loefet said:
Jake said:
The first line of the Dubai Metro (the city's rapid transit system) opened recently, and the stations look <img> amazing!
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... ai_003.jpg
http://www.flashydubai.com/images/dubai ... ion_06.jpg
You know that the second image is the Stockholm Metro, right??
Does the Stockholm Metro have escalators labelled "Up" and "Not up"? The furthest one must mean "standing still", then.
And as for Dubai lacking money: We're hitting a transport revolution this century. Bullet trains and "faster-than-bullet"-trains can bring huge amounts of goods over huge distances in little time.
Africa is getting an economic boost. If they decide to group the entire continent to one huge country (just that is actually proposed), cities such as Cairo and Nairobi will become regional economic centres, and may get train connections to the outside world as well.
India is also getting a boost.
What does this have to do with Dubai's economy? Dubai is situated bang in the middle of Europe, Asia and Africa. Today, it's in no man's land, but as transport can bring people safer and easier around the world, this will make Dubai comparable to a hotel in the middle of London, location-wise: Close to everything, and plenty of shopping options within walking distance. When the boom hits the Middle East, the Emirates will already be an established meeting point, whereas cities such as Baghdad and Jerusalem will be too "old" for a core role. Dubai has no famous landmarks to preserve, or religious fanatics quarreling about every street corner. There's nothing there but desert, just build and be happy, and three continents are just a train ride away.
Though, I'd really rather they fix the sewage system there before I go. Currently, it's dimensioned for a population of 500 000.
