

You are complaining about the condition of workers in the GCC (which admittedly are not the greatest but the situation has improved a lot in recent years and will improve further for each month) yet you know very well that the situation is even worse or very similar for ordinary workers in South Asia let alone China etc. It's the hypocrisy and false entitlement that I find extremely annoying.

My country and the GCC as a whole might not have the best leaders in the world and we might have a few moronic laws thanks to some old dinosaurs' among our clergy, but at least we live in one of the richest regions on the planet, in well-functioning welfare states, with fantastic overall infrastructure, services and most importantly stability. I would not compare ourselves to the ordinary Muslim country as that would be an insult towards us based on factual data (living standards, GDP per capita (nominal), HDMI index etc. In fact we are better off than 90% of the world on those fronts.

 

[MarkusS]

Iranian 'Milad' tower 6th tallest tower in the word.

Milad Tower - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

saw this one from afar on our business trio. looked impressive

 

[Sky lord]

First of all why are you so butthurt? Did anyone ask for your opinion? Do you think that anyone in UAE cares? Basically did an Emirati hurt you or what?

There are plenty of Emirati architects whose projects have been built in the UAE. However it seems that the geniuses who are commenting in this thread do not realize that there are only 2 million native Emiratis in the UAE and that this fact obviously limits their possibilities greatly. Yeah, let's compare their abilities with 200 million big Pakistan or better 1.2 billion big India. Only on PDF do we see such kind of moronic nonsense again and again from the same butthurt users.

!

I think you are being a little unfair here. UAE and Gulf countries are not above criticism nor is all criticism born out of envy as you seem to be implying.

What the Gulf countries have done well - they used the oil bonanza to actually improve the lives of many of their own citizens and also used it to put in place first world infrastructure. Many other countries got oil wealth but totally wasted it with nothing to show for it ...Nigeria and Venezuela come to mind. Nigerian rulers stole ALL the money and Venezuelans foolishly wasted it. Gulf has something to show for it. Good for you.

However,

By setting up a welfare state that does not require the majority of its citizens to work hard it has set itself up for a long term problem of entitled, lazy, shallow educated citizens that cannot compete with others.

.
You ask to compare the achievements of 2 millions native Emiratis with the millions of South Asia. Let's do that.
There are approximately 3 million South Asians in America. They have the same first world advantages that UAE citizens have, great health care, great educational opportunities, connectivity etc. Among these 3 million you will find SEVERAL Nobel prize winners, self made billionaires, inventors, architects, novelists, economists, movie directors and producers, heads of multi billion dollar corporations, eminent doctors, lawyers, governors, philanthropists, musicians, conductors, astronauts ...etc etc etc.

How does the 2 million Emiratis compare now? If you compare with some poor villager who can barely read and write and doesn't have a spare pair of trousers then Emiratis achievements shine but when you compare people who have been given the same first world opportunities and standard of living ...not so much bro.

As for all these fancy buildings and such, it's all fine so long as you have oil money, once that is depleted there is only one thing to do ...WORK ....and WORK in Scientific and Technical fields. Gulfies are as capable to do that as anyone else, but whether they in fact actually do so still remains to be seen.

 

[livingdead]

Its a private company building a mega structure, that will probably generate revenue for them in long run. I dont see anything wrong in that. Why have Eiffel tower, World trade center or Taipei 101 then?
burj khalifa is not making losses as far as I know.

 

[Bilad al-Haramayn]

I think you are being a little unfair here. UAE and Gulf countries are not above criticism nor is all criticism born out of envy as you seem to be implying.

What the Gulf countries have done well - they used the oil bonanza to actually improve the lives of many of their own citizens and also used it to put in place first world infrastructure. Many other countries got oil wealth but totally wasted it with nothing to show for it ...Nigeria and Venezuela come to mind. Nigerian rulers stole ALL the money and Venezuelans foolishly wasted it. Gulf has something to show for it. Good for you.

However,

By setting up a welfare state that does not require the majority of its citizens to work hard it has set itself up for a long term problem of entitled, lazy, shallow educated citizens that cannot compete with others.

.
You ask to compare the achievements of 2 millions native Emiratis with the millions of South Asia. Let's do that.
There are approximately 3 million South Asians in America. They have the same first world advantages that UAE citizens have, great health care, great educational opportunities, connectivity etc. Among these 3 million you will find SEVERAL Nobel prize winners, self made billionaires, inventors, architects, novelists, economists, movie directors and producers, heads of multi billion dollar corporations, eminent doctors, lawyers, governors, philanthropists, musicians, conductors, astronauts ...etc etc etc.

