Just Burn the Money: Dubai’s Failed and Failing Megaprojects
2024 ж. 7 Мам.
895 343 Рет қаралды
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S C A M
That´s not a wallet, that a card holder. Very little space for money, no space at all for change. Just cards.
@@alch3myau Not a scam but an absurdly overpriced card holder. Made for a few cents, sold for over 100€
@@Christopher_Giustolisi Is a scam, You know why it cant read RFID? Because all your RFID cards are compacted together.
Already company start moving... to DWC... Nothing will happen immediately
I’ll say it again, you should do a segment on Oman. It’s the rich Persian Gulf state that consciously didn’t become another Dubai. Their Sultan wanted to preserve as much of the old culture as possible while embracing the modern world. So skyscrapers are banned, but more than half of the university graduates are women. It’s not perfect and not a democracy, but it’s a wonderful place to visit with people who are very proud of there country compared to the other gulf states. Oh, and if you go there, you’ll actually meet Omanis as the Sultan wanted his people to work instead of letting foreign workers do all the work. There are a lot of foreign workers, but nothing like rest of the gulf.
On my list to visit now
@@johnnymonsters9717 Kuwait is also very innovative with their design and desalination projects. They definitely are an expat worker economy though.
This dude is racist. He literally just said the gulf states are not proud if their country. He also called gulf states people lazy.
A "Democracy" is a Myth, it doesn't exist anywhere, it never really did besides the Ideal imaginary world. Oman, UAE, KSA are just honest about not having it.
@@johnnymonsters9717 it’s a religious extremist country that has punishments for basically everything, don’t take what the OP is saying as gospel
One of the reasons why they say ‘Indefinitely hold’ rather than ‘cancelled’ is so they can refuse to compensate the investors and return any funds/equity.
The investors are the Emirate leaders themselves. They dont steal money like Americans do. Its against Islam and is punishable by capital punishment. Unlike in America where corruption is encouraged.
Yup!
I mean i assume they probably soent all that money anyway, woukd be oretty hard to give any money back lol
Lived and worked there for a few years and best way I could describe it is: everything feels like an elaborate prank, which somehow a lot of people keep falling for.
So you didn't like it
@@larbranca it's alright, although nowhere near as mind blowing epic as every single piece of media makes it out to be. Definitely something better if you're willing to be hoodwinked (aka: tourists)
@@charlesc2095 In fact, my opinion is the opposite. Dubai is a great place to work and live. Of course it will depend on your work and where you come from. But the hundreds of thousands of highly educated, high salary expats in such a small city, the absolutely manicured public areas, the entertainment options, the cosmopolitan feeling when you go to have a drink after work, the beach clubs... Yeah, if you usually like to go camping in the weekends with your brother in law and his father, this is not for you. Same if you are tourist used to go to Benidorm. Or if you are a Pakistani taxi driver. The very same shallow criticism can be made about HK, Singapore, Shanghai or even London. Is soulless, is ridiculously expensive, is crowded, is a terrible place for raising a family, the income and lifestyle gaps are dystopian.... Nobody has ever said that everyone should move there and feel at home. And still, the expat population keeps growing. My wife, for one, she definitely doesn't want to leave.
Yet you lived there for many years.....
@@coolbeansbroski3164 there's a huge difference between "many" and "few". And also just to clarify - if anyone asks "then why didn't you leave sooner": Got a job, signed a contract - left as soon as the contract was finished.
There are things that money can't buy. Having a beautiful landscape and a pleasant climate are two of them. That's why no matter how many trillions they burn in Dubai, it will never be an attractive place to live for most of us. It's interesting to visit it once, but that's enough. A simple log cabin with a view of the rocky mountains, or a humble B&B by a Norwegian fiord will always be a million times nicer than a corny mega skyscraper overlooking the sand plains and freeways in Dubai.
Your opinion is not important
@@HelloImAbdullah No one cares what you think of this comment (which is 100% truth).
