# Will Dubai Islands last?



## Gerrad (Dec 17, 2006)

the bigger question is, will a shit hole like Dubai last?


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## cr4ft (Jan 6, 2007)

Gerrad said:


> the bigger question is, will a shit hole like Dubai last?


Talk about a useless idiotic post hno:


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## bitoy (Mar 22, 2006)

They have the money to maintain it as long as they want or to rebuilt it if disaster happened. It is still an amazing project but only few can afford to enjoy it.


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## dubaiflo (Jan 3, 2005)

Gerrad said:


> the bigger question is, will a shit hole like Dubai last?


the real question is will your presence in this forum last? :cheers: 

as for the islands, i can't see any real danger within the next 50 years ( u never know what happens of course ) as long as maintenance will be taken care about.

tides or a tsunami are a relativley small if non existant issue. however an earthquake would be a danger, but not only for the islands but the whole of Dubai.


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## muzammil (Dec 24, 2006)

as for as the islands are concerned i really dont see any big ecological or natural
concerns affecting them . but once this building bubble busts ( once a renewable source of energy is found ,most probably in next decade or so), will there be enough money to maintain and sustain these projects for say 50 or 100 years .( we all know these are hugh multi billion dollar projects).i hope dubai does not end up like timbaktu ( this city was once a busy and hugh metropolis)


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## Khanabadosh (Nov 16, 2004)

muzammil said:


> as for as the islands are concerned i really dont see any big ecological or natural
> concerns affecting them . but once this building bubble busts ( once a renewable source of energy is found ,most probably in next decade or so), will there be enough money to maintain and sustain these projects for say 50 or 100 years .( we all know these are hugh multi billion dollar projects).i hope dubai does not end up like timbaktu ( this city was once a busy and hugh metropolis)


Please do some research. The contribution of oil to Dubai GDP is around 7%.


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## Halawala (Oct 16, 2005)

Gerrad said:


> the bigger question is, will a shit hole like Dubai last?


The bigger question is, will a shit hole like Gerrad last in this forum?


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## QatPhils (Dec 14, 2006)

^^:lol: :lol::rofl: :rofl: 
:laugh: :laugh: :hahaha: :hahaha: :crazy2: :hilarious :hilarious


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## Pablo (Sep 13, 2002)

AG said:


> Yes, coral and marine life has actually increased in the area since the Palm Islands were constructed, contradicting what was originally expected. Earthquakes shouldn't be so much of a problem because the sand and rock has been compacted to prevent liquefaction. The main problem though seems to be with longshore drift of sand along the palms and along the natural beaches of Dubai. There continuously needs to be maintenance and rainbowing in order to keep the beaches in the same shape.


wonder y the marine life is increasing in that area...?? shouldn't it be decreasing since the sea is no longer as clean as b4..


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## staff (Oct 23, 2004)

Khanabadosh said:


> Please do some research. The contribution of oil to Dubai GDP is around 7%.


Irrelevant, since pretty much all of the investments (the huge deveolpments and so on) comes from oil money in some form.


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## muzammil (Dec 24, 2006)

Khanabadosh said:


> Please do some research. The contribution of oil to Dubai GDP is around 7%.



people keep talking about trade ( most of the trade from dubai goes to other gcc countries( which are all depended on oil), so if oil goes so does the trade , see it is all interconnected . unlike europe or far east all gcc and other non-gcc middle eastern economies are based on oil industries . 

instead of building all these useless islands and tacky and flimsy projects, they would invest these petro dollars in research and development. 

one good thing about dubai is they are atleast following norway, where they are acquiring foreign companies and investing in ovearseas real estate .i think they should do more of this than wasting hard cash on white elephant projects.

i am not bashing dubai , this is just my thought as dubai is not surrounded by waterfalls and lush greenary .


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## muzammil (Dec 24, 2006)

well cities like las vegas, perth are part of developed countries with diverse economies , so if things do go wrong the federal and state gov chip in ,unlike UAE ( which is technically a confederation of statelets),so dubai does not really have a mighty economy like US,CANADA or Aus to back it, that should be a thought emiraties have to all ways think before they build these iconic but high maintance and financially risky projects.


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## smussuw (Feb 1, 2004)

Who cares? Dubai is doing better than any country in this world


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## Alle (Sep 23, 2005)

Pablo said:


> wonder y the marine life is increasing in that area...?? shouldn't it be decreasing since the sea is no longer as clean as b4..