How does the 2 million Emiratis compare now? If you compare with some poor villager who can barely read and write and doesn't have a spare pair of trousers then Emiratis achievements shine but when you compare people who have been given the same first world opportunities and standard of living ...not so much bro.

As for all these fancy buildings and such, it's all fine so long as you have oil money, once that is depleted there is only one thing to do ...WORK ....and WORK in Scientific and Technical fields. Gulfies are as capable to do that as anyone else, but whether they in fact actually do so still remains to be seen.

Your comparison does not make any sense with all due respect. The 3.5 million Indians in the US (that's already almost 50% more people than Emiratis inside UAE who number between 1.5-2 million people) are the Indians in general who are most well off. That includes the "best of the best" Indians in India itself.

You have 1.2 billion (!) people to take from. The 3.5 million Indians who ended up in the US are usually those who were doing the best either academically or in terms of business. How many illiterate people are there in India? If I am not wrong more than anywhere else on the planet. If you took 3.5 million of them and transferred them to the US, the Indian American community would not even be anywhere near as successful as the current one.

You also omit many other factors such as the age of UAE as a independent country, the different school system (India's school system is based on the British model due to colonialism), the level of English proficiency etc. In fact UAE as a state was founded in 1972. So you should compare it with how India was 44 years after its independence in 1947. So 1991 is the relevant date.

I hope that you will now realize that your comparison is a mistaken one.

Arab Americans who also number around 3.5 million people are as successful as the Indian American community but they also tend to be better off than the average Arab in the Arab world. Much better off in fact. I could not dream of comparing them with the 1.5-2 million Emiratis as it would not make sense on so many fields.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Americans

Its a private company building a mega structure, that will probably generate revenue for them in long run. I dont see anything wrong in that. Why have Eiffel tower, World trade center or Taipei 101 then?
burj khalifa is not making losses as far as I know.

Despite the entire world, especially developing countries, building skyscrapers, financial centers from Brazil to Indonesia, it is only a problem when Arabs do it despite Arabs in the GCC being the most successful in this regard. Then those same persons are trying to tell us that they are not envious, butthurt or whatever is wrong with them. Just LOL.

 

[Sky lord]

I hope that you will now realize that your comparison is a mistaken one.

No, your arguments have errors and inconsistencies, I was about to write a 3 para explanation then decided against it, as it's off topic, plus I am too lazy. However, if you want to continue on that branch of the discussion let me know.


So to stay ON TOPIC of Arab sky scrapers. Let's continue .


You keep coming back to "people are envious" argument which I don't buy.


See the point is that when the Americans first built sky scrapers out of necessity back in the 30s in Manhattan, people were truly "shocked and awed" . It was an amazing accomplishment of American technology and engineering . NO other country in the world could do that at that point. It was a symbol of the superiority and true awesomeness of American engineering.

When the. Eiffel Tower was built, it was s a showcase to. French engineering. When China builds skyscrapers, people look on it as an expression of its modernization and improving capabilities. Sky scrapers are symbolic of the technological achievements of a society.

People , rightly or wrongly, do not believe the same of the Gulf countries. NO one thinks that you are scientifically or technologically advanced. It is a bit like a guy off the street who buys a white coat and a stethoscope and walks around a hospital pretending to be a doctor. People are going to laugh behind his back.

The Gulf is not building sky scrapers because they don't have enough land, they are building it to show the world that they are modern. The world simply refuses to believe that for obvious reasons.

 

[Bilad al-Haramayn]

No, your arguments have errors and inconsistencies, I was about to write a 3 para explanation then decided against it, as it's off topic, plus I am too lazy. However, if you want to continue on that branch of the discussion let me know.


So to stay ON TOPIC of Arab sky scrapers. Let's continue .


You keep coming back to "people are envious" argument which I don't buy.


See the point is that when the Americans first built sky scrapers out of necessity back in the 30s in Manhattan, people were truly "shocked and awed" . It was an amazing accomplishment of American technology and engineering . NO other country in the world could do that at that point. It was a symbol of the superiority and true awesomeness of American engineering.