Very well said. And 100% true. None of the countries in the miserable Middle East can ever compare to the beauty of the Norwegian mountains with fjords running through them; or the Alps of Europe; or a Hawaiian beach; or California's rolling vineyards, redwood forests, and the incredible beauty of Yosemite National Park or Lake Tahoe; or Costa Rican volcanoes; or the mythical landscapes of East Asia. Even America's deserts are more beautiful than their toxic wastelands. Just think of America's Bryce Canyon, Arches National Park, Zion National Park, and the Grand Canyon. These dusted up oil jockeys with their repugnant ugly expanse of nothingness, their oppressive belief systems, their backwards ways, their co-opting of Western culture, their shiny skyscrapers that are full of disgusting sewage because their infrastructure doesn't work...what a waste of oxygen. They're all juiced up on a weak economic system that will crumble once the oil runs out. Such an ugly land around the Persian Gulf and Red Sea.
Very well said. And 100% true. None of the countries in the miserable Middle East can ever compare to the beauty of the Norwegian mountains with fjords running through them; or the Alps of Europe; or a Hawaiian beach; or California's rolling vineyards, redwood forests, and the incredible beauty of Yosemite National Park or Lake Tahoe; or Costa Rican volcanoes; or the mythical landscapes of East Asia. Even America's deserts are more beautiful than their toxic wastelands. Just think of America's Bryce Canyon, Arches National Park, Zion National Park, and the Grand Canyon. These dusted up oil jockeys with their repugnant ugly expanse of nothingness, their oppressive belief systems, their backwards ways, their co-opting of Western culture, their shiny skyscrapers that are full of disgusting sewage because their infrastructure doesn't work...what a waste of oxygen. They're all juiced up on a weak economic system that will crumble once the oil runs out. Such an ugly land around the Persian Gulf and Red Sea.
@@HelloImAbdullahwhy do you think the original creators of murder fantasy, also known as your religion wanted to move the fuck of out of their origin land ?
Dubai is an example of someone expecting to play Cities Skylines with the infinite money and demand commands enabled in real life.
is like shitcoins and NFT's
It's an example of a primitive person winning the lottery and suddenly finding themselves with more money than they know what to do with. "I have 7 pink Ferraris. One for each day of the week".
Building artificial islands in the desert where there is plenty of space for new developments has to be one of the dumbest ideas ever. Peak vanity.
Beachland. You want to live on the beach and not inland. This is not that hard of a concept.
@@AL-lh2ht It has FAILED!!! That's why THEY'RE AS EMPTY AS YOUR HEAD!!
@@AL-lh2ht Must suck to live in a shithole desert where you can't even spread out from the coast.
It was a way to entice investors to come live there. The environmental ramifications just wasn't well thought out.
Why? Living on a island in a desert is quite refreshing. Look, it's desert, who want to live in a place where sand surrounds you? Sea is where most desert cities are holding. The dumbest idea ever would be to create cities and towns WITHIN the desert. Your logic is flawed. If you would have said that it would've been better to construct along the sea, sure, but using the argument that desert has a plenty of space... You and your 105 followers are just dumb, it's as if you are living in norther place and not understanding what the F is sand and heat of over 30-40 degrees Celsius. It never occurred to you why anybody hasn't built a town or a city in the Sahara, for example?
I worked in Dubai for about 4 months on their toll-road software back when the Burj Dubai was being built. It was said that the national bird was the construction crane. Shiek Zayed Road is lined with all these supertalls. I could see back then that their plans were going to fail. Dubai is not a place where people naturally want to go. Its weather sucks, and who wants to go on vacation/move to a place where you have to stay inside all the time?
Yep, I also went there for work for a few days. The place sucks.
13:54 there are not enough Russian Oligarchs who need to launder money and the Dubaiisns (?) don’t need to, they just have 2 billion to Jarred Kushner
Dubai is not looking at you John . They are many other millions would like to visit there and have their good moments.
