Dubai Property Boom Helicopter View
With the amount of newspaper inches and web coverage, the Dubai real estate market has received in recent years, you cannot fail to have heard about some of the country’s amazing real estate feats from constructing the world’s largest shopping mall complete with indoor ski slope to building from scratch, a man-made island in the shape of a Palm Tree.We have been lucky enough to get our hands on some aerial photos taken at the end of 2007, giving a helicopter view of the Dubai property phenomenon under construction.
So let’s start with the daddy of all Dubai’s projects, The Palm Dubai
The Atlantis Hotel at the far end of the Palm like the one found in Barbados.
Another shot of the Atlantis from the side
The Palm Dubai in its full glory
Million dollar front line beach homes
The trunk of the Dubai Palm
Side angle of the trunk
The World Dubai aka very expensive dollops of sand.
The only island with anything on it
The Burj Dubai (The tallest tower in the world at present)
The financial district of Dubai (DIFC)
A small section of Dubai Land and competitors to Disney World
Dubai Marina
Largest Mall in the world
World’s Largest Mall complete with indoor ski slope
A shot along the coast with entrance to Dubai Marina
Some final dredging taking place
Photos are courtesy of Mr Wood.
Starcraft II said,
February 5, 2008 @ 7:13 pm
Nice photos
would be a great place to own a condo hehe… wow, I hope it gets more greenage tho
Timothy Latz said,
February 5, 2008 @ 7:54 pm
Now I know where all my gasoline money has been going to!
WordPress guru said,
February 5, 2008 @ 10:19 pm
@Timothy,
This is a misconception. Actually your gasoline money goes to Exon / Chevron and other gas giants and these are not owned by UAE. The idiot Arabs have contracts with oil companies who eat most of the money coming out of oil. Arabs dont have expertise to do it themselves.
Plus UAE is not the biggest oil producer. The top ones are Saudi Arab , Iran , Kuwait.
So most likely petro dollars are coming back home in the bank accounts of oil giants.
Baseldon said,
February 5, 2008 @ 11:17 pm
What a bleak dusty place
Like hell on earth…
Al Dente said,
February 6, 2008 @ 1:07 am
Looks like hell on Earth. It’ll be so much better when it’s properly branded with McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Taco bell etc.
Matt Ellsworth said,
February 6, 2008 @ 2:29 am
Holy Wow would be about all I can think of. Simply amazing!
IsabellaGucci said,
February 6, 2008 @ 3:31 am
I am very impressed by the effort and the design by many of these buildings. But the sand is really tacky and it kind of looks cheap and dry and hot. I’m not sure but I think this is a disaster waiting to happen. Especially with the effects of global warming getting worse and worse. Besides that I think it’s overall very exciting.
James Welborn said,
February 6, 2008 @ 6:04 am
It’s kind of ironic that the wealth that’s building all this comes from fossil fuels, which cause global warming, which will put all this under water in about 20 years.
KristjanS said,
February 6, 2008 @ 6:52 am
No worries, that’s called world market.
Jay said,
February 6, 2008 @ 8:44 am
Uh, is that smog I see floating over the Dubai cityscape? No thanks, I can get that here.
William Murdick said,
February 6, 2008 @ 2:07 pm
What good is a beach house if the women have to wear shirts and pants when they go swimming? All this money would be better spent on liberal and scientific education. When alternative energy sources are improved, oil won’t be worth the cost of digging it up, processing it, and transporting it. Then what for Dubai?
DOUG VAN CLEAVE said,
February 6, 2008 @ 2:15 pm
MUST BE NICE HAVE MILLIONS TO THROW AWAY. NOT VERY IMPRESSIVETO A MIDDLE CLASS WORKING FAMILY. THIS KINDA IS FORTHE BIG RICH PEOPLE TO GO AND HAVE FUN SOMEPLACE AND COME BACK AND BRAGG ABOUT. THIS DOES NOT TURN ME ON AT ALL.
