# Dubai Builds a Lyon



## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

*Dubai to get its own French city *

LYON, France, Jan 4, 2008 (AFP) - After Abu Dhabi's deal for its own Louvre museum, Dubai is also going for the French touch with plans to build its version of Lyon, complete with cafes, cinemas and schools, according to Lyon officials. 

Due to be completed by 2012, the project is the brainchild of a Dubai entrepreneur who fell in love with Lyon, one of the France's three biggest cities, after travelling there as part of plans for a French-language university in Dubai in partnership with Lyon-2 university. 

Buti Saeed Al Gandhi, who heads investment capital firm Emivest, is expected to sign a draft accord next week between the French city and Dubai. 

He wants to extend the university project into a huge district named Lyon-Dubai City that will be graced with public squares, restaurants, outdoor cafes and museums, and play host to the same gastronomic, cultural, sporting and economic institutions found in the French urban hub. 

"We're not going to just copy the buildings and make a type of Lyon decor, but reinstitute the city's atmosphere with boutiques and cultural places in the heart of the city, transport, a social mix, streets and lanes," said urban specialist Jean-Paul Lebas, who is working on the project. 

"The city will be organised on European lines so that in a bistrot there you will find the same atmosphere as in a bistrot in Lyon," he added. 

Thierry Valentin, deputy president of Lyon-2 University, said the new city, which will be about the size of the Latin Quarter in Paris, would be "a small city with the accent on the best of French culture, and particularly Lyon culture." 

Besides housing, offices and hotels, Lyon-Dubai City will house a hotel school run by famed chef Paul Bocuse's institute, a French-language university offering masters in fashion, international law and economics, subsidiaries of Lyon's main museums, a cinematheque and a football training centre run by the Olympique Lyonnais. 

The 300-400 hectare (741-988 acre) scheme, estimated at 500 million euros (740 million dollars), will be located either in an urban area near the Burj Dubai tower or in the desert near the emirate's planned second international airport.


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## AltinD (Jul 15, 2004)

I doubt it will ever going to happen. 

To me sounds more like some smarta** thinking he has a "great" idea so he "deserves" to get some financing ... and why not some free publicity (above all).


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## abskess (Mar 27, 2006)

^^WOW! very great project!


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## lokinyc (Sep 17, 2002)

sad.


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## lpioe (May 6, 2006)

Very stupid project imo.


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## philvia (Jun 22, 2006)

dubai is so ridiculous now


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## WhiteMagick (May 28, 2006)

This is super weak.


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## AltinD (Jul 15, 2004)

It will not going to happen anytime soon, if not at all. With 500 million they'll not be even able to build the needed infrastructure, let alone the entire project. 

For the moment, it's as bogus as it sound.


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## xlchris (Jun 23, 2006)

Pictures?


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## dougfr69 (Jul 18, 2004)

Not yet but plan should be introduced in the Lyon's City Hall tomorrow during the signature of agreement.
But It wont be a copy of monuments of Lyon but of the concept of an european city with these places, squares, coffees, museums...


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## diz (Nov 1, 2005)

wow. they're getting full of themselves.


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## krudmonk (Jun 14, 2007)

Shoulda done Marseille, stupid Dubai...


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## Jim856796 (Jun 1, 2006)

I guess it would be stupid for Dubai to build an entire city. This proposal needs to be cancelled. Dubai is an idiot city.


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## Minato ku (Aug 9, 2005)

They should not forget le Starbucks coffee. :lol:


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## Saigoneseguy (Mar 6, 2005)

Dubai is just following the US, building lame duck cities from all over the world.


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## luv2bebrown (Nov 4, 2004)

is this a city or a "city" like "international city" or "dubai media city"?


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## ggmm (Jan 8, 2006)

sad.


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## weltmeister (Nov 11, 2007)

well not bad considering dubai is thinking of importing some french culture. this may be a nice start. it's their choice really afaiac.


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## jbkayaker12 (Nov 8, 2004)

The price tag of the new manufactured shopping town in Las Vegas, Town Square Las Vegas is around 750 million US Dollars and it sits on around 100 acres. I wonder what are they building on that 300+ hectares for around 700+ million dollars, shanties???