@@aboobackerrameez1306True, that shows the power of marketing. When products suck (e.g. give you cancer, taste bad, are boring, etc.) but make lots of money for an elite, then money can be used to market such products, and fool plebs into wasting their money (and sometimes health) purchasing such products.
@@aboobackerrameez1306 Dubai is garbage. 😊
the rich don't want to live there, the poor can't afford nothing there, and the middle class, well.. there is no middle class anymore.. what a waste of investment..
I worked in Dubai for a while. It took me about a week to realise that it was full of shoddily built Houses, Tall Buildings and Shopping Malls covered in plastic and stainless steel.
And the houses are crazy expensive. Its amazing how many build quality issues each place I have lived has.
Well, thank you for noticing.
What else would you expect from slave labor.
Hard for me to understand why people like working there. I think it's because they get a temporary sensation of superiority, being able to get an apartment twice the size of in their country of origin, and they can have a housekeeper / slave which they never could at home. Eventually reality hits them in the face though, when their employer lets them go and they have only 24 hours to get out of the country, or risk violating the law. And of course there's the weather. It was 48 C and 99% humidity when I was there, and everyone lives inside like they're on a spaceship. Temperature inside is like 15-20 degrees from the a/c and everyone wearing sweaters in the office. I was there only 2 weeks and felt completely sick by the time I left. There's basically just 3 kinds of building (office, mall, apartment) separated by dust and asphalt and sand, between which people drive in their cars... feeling very important...
an entire week?! I noticed it in 2 days!
Take a shot every time Simon says “but the project was halted due to the 2007 financial crisis.”
I would buty liquor shipment was delayed in 2007
Aaaaand I'm unconscious.
You’ll put someone in the hospital
😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣
@@jasonmiles2819 I am fine lightweight.
I was in Dubai a few years ago and I was being driven somewhere and we went past the “Worlds Largest Picture Frame”. I told the driver it looked impressive and asked if they do anything with it like hang a giant sheet inside it to project pictures of whatever. He said “No. No picture. Only frame.” Seems like a missed opportunity.
A large sheet would add wind load to the building that it might not have been designed to handle. However you are right, being able to project an image on the building is a missed opportunity.
@@HMKfilms360 Good point. It was just strange they only built a giant frame. It reminded me of Rt66 in the US. Which took away some of the “Glamour” of the city.
Funnily enough that sort of sums up Dubai as a whole. No substance, only exterior flash. No picture, only frame.
maybe they could do like the worlds biggest hologram or some drone light show inside it
Maybe they need the worlds largest picture hook
The King of Dubai took that Field of Dreams line "build it & they will come" from Costner _way_ too literally
You do realize they have a HUGE tourism industry, right? YoY records (Covid non withstanding - although they opened back up quicker than almost all other cities). The video is valid; they do have quite a few flops (he didn’t even mention Hyperloop - the one project that makes sense given how horrible the drive between Dubai and Abu Dhabi is). But they’ve had a lot of successes.
@@WestCoastAce27 Yeap, ignorant people underestimate how well the yare actually doing. They not only invest oil money in their own country but also invest heavily in many developed countries and major banks, stock market etc. If the country collapse they will make sure half the world will be dragged down with them so that is never going to happen.
Well, he built and they did come... so where's the problem? :D
I love the stories of people who invested in the initial failed real estate boom - then had to leave the country to escape their debt - leaving their Ferraris/ LandCruisers etc at the airport on the way out. I have a friend who was one of them - luckily he was an airline pilot - so just went to work and didn't do his return flight.
But dubai has been a success, for while now...
@@AL-lh2htConstant growth fueled by oil subsidies and mass imported labour do not counter that Dubai's real estate market (especially for the rich) has crashed plenty of times. Although mainly for people who invested more than they actually could afford
@@AL-lh2ht Damn. Nine whole hours of commenting, huh? Daddy must be real proud of you today, huh? Lmfao!