I think it can have a lot to do with the increased shoreline being offering safe areas for young sealife to grow up in. Most young fish etc. spend their earlier time of life close to the coast where the water is not deep, and therefore larger sealife isnt their which meight eat them.

However, increased marine life isnt always a good thing, it depends on what marine life we are talking about. Increased mineral and nutritionsources in the sea can easily lead to a large algaepopulation, and also lead to a spread of poisonous algae. All the new marine life need so much oxygen so that it becomes a scarcity and so can lead to other species death.


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## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

muzammil said:


> well cities like las vegas, perth are part of developed countries with diverse economies , so if things do go wrong the federal and state gov chip in ,unlike UAE ( which is technically a confederation of statelets),so dubai does not really have a mighty economy like US,CANADA or Aus to back it, that should be a thought emiraties have to all ways think before they build these iconic but high maintance and financially risky projects.


Australia has as much industrie as a 3rd world country. Australia is depending on there resources as much as the U.A.E. Saw this on on TV. I was really surprised. 

Dubai is growing since the city was founded. They make a name for themself. The biggest advertising for Dubai are the incredible projects they are building. I was for 3 days in Dubai and 8 days in Osaka (one of the worlds biggest and most important cities). The first question i was asked after i returned: How was the Burj Al Arab?

Think about Egypt. What comes to your mind? The pyramides of Gizeh
Think about Beijing. What comes to your mind? The Forbidden City

Was this stuff really needed? No! 
Was it a waste of resources? Yes!
Would you like to change the history? Hell no!!!
Why? Because big and impressive things remian in your heart.


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## Mekky II (Oct 29, 2003)

smussuw said:


> Who cares? Dubai is doing better than any country in this world


It's wrong, workers on buildings are badly paid, and companies that go find them in India or Pakistan take their passports to keep them in place. Dubai doesn't do better, Dubai is an hell.


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## muzammil (Dec 24, 2006)

Tom_Green said:


> Australia has as much industrie as a 3rd world country. Australia is depending on there resources as much as the U.A.E. Saw this on on TV. I was really surprised.
> 
> Dubai is growing since the city was founded. They make a name for themself. The biggest advertising for Dubai are the incredible projects they are building. I was for 3 days in Dubai and 8 days in Osaka (one of the worlds biggest and most important cities). The first question i was asked after i returned: How was the Burj Al Arab?
> 
> ...




I am not talking abt burg al arab , i am just talking about these islands and other man made wonders not BUILDINGS


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## saladin1970 (Oct 20, 2006)

*where is the investment coming from*



muzammil said:


> I am not talking abt burg al arab , i am just talking about these islands and other man made wonders not BUILDINGS


This thing about where the money is coming from to fuel Dubai, many people have said it is just regurjatated Gulf money, yet I came across this, which is presumably just one of thousands of cases, where an investor is selling 100's of millions worth of property to say the UK. Note there are over 100,000 UK citizens in Dubai. Is that oil money??
" Suhail Rehman Director (UK) - Company Secretary
Suhail has been involved in Dubai’s property market since its freehold inception in 2002 and has since been advising private clients and managing Dubai-based property investment funds. He established Capital Developments Ltd in 2004 to source Dubai property for resale to UK investors and has completed property deals in Dubai to a value of over $100m. He has in-depth knowledge of property markets in the Middle East and closely follows global real estate markets and trends. He also manages a portfolio of investment properties in Scotland.

Suhail also has many years experience of business start-up, management, strategy and consulting. Having graduated from Glasgow University, Suhail initiated his business career with Ferranti (now part of British Aerospace Group) in 1990. He then branched out to successfully build a software development company which was eventually sold to a larger group.

He is Managing Director of the ATCO group which consists of a number of related businesses in travel, property
and software.

Suhail is also a co-founder and director of the Picsel Group, which develops software for the wireless industry. Suhail played a key role in helping the company raise $50m venture finance and growing the company to 145 staff
with offices in the UK, USA, Malaysia and Japan. The company has key contracts in place with industry leaders
including Samsung, Sony, Motorola and Docomo and is widely regarded as the leading company in its field."


