Dubai Marina is glitzy 'Manhattan' playground
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DUBAI: With its glistening skyscrapers and man-made waterways, Dubai Marina is a playground for the rich.
Dubai's rapid transformation from a desert outpost into one of the world's most architecturally stunning cities is mapped out in the Marina. What 15 years ago was mostly empty land is today a bustling neighbourhood with a skyline that pierces through the clouds.
More than 150 high-rise buildings, stacked row after row, make up this 50 million square foot waterfront neighbourhood built around a man-made canal where the wealthy park their yachts.
The area is sometimes referred to as the Manhattan of the Middle East and some of its buildings are promoted by realtors as having "Manhattan-style" architecture and amenities.
A 12,400 square foot (1,152 square meter) apartment in the Marina was put on the market this year for a cool 56 million dirhams, or about $15.25 million.
Unlike Manhattan, though, Dubai's year-round sunshine gives the Marina a summer vibe throughout the winter months, when temperatures rarely drop below 75 degrees Fahrenheit (24 Celsius) during the day.
On weekends, alcohol-fuelled party boats ferry Russian and Western expatriates down the canal as speed boats and jet skis buzz in the water.
Trendy restaurants and bars along the canal reflect the myriad of cultures and people drawn to Dubai, a modern city-state in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where foreigners far outnumber the locals.
Children can ride on a carousel, splash in a fountain and watch street artists perform on the canal's promenade.
Around sunset, when the blistering heat of the day begins to subside, people jog and ride bikes.
The Marina boasts the world's tallest residential building, the Princess Tower, which reaches 1,355 feet (413 meters) high.
The Marina 101 is currently being built to soar to 1,417 feet (432 meters).
The neighbourhood is one of many clusters of neck-bending skyscrapers throughout Dubai, built by armies of low-paid migrant workers, many of them from the Indian subcontinent.
These workers provide the manpower to build high-rises, shopping malls, highways and other mega-construction projects sweeping through the region.
While the wages they come for offer hope of a better life, they are far too meagre for most to ever dream of calling the Marina they built home.
Here is a series of photos taken by Associated Press who captured moments of daily life throughout Dubai Marina.
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Comments (52) Closed
Dec 07, 2015 05:55pm
Also do not forget the hardworking workers of Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Srilanka who are the core of these amazing structures. Almost 90 percent workers that raise these mega structures belong from the Subcontinent.
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Dec 07, 2015 05:55pm
If you have money, Dubai is a Paradise !!!!!!! No Doubt
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Dec 07, 2015 07:20pm
I think Duai are creating so much without oil sell.
Duabi has economy which is based on the financial sector.
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Dec 07, 2015 07:25pm
Dubai Marina area is most decadent and locals as well as foreigners engage in world oldest profession. The main source of income is black money circulating and widely accepted by these corrupt locals.
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Dec 07, 2015 07:30pm
Zero tax regime attracts investors and companies, once the oil money is gone, they may have to introduce taxes one day!
For now even with very very buring weather they have done well compared to others oil rich in the area.
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Dec 07, 2015 07:56pm
The days of workers from Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are coming to an end. There is a drive to push out the brown and replace them with white population both for unskilled and skilled white collar jobs. The slump in western economies is making this effort easier. Its an unwritten instruction from the top. Just look at all the adverts in the UAE, all have white Caucasian faces.
Time for the Asians to work as hard and develop their own countries.
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Dec 07, 2015 08:47pm
Freedom is beautiful!
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Dec 07, 2015 08:47pm
We can never appreciate anything. Dubai has transformed because of the vision of the Rulers of that Country. Pakistanis have no vision. We are a closed society with government having lopsided policies.
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Dec 07, 2015 08:55pm
@tangotango : There is another horrible possibility. The envious West would play some mischievous cards to make Dubai the next victim of ME inferno! The chest-thumping in temporary glory Arabs have no mind to read all this.
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Dec 07, 2015 09:36pm
Its a beautiful area with woeful infrastructure for parking and cars. Its really sad what Dubai achieved in 15 yrs India and Pakistan haven't achieved in almost 70yrs!