@@AL-lh2ht lol it's not a success, there has been a lot of money and basically slave labour been pumped in, but beyond a couple of hotels and an airport, it's an empty city in the desert with no functioning economy. The founder of Dubai, Sheikh Rashid, was asked about the future of his country. He replied, "My grandfather rode a camel, my father rode a camel, I ride a Mercedes, my son rides a Land Rover, and my grandson is going to ride a Land Rover…but my great-grandson is going to have to ride a camel again." All these projects are supposed to prevent that but they are not working because the royalty assumed everyone was as rich as them.
@@AL-lh2ht Dubai was never a success
When someone tells me that Dubai is their favourite place, it tells me all I need to know about that person 😂
Very true. I'm slightly acquainted with a guy who goes there for his vacations -- where he does absolutely nothing more than wander through shopping malls, or swill drinks while planted in comfy chairs. He has zero interest in the history, geography or culture of that place, or any place. Does it surprise anyone that he's a rich guy's failson?
@@samuelglover7685 Okey, HE has zero interest in the culture etc., and is a part person. What would a person do there who does understand history, culture, and geography? You are saying it so stupidly, that it makes me think that you have to go digging and do archeology, or visit library, and not enjoy the luxury of what it has become, and I do not mean specifically shopping, but enjoying local foods whether it's a high expensive luxury restaurant, or local diner that happens to be modernized among the rest of the stuff. Do I have to talk with locals just to appreciate the culture? I mean, how does culture appreciation work for you? What if I would want to fly there to eat a local kebab while panted in a comfy chair? Is it the same for you or it is actually differently?
@@BIOSHOCKFOXX Just stop.
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scambots be wildin
This channel clearly has some beef with Dubai...and I'm totally on board with it.
When you have money to burn and no common sense
Or just artificially increasing gdp
@@joecorsaro1381correct bro
@@joecorsaro1381hey, it worked for China. Until recently anyways 😉
A quote from Ocean's Eleven comes to mind "Once you're out the front door, you're still in the middle of the f*cking desert!"
This guy has more KZhead channels than there are skyscrapers in Dubai
Don't know if there is any way to make a dry and hot desert like that a bit greener but that would have been the one mega project that might actually have some value.
imagine the amount of water you gotta use
The Israelis did it. But they have no oil.
@@borzix1997Israel has gas
@@borzix1997 Israel has plenty of oil and natural gas in the waters off their Mediterranean coast, but their hostile neighbors are conspiring to limit the development of those resources. The green nazis hate it too.
Good idea. I think China did something like this .
Dubai as a whole is proof that money doesn't solve everything. What a sad place.
They managed to make themselves not be dependent on oil. Yes they solved their problem.
What is sad about it. The video made it sound great.
you guys have clearly never been to dubai an it shows😂
@@s75553 lol hot sand and ugly no natural beauty no thanks
@@AL-lh2ht No they didn't. Still a slave economy.
With all that money (and shit) they could probably afford to start seeding the land and make it greener. That might actually make it a bit more appealing
It's not possible to do more than what they've done. They have tried. Nature wins out.
You could only image what they could have done with all that money, could have been a modern marvel of the world.. total and complete failure for what could have been.
They're definitely seeding the clouds 🌧
Dubai is managed like if it's urban planning was controlled by a pre puberty teenager in a video game
When I visited to Dubai, it felt like being in some kind of weird lego fever dream.
To me, everything in Dubai just looked the same everywhere. It was the same megamall/development/expensive apartments/designer boutique on each corner and they all seemed the same
I remember when Dubai could not meet its obligations and had to be bailed out by the Abu Dhabi emirate. The economy nearly collapsed. A house built on sand.
yes, that is what happens during worldwide recessions.
@@AL-lh2ht The cope is strong with this one.
Ya he's coping on like every other post lol 😂
@@AL-lh2ht Damn, you really do keep going, don't you?
