Image Taken By Flickr User CJSharpe
If you follow business at all, i’m sure by now you are fully aware of the recent financial meltdown that has arisen in Dubai. On Friday, Dubai World, an investment company that manages many of the high profile businesses in Dubai has declared what might be called a debt freeze on the $60 billion it owes. My question is this: is anyone actually surprised by this? From a completely urban design point of view, the city was essentially building from a momentum that was completely unsustainable with little regard to it’s environment (a desert) and also the long term urban livability of the whole city. The city seemed to be more or less an urban playground for the rich. While it is enviable that the rulers of Dubai tried to use the money earned from oil to create a city profitable in it’s own right, the way it was planned seemed very short-sighted. Dubai seemed to the exact type of place that was going to suffer when a recession hit. I doubt anyone is surprised.
For anyone unfamiliar with the recent events in Dubai, I refer you to the news story on Yahoo!