HAVE A GREAT DAY;
DOUG
Lisa O'Dell said,
February 6, 2008 @ 2:20 pm
while the rest of the world lives large and expands, we Americans are falling for the global warming hoax, getting taxed more, slowing our economy, making our lives miserable with higher food prices because some fool said ethonal is good. Making me pay three times as much for a light bulb, I DO NOT WANT, charging me more $ to get a car with better gas milage, having to view windmills that produce very little energy but make GE rich becasue there “Green”. If you thought Haliburton got rich because of the war wait till you see GE profits as a result of Global warming.
Dave said,
February 6, 2008 @ 2:30 pm
And millenniums in the future when who or what digs this site up they will see a repetition of time with it’s corporate pharos and coerced slaves. They will marvel at what our primitive civilization repeats in behaviors to achieve something so self-interested and short lived.
Safari said,
February 6, 2008 @ 3:00 pm
Built with slave labor in atrocious living conditions
ALFRED LEACH said,
February 6, 2008 @ 3:12 pm
If you can stand 120 degrees in the shade this is for you.
I’ll take my sunny south Florida anytime.
omo46gg said,
February 6, 2008 @ 3:56 pm
Building big is not alwasys better. Look at the tower of Babal
John Derrick said,
February 6, 2008 @ 4:32 pm
This is tantamount to Bill Clinton brokering the Kazakstan uranium mining deal for the Canadians…Bill was paid $13 Million and promised another $100 Million…even though this was against US Trade Agreements because Kazakstan oppresses her people under dictatorship rule…I wonder how much of Bills $13 Million is going to finance Hitlery’s campaign??? Judicial Watch found this little “conflict of interest” on Bill; then he reluctantly admitted it….
America’s Freedom is being sold by the Clintons !!! Wake Up America !!!
Reggie Acosta said,
February 6, 2008 @ 8:00 pm
Giustra, a Canadian and new acquaintance of Bill Clinton’s, reportedly was involved in Kazakh mining deals since the 1990’s. He has stated that the business agreement, being spun with omission and innuendo into scandal, was basically a done deal before the Kazakhstan trip. No scandal here, just misinformation from freepers.
Besides, what does Clinton rumors and innuendo have to do with mega-construction in Dubai? NOTHING! Post your Limbaugh lies somewhere else.
Yeah, Wake Up America! America’s Freedom has ALREADY been sold by George W(ar First!) Bush and Dick Cheney to Halliburton, KBR and Blackwater!!!
Dan said,
February 6, 2008 @ 10:07 pm
Obviously built with the Halliburton and Bush dollars that they RAPED and stole from Americans by inventing a war with billions and hundred of billions of dollars going into rebuilding Iraq, but somehow no one knows where the money is???hmmmmmmmm– A set up by The Bush Admin. and other crooks like Saudi Arabia (Bush’s bed buddy) to suck America dry of her resources ..like he is doing.. before getting out. To be honest…Justice would be to see him lose it all.
When your governmenr rapes, ;ppillages and socks it to ypou through oil prices (still 200% higher than they should be..)
this is what you get..and they hide their funds in many other “dummy” companies or funds.
Blake said,
February 6, 2008 @ 10:54 pm
I wonder which island gives out the free Bentleys? Helium Report ran a story not too long ago mentioning a condo developer handing out Bentleys to new owners.
nope said,
February 7, 2008 @ 5:17 pm
Considering the educational standards of North American and Western European schools, I am hardly surprised at the responses to these photographs.
The Internet makes you stupid.
Leftist Moron:
“Yeah, Wake Up America! America’s Freedom has ALREADY been sold by George W(ar First!) Bush and Dick Cheney to Halliburton, KBR and Blackwater!!!”
Okay Miss Ayn Rand:
“while the rest of the world lives large and expands, we Americans are falling for the global warming hoax, getting taxed more, slowing our economy, making our lives miserable with higher food prices because some fool said ethonal is good. Making me pay three times as much for a light bulb, I DO NOT WANT, charging me more $…”
Do forum participants honestly just spit whatever the f*** crops up in their head without afterthought? The majority of these comments are nonsensical catchphrases at best. At best.