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Dec 07, 2015 10:02pm
The secret behind Dubai's development is that what the supreme ruler says, happens. No one is there to challenge him, be it the mullahs or some other lobby. Now compare this with our messy democracy. Most countries became developed that did not have meaningful democracy such as South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, China etc.. etc.
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Dec 07, 2015 10:15pm
As of today, the tallest residential building in the world is 432, Park Avenue (NYC) @ 425m followed by Princess Tower (Dubai) @ 415m. In the NEAR future, Nordstrom Towers in NYC (472m) will be the tallest followed by World One (Mumbai) @ 442m. Pentamonium (516 m) in Dubai could be the tallest residential building in the World, if completed but it's construction is put on hold.
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Dec 07, 2015 10:29pm
Once the oil is over, only camels will roam in Dubai.
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Dec 07, 2015 10:48pm
@karan : if India and Pakistan were the size of UAE...with the size of their population and rivers of oil like them...then Mumbai and Karachi would have been like Dubai!
You cant compare apples and oranges.
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Dec 07, 2015 10:59pm
Don't believe everything on the surface. Pakistanis are their own enemies by depositing their plundered wealth in countries like UAE
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Dec 07, 2015 11:18pm
@Karachiite You may not know this, but that's exactly why Dubai developed as fast as it did. Because it has only 5% of the UAE's oil reserves (90% is in Abu Dhabi) and rulers realized this 20 years ago that they could not sustain the emirates from oil revenue alone. Therefore they borrowed heavily and invited best architects, engineers, planners and managers to transform the country, and its source of revenue one based on tourism, hospitality, shopping and air transport. Hence some of the best airlines in the world - Eitehad (in Abu Dhabi) and Emirates, besides Fly Dubai and Air Arabia, (based in Dubai and Sharjah) were formed!
Essentially, oil constitutes a tiny fraction of Dubai's revenue. Rest of the five emirates (besides AD), have very little oil, that's why they look and feel like third-world sleepy villages, underdeveloped, poorly planned and badly managed, due to lack of oil income. None have the resource or vision to develop like Dubai or Abu Dhabi.
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Dec 07, 2015 11:32pm
@Skeptic I know. The problem is, it's a desert with nothing else to offer. Currently the rulers are pumping money to keep it attractive and noticeable. They have heavily subsidized Emirates and Eitihaad airlines to establish Dubai and gulf as a new transit route and to shut the shops of traditional European and Western airlines. Matter of the fact is, all flights to anf from Asia take less time via Europe, so, Dubai or gulf is not a obvious choice here. Once, the resources will start drying, there will be immense pressure on Dubai and other gulf states to stay relevant as most of companies don't want to do business in desert or keep their resources in 50 deg celsius temperature.
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Dec 07, 2015 11:51pm
@Karachiite On the contrary. There are more foreign companies doing business in Dubai and AD than most people realize, because they do not advertise, nor do you see their signs on any street.. Financial Services firms, such as JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Chase, Wells Fargo, BofA, Goldman Sachs, Credit Swiss, Lloyds, RBS, Alliance, and other have established relationships with local soverign wealth funds, because they see potential for long term presence and all have offices in Dubai and AD.
There is not a single major High Tech firm or big consulting outfit, from the U.S,. Europe or India that doesn't have an office here and a dedicated team.
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Dec 07, 2015 11:52pm
Stunning Photos...True accolades to Dubai. It will be a huge popular visitor spot in the world.
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Dec 07, 2015 11:55pm
@Karachiite 80% of Pakistanis will have a hard time traveling out of Pakistan to far flung places if it weren't for Gulf carriers serving major cities in Pakistan, because no Pakistani airline has the capacity, nor network or landing rights to fly direct to as many places as do the three major Gulf airlines.
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Dec 08, 2015 12:10am
The photos are great. I have travelled around the world and have visited Dubai several times. Every city in Asia, Europe or America has it's own soul, it's own culture, it's own vibes, it's own smell which are unique. Interestingly, they have compared Dubai with New York. When you visit New York you cannot be untouched with the uniqueness of everything around you and that's not the case with Dubai. Is this because there are too many outsiders in Dubai that it could not create it's own social fabric, it's uniqueness? Is this because the locals maintain their distance from outsiders? In any case it's just a newly created modern suburb for me. I hope my views change during my next visit.
