When oil was discovered
in Dubai in 1966, the city’s
fortunes were changed forever.
It began to grow in both size
and wealth at a staggering rate.
An ultra-modern metropolis now
stands in the sand in the United
Arab Emirates, with loads of
fancy shops and some of the
most amazing and ambitious
buildings on the planet.
LIVING
THE HIGH LIFE
Dubai’s population of children hail from
many different backgrounds. Only about
one in ten of the people living in Dubai
was born there. The local Emirati are
typically wealthy. Families tend to live
in modern, air-conditioned houses and
apartments on the outskirts of the city,
and the kids go to private schools. The
children of European, American and
Australian ex-pats live in similar
conditions and go to
international schools.
TOMORROW THE WORLD! (MAYBE)
The city’s most famous ongoing development is the
‘World’ – a series of artificial islands built in the shape of a
world map in the waters of the Persian Gulf, 4km (2.5mi) off
Dubai’s coast. The idea was to sell each miniature country
to the super-rich, but the plan hit a few bumps and only
Greenland has been finished so far.
BEHIND THE BUILDINGS
It takes years to build Dubai’s manmade
mountains, but who does all the heavy
lifting? The city has a massive population of
construction workers, mostly from Pakistan,
Nepal, Bangladesh and India. Many labour
in ferocious heat for low wages, and live in
very basic conditions.
MEGA MALL
With 1,200 stores, the Dubai Mall is the world’s biggest
and busiest shopping mall. In 2014, 80 million people
visited the colossal consumer cathedral, more than
twice the number that flocked to major attractions such
as New York’s Times Square or Central Park. Within
the belly of the mega mall is a whale-sized aquarium,
where fish-spotters can peer at 33,000 marine animals
(and the odd diver) swimming around in 10 million litres
(2,199,692 gallons) of water.
DHOW AND THEN
The modern city is unrecognisable from the tiny traditional emirate
that once perched on the banks of Dubai Creek, but it’s possible
to get a small taste of the old place by taking a creek cruise on a
traditional dhow
(Arabian boat).
PARK AND RIDES
In Dubai you can shoot through a shark tank in a waterslide and ski in an artificial snow
centre complete with its own resident penguins – not bad for a city with an average
temperature of 41°C (105°F)! Recently, Aquaventure and Ski Dubai have been joined by
Legoland, a Bollywood-themed park and Motiongate, with rides
inspired by Hollywood films, including The
Hunger Games.
THE GIANT
The Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the
whole world, standing at a cloud-piercing
828m (2,716ft). It will remain so until at least
2019, when the Kingdom Tower in Jeddah
is due to complete its 1km (0.62mi) climb
into the sky above Saudi Arabia. The Burj
Khalifa is full of hotel rooms and private
residences, but it’s not necessarily easy
living on the shoulder of a giant. It’s so tall
that the sun sets later for people on higher
floors – all good, unless you’re observing
Ramadan, when Muslims are not
allowed to eat until after sundown.