There is no conspiracy on either side, just textbook group think and very little planning. Capitalist cutting throats to become rich and powerful; socialists (environmentalists nowadays?) trying to save the earth without an agenda or plan.
No existing organization could perform a coup on this scale. Scientists are not in cooperation with the media; neither group is swindling the masses with the vast amounts of data collected by environmental studies. The data is irrefutable.
Homoeostasis is a delicate balance. Upsetting it is easy enough.
Capitalist industries haven’t the ability to cooperate by their very nature, the hindsight to learn or the wisdom to plan. Money, greed and callous world views prevent this. Gangsters at best, war tribes at worst. They are shaking hands while shaking knives. It’s kill or be killed in their R-Complex animal kingdoms.
The government is no better, no single entity has the resources to white wall an entire populace, especially during an age when all knowledge has the potential to be spread instantaneously (or seemingly so).
Then again, after stumbling through a few forums, I am beginning to doubt one control in this theory. I took it for granted that individuals had the ability to put aside their emotional firewall and think on difficult matters logically. With less human interaction on a day to day basis, people should (you’d think) distance themselves from mob mentality. Turns out the mind can perform strange and wonderful tricks, and the digital landscape is no different from the physical one.
My apologies.
Renoman said,
February 7, 2008 @ 8:12 pm
Built by thieves for thieves, paid for by you and me. An absolute disgrace.
winterhawke said,
February 7, 2008 @ 10:37 pm
This is terrible. As noted, 120 in the shade, heat so dry that your sinuses chrystalize. How far must you travel to get a pizza or a Starbucks if you live on one of those arms in the ocean? You’d be looked down upon if you’re a mere multi-millionaire. Where do you keep your yacht? What’s the point of this place?
As for some of the comments that allude to Americans being sold out by the Clintons and Bush [etc.]. Get thy collective heads out of thy colletive a***…There is no America anymore . The world is simply one huge corporate pie. We are presently owned by corporation ‘A’ and subject to be sold, traded, bankrupted, reaped, broken up, merged, re-purposed, sacked, [insert adjective here] at our owner’s pleasure.
I remember America, it was a fine place, It’s gone now and we’re led to believe that it’s still here and we still adhere to the principles that made her great, but that’s all BS. We’re U.S. of Halburton now We’re a vacation spot for the Arab oil barons now. Prepare to take to the streets my fellow Halburtonians. The really heavy s*** is on it’s way. When there’s no food, no work, no fuel that unemployeed, hungry people can afford. When we’ve lost our homes to forclosure, When what few dollars we’ve saved are worth nickels or pennies. Maybe then we’ll pull our collective heads out of our collective a**** and start getting mad!!!!
Divi said,
February 8, 2008 @ 7:20 am
I wonder if they conducted a study on how the dredging and islands impact the sea creatures and such.
Sal said,
February 8, 2008 @ 7:34 pm
It’s interesting here, man. The reason of US problems is very simple. Two things: GREED and PATRIOTISM.
Greed leads to I want everything cheap no matter how. Excessive and hateful to others patriotism leads to thinking you can kick anybody’s butt without any repercussions because America is the greatest country in the world. Take away this sh.t and good old US of A will be great again. How? Think for yourself my dear fellow Americans do not buy crap poured on you from TV screen or public speeches. Do your math! If you can’t afford something just don’t buy. Lose this disgusting idiocy about “the greatest country in the world”, because when we are no more everybody will rush in to kick our butt threefold. Respect other people, my friends! And TAKE CARE OF YOURSELVES FIRST. OUR OWN HOME - USA. Let people do their own killing if they want it so much.
Rule One Investing said,
February 8, 2008 @ 7:48 pm
Absolutely amazing what people do with money.
