Dubai.
The name exudes luxury, excess & riches. It’s the city where anything is possible. Want to buy a man-made island in the shape of of France? How about going skiing in the desert? Or sleeping in the most expensive hotel?
Great read in Toronto Star about how not to build a city. All I can say is.. of course.
But, Dubai’s main revenue isn’t from oil. It’s only 6% - it’s mostly in tourism and real estate. So of course they won’t stop this unsustainable path of growth – that’d be cutting the hand that feeds them.
Keeping with the superlatives though, the UAE is, however, creating the most sustainable city. Interesting concept and I’m not about to put it down but perhaps the government should re-look at its current cities and start improving those instead of constructing fresh new “eco-cities” – it won’t be so eco if it’s in close proximity to cities like Dubai.
The more I think about it though, more power (and responsibility) should be directed to cities for putting us on a sustainable track. More so than national plans – our investments (the good the bad and the ugly) into cities will be the deciding factor of which way we develop the future.
Dubai’s current plan is not one I want to see followed…