Not to mention it's flippen hot in Dubai and dirt. There is a reason Navy named it "The Sandbox".
That's more a generic term for the entire region from Syria to Somalia
They’ll spend ridiculous amounts on buildings - while treating the builders like slaves. It is disgusting what goes on there.
Dubai is the equivalent of the small towns in the middle of the United States with things like world's biggest ball of yarn and what not
The Burj Dubai is not only a failure due to it's complete lack of a sewage system, but due to it's complete lack of floor space at the upper levels. It's also the tallest free-standing structure that could be considered a building. Any more tapered and it's literally just a spire you live inside (re the jeddah tower) and therefore, not a building.
29.45% of its height is not even occupiable. That's called 'vanity height' and Dubai is the world leader at it. The Burj Al Arab, supposedly the fourth tallest hotel in the world, is 38.47% vanity height.
It has a sewage system you're wrong
@@calec22 it has a sewer system, but it goes nowhere so trucks have to take it away.
@@sunnywynn56 They say the elevators are so fast that you can pee out of your window, take the elevator down and you get a golden shower from your own piss.
@@sunnywynn56 You're so right. When I heard about the poop trucks I was baffled. All that money, yet nature still wins in the end.
They would need to change so many laws and massively change their culture for Dubai to become what they want it to become.
They already managed to make themselves not be dependent on oil. they already achieved their goal.
@@AL-lh2ht Passing the low bar isn't the goal, kiddo.
Change for what? To become as degenerate as the West is?
They already have. This video has some truth but also old information
What laws would they change?
Millionaires trying to decide, “do I live in The French Riviera, a luxury home on Sydney Harbour or a sandpit surrounded by more sandpits in a strict religious state, hard decision ”? 🤔😂
They’ll probably choose the safest :)
Tourists are guests. Your stay is at their discretion.
The 'old' airport in Dubai is the finest airport I've ever been to, by far, and I'm sure I've been to 200 or so. When I was there last time, I was told that the vacancy rate for commercial office space in the downtown area was about 75%, yet they were building new space. The Burj Dubai does not have proper sewer connections. It's a place of contradictions.
They don't mind wasting that money since they never worked hard for it.
That is true, because we all spoonfeed them with being oil dependant as crazy, but EV’s are evil… 😂
100% love you for making this. Dubai is a joke of a city.
Excuse me! You are completely correct!
A lot of the skyscrapers aren't even connected to the cities sewage system cause... I guess it's faster to build them that way? Anything for the tourists I guess
@@ikhoonyejelem2967 do they just have portable restrooms at least?
@@ikhoonyejelem2967 this is straight up a lie. even the Burj Khalifa has been conected with the sewagge system.
@@AL-lh2ht The Burj Kalifa is notorious for not having a proper septic system and they have a fleet of poop trucks to pump it out everyday. Simon even says this in the video.
amazing that no one ever seems to dream up and put billions into "the worlds best public transportation system" or "the worlds best sewage system"
Surprised the video wasn't sponsored by Dubai. "We're so dumb we hired Simon to tell us how dumb we are!"
How long before natural erosion pulls those island complexes back into the sea? I'd say in a lifetime.
Not long it's a natural process that occurs over the course of time and it's not just Dubai it's a world problem.
Hard to tell, because erosion is not a linear process. A storm hitting from the right angle at the right moment could do the same damage as a century of moderately calm seas. And while storms are rare in the Persian gulf, they do occur. One can only imagine the lawsuits after a passing storm merges some of the World islands into big blobs and submerges others.
they'll probably dissapear due to rising sea levels and not erosion, erosion is a very long process
Highly unlikely.
around 1000 years, it sinks at a rate of 1 millimeter a year
UAE is like your biplor colleague - who one minute is telling you how they’re going to fly to Mars, and the next trying to kill you because you have your ankles on show or touched a man’s hand…
except that is not what the UAE is like.