“Money doesn’t buy happiness it buys patches of sand from the bottom of the ocean and brings them to the top of the ocean.”
veto longwene said,
February 8, 2008 @ 8:36 pm
I wonder how long it will be before some nutjob flies a 777 into it!
Xeon said,
February 9, 2008 @ 1:51 am
One small correction, the Atlantis (original) is in the Bahamas, not Barbados.
Alan said,
February 9, 2008 @ 11:56 pm
I’ve been there. The whole city is very impressive. I noticed a lot of comments about oil and muslums, etc. The truth of the matter is that there really isin’t much oil left in UAE, most of the economy has shifted away from that. This is also a very progressive country where women aren’t forced to cover there bodies. Walking around the world’s largest mall is almost like walking around any American mall. The people there are also pretty cool so long as you don’t act like an arrogant douche to them.
booya said,
February 10, 2008 @ 4:06 am
Just wanted to wonder why so many people mix these places up! Quoting Xeon…
“Xeon said,
February 9, 2008 @ 1:51 am
One small correction, the Atlantis (original) is in the Bahamas, not Barbados.”
Cheeeers!
booya said,
February 10, 2008 @ 4:07 am
Oh yeh….Cool pics
peter said,
February 12, 2008 @ 1:25 pm
Well you can please some of the people some of the time…..
David said,
February 12, 2008 @ 3:50 pm
A lot of interesting comments about Dubai, but nobody should criticise it without visiting it, spending some time there and experiencing the culture. To make these derogatory comments is a bit like the virgin saying she doesn’t like sex!!
mohammed said,
February 13, 2008 @ 8:18 am
Oh yes! One thing is missing here the law of this arab world!!! it changes on everyday basis. Dubai gov. say you’ll get 99 years resident visa if you invest in property, but you are not allowed to work as employee on the same resident visa.So I think this city is for retired people with money that’s ‘mentally retired’. For a common man in Dubai it’s a trap if you book now and take on mortgage for 15 years and lose job in 5 years you will be left with nothing, neither you’ll be able to pay the mortgage nor you’ll be able to find the job with the same salary as before and keep in mind dubai is a expensive place in, everything is expensive here except # of deaths on the Dubai roads. Dubai is the biggest trap, and so it’s looks attractive.
tim said,
February 13, 2008 @ 1:05 pm
wow, this is cool.. the “before” pictures
i can’t wait until its inhabited, then we can see the real destruction
Carol Cornes said,
February 18, 2008 @ 10:05 am
Hi I think the pictures are amazing, my husband & I have bought a property in Dubai, we are not mega rich just working class people we sincerely hope it is going to make us some money, either in rental or capitol. We have never been to Dubai but we do think one day it will be a huge adults playground, wonderful.
nick davenport said,
February 18, 2008 @ 6:01 pm
Lisa “we Americans are falling for the global warming hoax, getting taxed more, slowing our economy, making our lives miserable…blah blah blah”
sorry but didn’t you guys refuse to sign the Kyoto agreement?
asa said,
February 22, 2008 @ 8:45 pm
Brilliant!!! u americans are only jealous cause the rest of the world has caught up with u! you’re forgetting that it looks sandy ,as they still building the place’DOH…how stupid can u b!!!
expatcat said,
February 27, 2008 @ 8:52 am
asa, your comment is “stupid.” I live in Dubai, and it is always sandy and dusty, everywhere you go, whether it’s a building site or not. This is a desert!
Dubai can build up whatever the government (the Sheikh) likes quickly because they’ve got all the money they need at their disposal, cheap labor, and no red tape to hold it up.
Rolandpie said,
March 13, 2008 @ 12:13 pm
Some fantastic shots of one the most exciting and vibrant places on the planet!
A lot of highly ill informed comments above.
Guys go apply for a Passport and open your minds. The World is changing and seems like you are not.