When the. Eiffel Tower was built, it was s a showcase to. French engineering. When China builds skyscrapers, people look on it as an expression of its modernization and improving capabilities. Sky scrapers are symbolic of the technological achievements of a society.

People , rightly or wrongly, do not believe the same of the Gulf countries. NO one thinks that you are scientifically or technologically advanced. It is a bit like a guy off the street who buys a white coat and a stethoscope and walks around a hospital pretending to be a doctor. People are going to laugh behind his back.

The Gulf is not building sky scrapers because they don't have enough land, they are building it to show the world that they are modern. The world simply refuses to believe that for obvious reasons.

There is nothing inconsistent about my arguments as they are all based on facts.
Using your logic only the US should be able to built skyscrapers as they pioneered this field. Everyone else copied them and did not invent anything new. That's not how the world functions as all human knowledge is based on previous knowledge which is bowered and improved. The Arab world, which is the cradle of civilization, was for millennia leading technologically and scientifically. As well as more "recently" during the Islamic Golden Age.

You seem not to understand that the GCC is a developing region and that all developing regions from Brazil to Indonesia, especially in metropolises, tend to built skyscrapers and financial centers. It is a sign of wealth and economic development.

This thread is about a proposed architectural project by a PRIVATE firm in Dubai. A city that last year was the fourth most visited city on the planet with 14.2 million visitors. Those visitors from across the world started to arrive to Dubai because its rulers pioneered that city and invested in architectural projects etc.. That's what made the city famous.

Who said anything about skyscrapers equaling being technologically advanced? Do you really know anything about how common skyscrapers are in the GCC to begin with? Skyscrapers are non-existent in Oman, in Bahrain they are only found in Manama (capital) and can be counted on 1 hand. The highest skyscraper there is merely 260 meters tall. In Qatar skyscrapers are only found in Doha the capital. In Kuwait only in Kuwait City. In Saudi Arabia there is the Makkah Clock Tower, Kingdom Tower in Riyadh and the proposed Financial Center in Riyadh (KAFD). Then there ere are a few skyscrapers in Jeddah. Otherwise there are none.
So it's actually just the UAE that is pioneering on this front, mainly in Dubai, and much less so in Abu Dhabi.

People throughout time have always been building monuments. Using that logic you could question the sense of all those World UNESCO Heritage Sites that you can find in the Arab world (almost 100 sites) and the remaining world. They too were built by rulers as a sign of wealth.
I really don't see the problem. Dubai is clearly a success story so I assume that they know what they are doing.

Anyway I see not point discussing this further as we are either not in agreement or talking past each other. Besides we are off-topic as well.

 

[Sky lord]

Using your logic only the US should be able to built skyscrapers as they pioneered this field. Everyone else copied them and did not invent anything new. That's not how the world functions as all human knowledge is based on previous knowledge which is bowered and improved. The Arab world, which is the cradle of civilization, was for millennia leading technologically and scientifically. As well as more "recently" during the Islamic Golden Age

Your are misunderstanding my argument. You do not have to re-invent the wheel. Again, what I am saying is that feats of engineering, whether it is skyscrapers or bridges or whatever gives an indication of what the capabilities of the society that produces it is. Sky scrapers in countries like Indonesia or Singapore reflect the depth of expertise within their own people, they simply do not in GCC countries.

And what does this have to do with your ancestors? Everyone knows that in times past Arabs were great warriors and traders, this is about the current crop of lazy people who waste their time drag racing in the dessert and coasting along in their studies. ( as an aside, I once saw an IMAX of Arab architecture from the time when the Arabs dominated the trade in Frankincense to The Roman Empire. TBH Dude, I think some of the buildings of that time built by your ancestors were FAR AND AWAY more AUTHENTIC, elegant and beautiful than anything done today)

 

[livingdead]

emiratis are building their future for a post petro-dollar world. they are trying to build a financial hub in ME, world class airline, and attractive tourist destination. Its not a matter of pride, its going to be a matter of survival for them.
Skyscrapers are the neon light that will attract people/businesses from across GCC and beyond.

They also are buying property and businesses abroad, all for rainy day.
I would say emiratis are ahead of rest of arab countries and I wish them luck.
Whether they should invest in space exploration or artificial intelligence or marine research is best left to them, its their money.

To reiterate its a private (construction) company with profit motivation as its primary goal. Not world peace. Not fighting global warming.