I wondered how I would feel about Dubai, this vastly expanding city on the edge of the desert, a stone's throw from both Saudi Arabia and Iran. One sees photos of exuberant buildings and hears stories of multi billion dollar projects jutting out into the sea or up into the sky, and wonders how it all fits together. Visiting Dubai in 2007 set my mind to rest, I now see that the city doesn't hold together well at all, and though there are some lovely buildings, there are many more that are simply gaudy, the rich showing the wealthy how much money they have. As an urban planning phenomenon, Dubai resembles nothing more than an attempt by aliens from another planet to recreate a well-functioning city, based on intergalactic probes that take photos from on high. Some of the elements are there, but the glue that makes a city livable is absent. Nice beaches though.
Photo List (Total 319 Photos)
Click bolded headers below to view, or click "just the best" for quick tour
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Jumeria (20 photos) - My hotel was in this area, near the beach. Photos here of the beach, sunsets, the towers of Sheik Zayed Road in the distance, and of commercial buildings on Jumeira Road.
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Sheik Zayed Road (78 photos) - Sheik Zayed Road (really an expressway) is home to some of Dubai's tallest buildings, including the current world's tallest, the Burj al Dubai, under construction. These photos show my walk towards the road, show scenes behind the road (parking garages and sidewalkless roads), the abundant construction all around the area, and of course, the scrapers. The big ornamented skyscrapers. Lots of photos of those, in both daytime and nighttime views. Additional photos of these buildings can be found in the "Stitches" area.
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Dubai Creek and the souks (80 photos) - "Old Dubai", such as it is, consists of a commercial zone largely abandoned by the populace, centred on the inlet or creek which is the reason that Dubai exists on this site. These are photos of the older buildings in the area, a few striking modern buildings, the City Hall, and some refurbished areas of traditional architecture. A number of photos of the commercial areas of Deira, as the part of Dubai on the "other" side of the creek is known. Also quite a few of the creek itself, cluttered with Abras, or traditional boats used to transport people across.
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West side of Dubai (105 photos) - I spent a day exploring the western reaches of Dubai, including two shopping malls, the Burj Al Arab (Dubai's signature building), the "Internet City", the "Media City" and the Dubai Marina (a huge construction site and lots of skyscrapers around the Dubai Marina). Lots of variety in these shots, from some very handsome buildings to some fairly bad ones, and lots and lots of construction.
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Signs (10 photos) - The feeling that one gets in Dubai is that it will be far cooler when they just finish some more buildings, and these photos show some signs advertising those very buildings (which I will never see). Also various other weird or unsettling signs I noticed around the city.
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Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary (21 photos) - A wildlife sanctuary at the head of Dubai Creek, not at all easy to get to, but I succeeded and was rewarded with large and glorious flocks of flamingos, and lots of other birds.
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Panoramic photos (5 photos) - Several large photos that show panoramic views of the scrapers and other wonders of the city. Actually, just the scrapers.