Heres a view of the US for you to consider. It’s a disaster of gun crime, social injustice, obesity and corporate corruption, no one would mind if you could stop exporting it.
asa said,
March 18, 2008 @ 5:56 pm
“expatcat”,u may live here but i am an emarati and if u think that why r u here!!!! we dont need people like u !!! keep your comments to ur self..and u know what they say about opinions…they’re like arseholes, everyone has 1!!!!!
Andrew K said,
July 30, 2008 @ 7:20 pm
I am glad that Dubai is developing and would probably be the expensive city in the world, they are so many firsts, and the global credit crunch will only lead to more money pouring in to the emirates, after all whats the point in buying a home and being stuck with negative equity when getting a property in Dubai can make you a killing.
They are alot of haters on this forum.
they need a chill pill, Dubai rocks. I have a place in Dubai and have started to invest in Brazil as well.
Toby said,
October 10, 2008 @ 7:39 pm
Did anyone notice how incredibly dirty the air is? Disgusting.
Jesse said,
February 12, 2009 @ 5:30 pm
First of all, these photos are a little dated, Atlantis is finished and looks gorgeous, and the Marina has expanded quite a bit. Contrary to popular belief, you actually do see a lot of green and its quite nice! If you’ve ever been to Vegas, you know that you can do a lot so long as you have access to money and water.
As for the beaches, nope women are not restricted, you see bikinis and thongs, just like in the states. Nope you don’t see topless women, but then again, in our “free” country you don’t see topless women on the beaches either.
Dubai and the UAE for that matter is not only for the “rich” you can actually find pretty reasonable flights out here, ours were $1100 round-trip out of Dallas/Fort Worth, which is cheaper than flying to Australia or Asia.
You can find hotels for as little as $90 bucks (Holiday Inn Express) and the prices go up from there, and shopping is great!
There is something for everyone out here, and even the skiing in the Emerites mall is only $60 for the whole day and they provide you everything in the price except your gloves and headgear. Yes, everything, suit, skis, poles, boots, etc.
The Emerirate people are very nice and friendly people. They respect our religions and customs and just ask the same in return. You do find fast food and restaurants similar to the states, but you also find great Lebanese, Iranian, Italian, Indian, Asian, you name it, food. This truly is an international destination.
You may argue that is where the oil money goes, but their Sheiks who are in charge really look out for their people. They get great free medical, may go any college they want, and their government pays for it, and provide them countless other incentives.
The highways are much nicer than those we have in the states, and the infrastructure they have been building will support the increase of vehicles and pedestrians.
The only downside I see with the highways are all the speed/traffic cameras. The speed limit is set at a moderate 120kmh, but you may go up to 20 over without triggering the cameras, but if and when you do, the fines range from AED500 and up, so it can get hefty.
The air is not disgusting, it is actually pretty nice. It is not full of smog, you do get “dusty” days, after all, you are near a desert, but you also get nice clear days. There is an environmental push these days to make Dubai greener, so I am sure you will see big changes in their carbon footprint in the future, but it really is not any worse than we experienced in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. True, we got a lot more rain in Texas.
Come out here and experience the culture first hand. It truly is a great place to visit! I’m hoping my wife and I spend more than a couple of years here, we love it and are grateful that we have had the opportunity to move here.
I would recommend it to everyone, especially if you enjoying seeing new things. Unfortunately in the states, the media tends to fill us with a lot of negativity towards Muslims countries. They’re just like us!
Saeed Iqbal said,
March 7, 2009 @ 12:16 pm
Dear Jess,
I am not an Emirati, just on of the expats living in Dubai. Thanks for giving a very realistic and clear view of Emirates and Dubai to our frineds in US and elsewhere. Last night I went to Dubai Dessert Rock Fest. and guess who playes….Motorhead, ArchEnemy, Opeth and others. Dubai is truly becoming an international city, even Megadeth’s been to Dubai. The only down-side to Dubai right now is inflation and rising rents but with this financial crisis we are expecting correction. Long Live Dubai - Long Live UAE.