@@AL-lh2ht oh wow, what a counter reply, I must suddenly concede - despite all evidence, UAE is not like this….. just, you know… don’t look at the evidence lol. Did I leave out desperate to be liked?
@@aps-pictures9335 you didn't actually say any evidence. you don't really know much about dubia do you?
@@AL-lh2ht Dude there was a tourist woman who was jailed for a month for drinking a glass of wine, and some dude was jailed for 20+ years for a tiny bit of weed. Nobody wants to follow ancient religious law on vacation 😂
@@AL-lh2ht there’s an entire video attached to this comment section lol, and laws exist so are easily referenced, as are past news articles (such as the tourist jailed because his hand brushed against another mans at a party, and that man feared he was gay). But sure. No evidence…… And yes. I’ve spent a lot of time in Dubai with work. Did I mention there are no real labour protection laws, or the immigrant trap of extremely low paid, badly treated foreign labour who actually built all those unpaid for skyscrapers?
My dad went to Dubai several times from the late 70’s to mid 80’s (maybe late 80’s as he got a job at Barclays Bank HQ in London in 1989) while working for Shell and Texaco then went back for a holiday in 2008 and said the difference between when he first went there to now is unbelievable
I'm guessing he doesn't approve! Lol. The government must be idiots
100% city which is developed in less than 50 year and already made huge mark in the world for many reasons including how Dubai managed Covid -pandemic , it’s unbelievable and one most safest city in the world . Seems this video is uploaded a month back only yet I live here and feel like his perspective of Dubai is literally like dubai was 20 years back or more . Some how just felt his Using Dubai topic to get more attention so he can get more views and help selling him that cardholders and keychain 🤔
@@sufzalsaleem6535 Developing a nation off modern day slave labour and running the entire economy off expats is not a feat of anything impressive. It only shows how people from this part of the world are devoid of any morals and have no work ethic. The person who created the video is simply speaking facts.
Hey Simon and Evan Maloney, one more subject on the city state of Dubai you might want to talk about is its citizenship. Only about 1% (!) of the current population of Dubai are citizens. The other 99% are referred to as "guests". I have met people who have lived decades there--even born there--who are still not citizens. And if you're always a "guest", there's always a good chance they might decide that your stay has become too long . . . .
1% sounds way off. I think the citizens are about 15-20% of the population.
After a quick google search here are the numbers I found: for UAE its 12% and for Dubai its 8%
There are 3 layers of residents. The citizens. The whites. The rest. Same as in most places.
The Ridge wallet is a neat concept, but it's not worth anywhere near $100+. That's crazy. I think $40 is a fair price, and even then only because of the brand recognition attached to it.
I have youtube premium, I shouldn't even be hearing about that piece of garbage. Who carries around a wallet now anyway?
@@not_glad most people, I think? Lol. I'm still the only person _I_ know that just carries my cards and stuff around loose in my pocket. Didn't even know that was becoming a thing.
@@not_glad lmfao. You should still be hearing about it. What makes you think you shouldn't, bud?
@@griffinmckenzie7203 because I've paid to not see adverts. Do you watch shows on Netflix or Disney+ and see ads? Back in the day cable shows had rules around in programme adverts.
Also every KZhead sponsor is a scam/over priced/low quality.
I lived in Dubai for about 6 months. The one thing I will share is that it is hot there, it's damn hot. One day the temperatures went to the north of 120° Fahrenheit. Can't imagine tricks and through and outdoor theme park in that kind of eat. Even in the winter time it's freaking hot.
This is the precise thing all these developers didn't account for- You can build as much capacity as you want in Dubai, but fundamentally humans don't really want to live there. There are plenty of places rich people can go to see other rich people, they're not going to all flock to a city that is flat out miserable most of the year and rely on air conditioning to survive. If Dubai's engineers could figure out enough terraforming to create a true green zone, where the hot dusty winds are turned to humid breezes, they might end up with a true destination on their hands, but that ain't happening. They're just hyperfixating on all the worst excesses of building trends in the rest of the world and jamming them in where they can.
