A tower to the moon...

One book you have to read if you are in Dubai is The Sands from Wilfred Thesiger. Besides his great skill in travel narrative, he has seen The Sands without the forest of skyscrapers which now dominates the skyline in Dubai. Since Thesiger travelled here in 1950, this piece of the world has dramatically changed. Let me quote Thesiger at page 88: 

'[...] the Arabs had no traditions of civilizations behind them. To arrange three stones as a fireplace on which to set a pot was the only architecture that many of them required.' 

Somewhere in the seventies the Dubai tribe decided suddenly to put more then three stones on top of each other  and in no time the skyscrapers grew from The Sands with the Burj Khalifa as the ultimate achievement as the highest building in the world with 828 meters. 

Last week I read my daily expat newspaper and took - a bit embarrassed -  knowledge from the latest achievement in Holland. In good old Rotterdam was an office building opened and with 44 floors, or 165 meters, the highest building in the country... I live in an ordinary Dubai Marina tower of 50 floors high. And only this block - Jumeirah Beach Residence - I counted 48 towers of this size. 

Now the number and height of towers does not say a lot about what the people of a country have achieved. The French had many kings  and at least one emperor. They made the Arch de Triumph for Napoleon and put it in the middle of Paris. In Dubai they have build a BIGGER arch which leads to the Ibn Batuta mall (a discoverer from 14th century Morocco) and will be not known to many residents in the city as its a bit out of the way. 

No emperor ever passed this arch, it was just me with my car who passed it on a Friday morning. And so the history of Dubai is not that interesting, it is more a city of the future. Even the national heritage, like the camels , are rode by Indian expats on the beach, and the new Arab is driving around in the latest fashionable car or bike. 

Traditional food has been replaced by a tremendous amount of Starbucks, McDonald's and other fancy fast food outlets. The number of obese people (locals) is the highest on earth and indeed, many of the Emirati people are walking around with XXXL traditional attire, even the kids are alarmingly fat. The government is now setting up programs for healthy food on schools since diabetes is the new serial killer in the country. 

Anyhow, Dubai has had its blow from the credit crunch, but in its effort to become the city with the biggest, highest, tallest and weirdest structures, the most unbelievable plan is still on the drawing tables, but not cancelled yet. It is this amazing project called Dubai City Tower. 

Just for the record, number 9 from the left is Burj Khalifa, currently the highest building in the world. One positive thing: if you are a bit suicidal and decide to jump from the City Towers, there might be a chance that you don't fall down, but upwards...