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Dec 08, 2015 12:20am
On the surface you enjoy these beautiful pictures but you should have defined what is meant by the "PLAYGROUND".Dubai has grown into a heaven for plundered and stolen money of the corrupt third world countries so fast that it has left Swiss banks far behind.Even Swiss banking system follows some rules and regulations.Bring your stolen money to Dubai,no questions asked.Second fastest growing industry is rampant prostitution in this so called ISLAMIC country and in the Marina area every kind of imaginable drug and booze is available.Historically cocieties are not judged by the tall buildings but by their moral character and human values which are missing in the most of the Arab World.
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Dec 08, 2015 12:37am
Sheer ugliness behind such beautiful pictures
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Dec 08, 2015 12:49am
@M K Sufi Agreed. but dont take such a over simplistic view. UAE is walk in the park in terms of militiary strength. we train their pilots and security forces. They look to us for security. Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is a threat to the west hence they pull our legs from every direction and our corrupt leadership makes that leg pulling even more easier. The massive wealth we have in terms of our natural resources is no match to most of the countries and i am hopeful things are going towards betterment and we will rise. dubai went up in those 30 years when khi went down.
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Dec 08, 2015 12:50am
@karan do compare the size and population of india and pakistan before making such a comparison.
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Dec 08, 2015 01:07am
@SKEPTIC Banks I understand, as they go to any place wherever money is flowing and they don't want to miss the oil money from gulf. So, as long as the oil funds are there, they will be fully operational. As far as big big consulting or high tech firm are concerned, there headcount is next to nil. Reason is, most of them have symbolic offices there. Big companies do that, just to mark there presence in parts of the world. Besides that they don't do much business there. They just want to tap into any local opportunity that may arise in future, so they just keep these offices open. Apart from that nothing.
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Dec 08, 2015 02:03am
Looks great.
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Dec 08, 2015 02:06am
@Haroon And the Gora people get the highest pay.
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Dec 08, 2015 04:32am
The western media , people should see the harmony which exists in Dubai as one can see a women in burqa and the other in a western dress. The west should learn from it.
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Dec 08, 2015 07:22am
Dubai is still tasting the remnants of recession. Abu Dhabi is the future 'Dubai'.
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Dec 08, 2015 07:24am
@Skeptic That is probably true for 80% of 'world' population.
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Dec 08, 2015 07:26am
Their (Arabs) days of extravagance are numbered given the fall of oil prices and its demand.
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Dec 08, 2015 09:29am
@Karachiite the fact is that Dubai economy is not built on oil. They have really worked hard to put together a city like Dubai. The economy of Dubai is based on international investment, financial management, banking, services, construction, education, consulting etc. Dubai has in fact a big lesson for developing countries, who can see what proper planning, honest leadership, and hard work could achieve. I was personally amazed when I visited Dubai and Abu Dhabi for the first time. I think that this is the best example of a thriving multi-culture society, best law and order conditions and peace of mind. I will recommend Dubai and Abu Dhabi to be the next wonder of the world.
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Dec 08, 2015 09:34am
A small number of tall buildings doesn't make a rival to Manhattan! there are other things that are missing in Dubai
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Dec 08, 2015 09:52am
@John no Locals are really humble human beings but you can call Dubai a true multi-cultural place instead of calling it a unique one considering the face that it's local popular is very less comparing to New York's local population
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Dec 08, 2015 09:54am
@AMJAD KHAN This is not true as you are telling to everyone here. I have worked as a corporate banker in Dubai for 10 years and I know how strict the banking is for anti-money laundering
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Dec 08, 2015 10:52am
Dubai has truly evolved and is still evolving. A great place to visit and it is the melting pot of the middle east where people from over 200 countries live in harmony. The justice system of UAE is exemplary.
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Dec 08, 2015 11:40am
@M.Saeed
"envious West?" No one in the West envies Dubai. In Dubai, there is no innovation. In Dubai, you cannot express yourself. You cannot criticize the government. You cannot choose your leaders. You cannot be guaranteed a free trial in a court of law. There is nothing to envy in Dubai. The West has more than enough wealth, and Dubai's wealth is largely based on oil and real estate anyway. All the financial and health services are performed by highly skilled immigrants because the locals are too inept. In fact, the pride of Dubai, Burj Khalifa, was designed, engineered, and built by foreigners. The Emiratis only supplied the money, but couldn't do anything else. That building shouldn't be a symbol of pride because it represents the fact that the Emiratis could never build something like that by themselves. So no, the West values things which Dubai can never provide. The West is not envious of Dubai. Period.