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## sameerl (Jan 6, 2007)

The thing is that a lot of money is coming from the GCC region (a recent survey conducted by a think tank revealed that 45-50% of the buyers in real estate were coming in from Saudi, Iran, Kuwait and Oman). I'll try to get a hold of it and post it online....the point is that oil is still incredibly important to the growth of Dubai, even though the city has made giant strides in reducing its dependance on it. I think this city more than any other has a coherent strategy of diversifying its economic base, and is methodically building clusters of economic competitiveness (much like the famous economist Hayek originally envisaged)


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## aussiescraperman (Apr 5, 2005)

Tom_Green said:


> Australia has as much industrie as a 3rd world country. Australia is depending on there resources as much as the U.A.E. Saw this on on TV. I was really surprised.
> 
> Dubai is growing since the city was founded. They make a name for themself. The biggest advertising for Dubai are the incredible projects they are building. I was for 3 days in Dubai and 8 days in Osaka (one of the worlds biggest and most important cities). The first question i was asked after i returned: How was the Burj Al Arab?
> 
> ...


Umm...whatever man, and at least morally we don't feel guilty, if it wasn't for slave like labour, Dubai wouldn't look as flashy as it is. WTF...paying less then a penance to workers for south asia..make them live in slums with now sewarage. Check back in 50 years mate....we'll see how the crap little fake dubai stands up against Australia..we are here to stay.


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## jmancuso (Jan 9, 2003)

qwazy said:


> the titanic was built at a very different time. that doesnt match with today's technology, know-how and engineering sophistication



your missing my point. both were built with the assumptions that they will last. building an island and ensure that it will withstand natural erosion and weathering is beyond our technology even today. 

osaka's artificial island airport is sinking and that was supposed to be a technological marvel as well.


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## Taylorhoge (Feb 5, 2006)

what about Hong Kong airport island?


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## qwazy (Dec 26, 2006)

jmancuso said:


> your missing my point. both were built with the assumptions that they will last. building an island and ensure that it will withstand natural erosion and weathering is beyond our technology even today.
> 
> osaka's artificial island airport is sinking and that was supposed to be a technological marvel as well.


but todays assumptions and technology are way better and way more reliable than of that time. the sophisticated engineering works of today, if carried out CORRECTLY, which they are not in a lot of cases where there is failure, are quite reliable

lets hope they last though. btw, i read somewhere that the per unit area strenght of these islands is more than that of all natural land due to the fact that they are highly compressed after dredging :lol:


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## cheersmate (May 6, 2006)

an engineer who've worked in those islands mentioned of it's not so lasting structure..just a hearsay in my part.
as for a colleague who bought a flat there..she also have doubts.
i suppose buyers w/ loads of money to play w/ never worry if those islands will last..


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## makada (Jan 28, 2007)

This thread morphed into an Australia vs. UAE thread and though it's off topic I'd like to address some things.



Tom_Green said:


> The show that said that Australia is depending on the raw materials they are exporting.
> They also said Australia depends very much on the grow of China and that Australia has as much industrie as a 3rd world country.
> 
> BTW i don`t want to bash Australia. I just want to say that you can have a decent country where you depend on the the raw materials you export.
> ...


I'd be surprised if Australia had even AS MUCH industry as a developing country. Like all developed economies Australia's economy is predominantly service based. In today's globalised world, manufacturing is centred in developing countries where production costs are lower. Beyond that Australia's manufacturing sector was predominately focused on low cost production and not on high-tech or quality industries like in Germany and Japan. Further still, Australia never had the economies of scale in the domestic market - due to our small population - to expand and diversify our manufacturing base and domestic companies and lower prices, leaving the home market easily susceptible to foreign imports.

It is true that Australia's economy relies more heavily on resources and agricultural exports than most if not all developed countries. This has a lot to do with our vast natural resource base and in terms of agricultural production because of a small domestic market. China's economic progress has been a massive benefit to the Australian economy but if the market disappears Australia is still positioned well, with a highly diversified economy. We've had uninterrupted positive economic growth since the early '90's, well before the current resources boom.



smussuw said:


> Damn, ur media do whatever it takes to ruin Dubai's perfect reputation. You cannot win against Dubai dear. We are above criticism :lol:


The quote from aussiescraperman was not from "our" media but National Geographic magazine, a respected American publication.



AltinD said:


> ^^ As an Australian, you should be THE LAST person on Earth to talk about treatment of people. Think about that.