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## philvia (Jun 22, 2006)

SaiGoNeseKiD said:


> Dubai is just following the US, building lame duck cities from all over the world.


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## jbkayaker12 (Nov 8, 2004)

davidearl said:


> and let's not forget people visit places also for the PEOPLE who live there.....the CULTURE [and I don't just mean musuems and opera here].... not so sure I'd like most Emiratis... they seem rather arrogant, elitist, and backward despite the D&G clothes and the techno gadgets they may have.... oh and they seem oh so NOT FUNNY



I have a sister who works in one of the major hotels in Las Vegas and she and her co-workers (Front Desk Clerks) dread when people from the Middle East come in to Las Vegas, not quite sure from which country but their common complaint regarding Middle Easterners, they are an arrogant bunch.
Entertainers from the Middle East come in to Vegas and have shows in one of the hotels here in town and so Vegas get a lot of visitors from the Middle East.

I will not say that I think and feel the same way as my sister for the simple fact I have not encountered many of them in my line of work but your comment above just made me recall a conversation I had with her in the past.


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## AltinD (Jul 15, 2004)

^^ And how is this related to the topic in anyway?


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## dewback (Jun 28, 2005)

ssiguy2 said:


> Instant city, just add money. A city is more than just buildings but a feel, attitude, lifestyle, community, history, cultures, etc.
> Building some look-alikes is not a city but a glorified amusement park.
> 
> Also I have to laugh............although I've never been to Lyon something tells me they serve liquor, wine, and the women don't wear vailes, and at times may even {god forbid} wear clothes that rise above the ankle. Damn decadent French!


I completely agree with you. I have seen the tacky imitations in Las Vegas, but this sounds even worse. At least Vegas doesn't take itself seriously, they know that a "Venetian" or a "Cesar's Palace" will never replace the real thing.


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## AltinD (Jul 15, 2004)

^^ Is there a real Cesar's Palace somewhere?


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## nygirl (Jul 14, 2003)

SaiGoNeseKiD said:


> Yes and people might find fake boobs attractive as well.


I dig fake boobs. It'll never be as good as a real boob ( B's and up) but it does suffice.


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## whitefordj (Feb 18, 2006)

get over it you all. if you dont like dubai, then why even read about anything that gets built or preposed there at all? sounds to me like many would say "Dubai is stupid" reagarding any project that is put forward. i may not like some of the ideas but i still gotta say that they have got lots of balls for even daring to build a fraction of what they have already built.


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## luv2bebrown (Nov 4, 2004)

Karakuri said:


> Did you pick these figures out of your magician's hat along with a rabbit, or did you read it in your seer stone?


did you get that comment from the CIA world factbook?

http://www.uaeinteract.com/docs/Dubai_population_makes_big_surge/24196.htm
1.4 million in 2006, after 290,000 people moved to the city that year. try and extrapolate some figures for the future from that information. its okay, please dont cry.


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## TheRhino (Dec 31, 2007)

What does Las Vegas have to do with anything? L.V. isnt building a fake city, its just building themed resorts (which are going out of style now btw).


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## Karakuri (Dec 5, 2006)

luv2bebrown said:


> its okay, please dont cry.


:nuts:

...anyway, you should know that experience showed that population outlooks over 15 or more years always appear to be wrong.


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## jbkayaker12 (Nov 8, 2004)

AltinD said:


> ^^ And how is this related to the topic in anyway?



Just made a comment on someone else's post that's it, no harm done and no offense meant to you and if it did offend you, my bad!!!


JB Photography


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## AltinD (Jul 15, 2004)

^^ It can't offend me in personal level because it wasn't directed toward me or my origin, but it offends my intelligence. 

Still remains the fact that the post was totally off-topic and uncalled for.


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## luv2bebrown (Nov 4, 2004)

Karakuri said:


> :nuts:
> 
> ...anyway, you should know that experience showed that population outlooks over 15 or more years always appear to be wrong.


you could be right... and you could be wrong


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