"the dunes will reclaim the soaring folly of Dubai"

[Liberal_in_LA]

As they did Ozymandias, the dunes will reclaim the soaring folly of Dubai

This off-the-shelf city state, built on laundering the profits of oil, drugs, arms and western aid, stands on the brink

--------------------------

Detroit is part of a great country that has shown itself capable of rescuing even its rustbelt municipalities. But this depends on finding people who will live in a place from which most have fled. Luckily, much of Detroit is of low-rise plot housing that could be transformed at least into Bohemian neighbourhoods, like ruined New Orleans.

No such option is available to Dubai. It is the ultimate Corbusian city, rigid in format and old-fashioned in conception, based on the grids and set squares of super-planners, and on grand symbolic buildings rather than intimate streets. It cannot respond to demand and supply for land and property, let alone to the wishes of free citizens. Human scale is confined to the Las-Vegas style replicas of Florence and Venice adopted by hotels that realise guests will not come if slapped constantly in the face by modern architecture. One business that cannot afford inhumanity is a hotel.

Such cities are like the planned science settlements of Soviet Russia or the instant downtowns of American "metroplexes", in which people do as planners ordain. There are no visual surprises, no corners of privacy away from big brother or at least big car. Buildings are exclusive and architecturally defensive, like London's Barbican.

I can only imagine that Dubai will one day be seen as a punctuation mark on the architectural follies of the past half century. This off-the-shelf city state has been built on laundering the profits of oil, drugs, arms and western aid. Its sheikh was not a complete fool, like comparable African and Latin American autocrats. He realised that city states cannot live on one product alone, unless it is money. Since he had no oil, he would drill for money.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/mar/20/dubai-decline-middle-east

[global1]

1. Wow - What A Concept - A Dubai Casino & Hotel In Las Vegas......

someone should start a contest as to what such a place would look like if someone attempted to emulate Dubai on the Las Vegas Strip.

[the other one]

2. Read the whole thing it's worth it nt

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

3. Dubai will probably be fine in the long-run,

They just tried to build over-night what Singapore built over sixty years.

[druidity33]

10. did you read the article?

That big tower is already falling apart. The country's finances are collapsing. The society itself works on "debt slave" labor. It's a ghost town. And it uses more water in A PLACE THAT HAS NONE than could ever conceivably be considered sustainable.

Only a matter of time before that city fades to dust...

:shrug:

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

14. and Singapore was a disease ridden swamp with no finances to collapse

But too was in a prime location to serve as an international finance and transportation hub,

[druidity33]

15. yeah but...

Singapore isn't IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FUCKING DESERT! Dubai will run out of water. Period. Everything else is consequential...

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

18. Singapore has already run out of water,

[Number23]

4. Hell of a read. Thanks for posting

[Hekate]

5. That's fascinating! It's a great take on this gargantuan folly. nt

[TheDebbieDee]

6. Did you know that this article is a year old?

Not that it isn't true or anything, it's just old news.

[marmar]

7. Dubai is a great metaphor for so many things.....

...... The rise and hard fall of a ridiculous monument to greed and excess.

[upi402]

8. China and Dubai, half empty

China did a make-work sort of an overbuild. They have a helluva bubble ready to pop, it sounds like. Somebody drank the 'build it and they will come' Kool Aid.

[SoCalDem]

17. and China destroyed a LOT of what would have made it great to visit

they bulldozed many ancient, yet thriving, communities in Beijing to "scour" the areas clean for their Olympic adventure..

China was closed off for such a long time, and people would have loved to see China..the REAL China..but before many people could ever really visit it, they razed the interesting parts & Disney-fied it...

They flooded many really cool places for their "dam" adventure..crushing the hopes of archaeologists, worldwide too..

[JNelson6563]

9. Good article.

Thanks for posting.

[NuttyFluffers]

11. but they will be beautiful ruins!

and in reality, isn't what we really want is to leave something beautiful for posterity, however brief it may be? :evilgrin:

[eppur_se_muova]

12. "Boundless and bare, the lone and level sands stretch far away."

As have they always.

[Odin2005]

16. Nothing beside remains...

[Strelnikov_]

13. As Kunstler notes, the great cities of the midwest are located were they are

for a reason.

Water. Ability to grow food. Strategic transportation location.

Once cheap transportation becomes a thing of the past, revitalization will occur.

[pitohui]

19. any "essay" that spouts of "ruined new orleans" is not worth my time

if you want me to click, give me some reason to think the writer is not a complete and total ass

i can't speak for detroit, but new orleans is not ruined, we're back, and we're prob. kicking your ass in the superbowl next year too plus all our influence on the art, food, music, and culture of this entire country

a writer shouldn't let their ignorance hang out in the very first paragraph of a piece and then expect to be taken seriously!!!