Demise of Dubai?

A BBC report has coined this 'Demise of Dubai?' Well it is not so. What is the big surprise? That a recession has hit Dubai? Why not? Dubai is maturing and the economy will expand and recess like all others. The Dubai leadership has done a wonderful experiment in building out of sand and a tiny fishing/trading port a metropolis of global dimensions. Congratulations.

What they need now is to look beyond:

• How to sustain this metropolis?The first phase was the expansion stage, and I feel this was not checked enough but pushed to beyond the long term interest.
• Is all the wonderful infrastructure built needed? For how long?
• Medium and long term study of the size of Dubai?
• Stricter control of any more expansion.
• Provision of open spaces and more greenery to sustain a better quality of life.

Otherwise Dubai will be a big concrete jungle, underutilized, with a big infrastructure that cannot be fully supported. This will be a tragic ending for a noble, commendable experiment.

Salaam