Since when does a nations shameful history deny it's contemporary citizens the right to speak out about injustices in the present world? Reconciliation is an ongoing process here in Australia and the complexities of 181 years of suffering and damage take more than 38 years to undo. Try a little respect and tact next time you're tempted to shoot your mouth off with sweeping generalisations.


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## connected_ (Dec 24, 2006)

Thanks for that very informative post, makada. But I should warn you; criticising Dubai on these boards is like insulting someone's religion. They will gang up on you and answer back with baseless and inane 'facts' on why the whole region is so prosperous and great. They're suffering grandiose delusions if anything. :|


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## emutiny (Dec 29, 2005)

Look guys theres thousands of artificial islands in the world, beleive it or not dubai is not the first city to see developments like this, the people who build this stuff know what they are doing. The people who build these things take pride in what they do.


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## infernal (May 27, 2007)

Why build these islands if most of UAEs coast is all clear of buildings and structures?


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## Elsongs (Oct 18, 2006)

infernal said:


> Why build these islands if most of UAEs coast is all clear of buildings and structures?


Vanity.


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## AltinD (Jul 15, 2004)

infernal said:


> Why build these islands if most of UAEs coast is all clear of buildings and structures?


WRONG!!!! 

The entire coast of Dubai is build up!!!!


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## noblergt (Aug 23, 2004)

AltinD said:


> WRONG!!!!
> 
> The entire coast of Dubai is build up!!!!


He said the UAE not Dubai.


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## mic (Jun 27, 2004)

These people have no idea about Australia.

I am an Australian born from Italian parents. Most people in Australia were born of migrants that came after the second world war. My grandparents migrated from Italy in 1956 so I really dont think they had anything to do with the Aborigines, they came from Italy and were far removed from any injustices, just like many other families who find their roots in Asia, the Middle East and Europe.


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## Online (May 17, 2007)

stay in topic guys 

As for me, I don't think they will last


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## AltinD (Jul 15, 2004)

noblergt said:


> He said the UAE not Dubai.


The Palms are being build IN Dubai and to serve Dubai, not the rest of the country.


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## AltinD (Jul 15, 2004)

mic said:


> These people have no idea about Australia.
> 
> I am an Australian born from Italian parents. Most people in Australia were born of migrants that came after the second world war. My grandparents migrated from Italy in 1956 so I really dont think they had anything to do with the Aborigines, they came from Italy and were far removed from any injustices, just like many other families who find their roots in Asia, the Middle East and Europe.


We people have alot of ideas about Australia.


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## drmadham (Oct 1, 2004)

Mekky II said:


> It's wrong, workers on buildings are badly paid, and companies that go find them in India or Pakistan take their passports to keep them in place. Dubai doesn't do better, Dubai is an hell.



Problem with Dubai-haters is they dont look at the entire picture. They look at one or two flaws, and declare an entire country/city as "hell".

educate yourselves


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## DG (Sep 2, 2005)

no, the Judgement Day is comming :sleepy:


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## goschio (Dec 2, 2002)

The islands will get flooded within the next 100-300 years. But so will most of Dubai and most coastal areas around the world. Sea level is already rising and will continue.

Would be great to build floating cities. They can always be at the coast regardless of sea level.


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## Irwell (May 22, 2006)

I think the people building in Dubai atm should have read a few old books before starting these projects. I'd suggest the Bible, Matthew 7:26 as a good starting point!


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## Okan (Feb 5, 2007)

arabs dont read the bible


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## Irwell (May 22, 2006)

Okan said:


> arabs dont read the bible


It would have saved them an awful lot of work!


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## AltinD (Jul 15, 2004)

^^ Leave the relegious CRAP out of this thread :bash:


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## Irwell (May 22, 2006)

AltinD said:


> ^^ Leave the relegious CRAP out of this thread :bash:


It's not religious crap, it was a joke!

Matthew 7:26

"Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand."


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## LMCA1990 (Jun 18, 2005)

I saw on NatGeo that although Coral life is flourishing, the tide is slowly taking back the sand. I hope they do something to counteract this 'cause I like those projects, especially The World.


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## virgule82 (Apr 9, 2007)

Okan said:


> arabs dont read the bible


There are plenty of Christian Arabs. Maybe not in Dubai though...


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## jogiba (Jul 6, 2006)

I would worry more with having a home in the Florida Keys than on Palm Jumeirah IMHO.


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