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Dec 08, 2015 11:42am
@Skeptic
You're really overlooking the fact that a huge portion of Dubai's wealth is from real estate too. A lot of it comes from trade as it is a gateway between Africa, Europe, and the Subcontinent. But in that regard, Dubai has no monopoly, and before long, the trade will be point-to-point and skip over Dubai entirely. The future is in the countries that can innovate, and Dubai is not one of those places.
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Dec 08, 2015 12:12pm
No doubt Dubai has gone To its peak heights by its developments and advancements in every thing. I have strong inspiration by Dubai well planned infrastructure developments. it is a well Planned city in the world. The Dubai developments has been transformed because of the vision of the Rulers of that Country . Dubai is a land of opportunities for foreign investors . Dubai is a Main Economic corridor for the world businesses and trades.
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Dec 08, 2015 02:09pm
More then half of Dubai has been built and owned by ill gotten and stolen wealth of by the rulers politicians and bureaucrats from Pakistan. I wish they would have spend that money at home today we would have been better then Dubai, Very sad indeed.
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Dec 08, 2015 02:23pm
Very easy to build tall skycrapers with slave labour. It's totally another thing to build a knowledge economy like Scandanavian countries which have little over 5 million people in Denmark, Norway, Finland. Dubai oil will be over soon and so will be their construction boom, but the investment the Scandanavian countries have made will be there forever.
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Dec 08, 2015 05:28pm
@M.Saeed They will not, they are achieving far more with liberal policies of Middle East.
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Dec 08, 2015 05:53pm
Anything but Manhattan..... Dubai Marina is completely souless - full of corrupt third world politicians and other assorted young money from developing countries who cant make it to the west....... and some trailer trash from the west who got a bit lucky...... just feels so bland and depressing.....
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Dec 08, 2015 07:03pm
Glass and steel buildings and tons of shopping malls don't make a place great to live in. It has no soul. Dubai is a place where the shallow go to envy and ape their peers.
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Dec 08, 2015 07:28pm
@Naveed true, its based on international economy, when the recession hit the US, Dubai went down with free fall. So it hasnt got its own resilient economy it depends on international companies doing well internationally and keep offices in Dubai when they doing well and they shut down all offices in Dubai once the dont have much incentives of zero tax regimes. We have seen this in recent recession and Dubai property fall!
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Dec 09, 2015 01:57am
I have been to Dubai recently and it looks so fake and plastic. Its looks so artificial and temporary. Contrast the so called Marina with living condition of poor workers from sub continent who build these behemoths. Its appaling.
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Dec 09, 2015 06:05am
Visited Dubai in July of this year. The addage "All that glitters is not gold", rings true especially of Dubai. Decadence pervades throughout this city which has very little soul to it. The only highlight of my visit were my kids enjoying cooling down in Wild Wadi when the temperature was a blazing 47 celsius. Saw very few genuine smiles from people working there. In contrast, in Pakistan you can get a smile from a street urchin despite his/her poverty. Met quite a few nice Russian holidaymakers, though.
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Dec 09, 2015 12:47pm
Rulers have a vision and they have spent (read invested) wisely on infrastructure, education, non-oil sectors, law and order, technology - basically all major areas of social welfare. There is zero-tolerance for any kind of corruption and that serves as a major deterrent for potential law breakers. We would do well to learn from this city's example.
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Dec 09, 2015 12:49pm
I have recently been to Dubai. The thing is you just cannot compare Dubai with any other place in the world because its just unique with its own Pros and Cons. And one thing is for sure is that the sincerity level of the rulers of UAE with their own land and people is very high. If we had rulers with same loyalty levels we would have had made our homeland one of the best places in the World.
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Dec 09, 2015 02:44pm
By the way, trailer trash is a good description.
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Dec 10, 2015 03:30pm
Karachi can be like Dubai once we lock up all religious terrorists and gangsters . Right now 40% apartment are owned by pakistanis as it is not safe in our country
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