Dubai is the middle of the desert the elites of Dubai don't care about those stuff they only want to create dumb spectacles for rich people to burn their money.
Winter, that’s how global village works. Parks are very popular in winters and evenings
Bob : in winter it’s freaking hot? You have clearly never been there, or are from Greenland to call an average temperature in January of 18C freaking hot…
@@marcd6897 clearly I was there arrived in early March which is winter. Previously arrived at Dubai international airport approximately 11:00 p.m.. It was 90 some odd degrees. I was definitely there.
It's like being the rich kid in school, but you can't even buy friends.
The most amusing thing about the mega islands, is how they would be much easier to build _simply by digging channels inland, and letting the seawater get in,_ no need to transport sand while keeping access to the bedrock, they could even build stuff first and then the channels later, just use pylons as in a swampy terrain
Oops! 🤦
maybe they wanted them to be relatively central to the newer areas (no place to build something that massive there except in the sea) and also the ring around the island would be surrounded by desert and urban landscapes (and a canal) instead of sea if the island was built on the inside of the shore. the seaview is the main argument of the luxury when your hotel or whatever is located on the ring (it's massive)
I don't know didly squat about environmental engineering. But we have inland channels where I live and it's more of a swamp than a beach front. Maybe that doesn't work because getting the water to do what you want it to do is much harder than we imagine. I'd venture to say we don't have the current tech to do what Dubai was trying to do. But maybe in the next 100 years, human will have the capability. If we're still around.
Dubai always seems so weird nowadays because of all the excess buildings that didn’t make too much sense, particularly when they go bust. I remember (back in middle school) feeling hyped about hearing about the Burj Khalifa as the tallest building in the world, plus the mega-malls present there (since I had seen some pretty cool mega-malls before in the Philippines when visiting as a kid once). But after seeing some of the weirder projects that were talked about, notably those “sand” complexes that went bust, it feels like the rest is more excessive than it should be. Edit: Fixed some grammar errors. And I’ll add that I was focusing more on the major projects since those tended to focus on the super-rich rather than the general populace. Some stuff is still pretty neat, like the Burj Khalifa, but others feel like something the average person might not gravitate to, at least nowadays, because it’s something that the super-rich would only be able to afford or make use of.
@ghost mall dude here is racist. at this point you may as well as call them desert monkey withhow blatent you are being about it.
'excess building" you are not aware how many people live there do you?
@@AL-lh2ht I’ll admit I have some limited knowledge myself as I’m not familiar with the culture or population of Dubai or the Arab Emirates. My earlier comment was focused particularly on how some big projects tend to be stuff that would only cater to the super rich in and out of Dubai. Some initial stuff still does look cool, like the Burj Khalifa. But some newer locations feel like a harder catch because, like the island complexes, feel like stuff that the average populace might not benefit that much from.
@@HumbleAshe The average populace populize has benefited massivily from investment. how are housing, jobs, tourism, businesis, and housing market bad for the average populace? This youtuber only showed failed projects from decades ago while ignorig all of their successes. The UAE are not transitionig from flashy projects to more practical ones, like no most building are in fact part of the sewage system, they now have and expandig a strain system across the city, and other more boring stuff. Hell they are even building churchs and other religious centers for their expats. They are even making lawss cracking down on abuses.
@@AL-lh2htThe palm Islands will still erode though right?
Not to mention that those islands will disappear when the sea levels rise over the next century. Their highest levels are not much above that of the Maldives.
you don't think they thought of that? The beaches on the palm slope upwards at a fairly aggressive angle so it isn't too noticeable but won't be heavily affected by sea level rise
@G: I don’t think much thought was put into these Dubai vanity projects (and the poop trucks).
Sea level rise is BS. It's not real. Just Green Propaganda.
I can’t imagine what even a small hurricane would do to those sandbars. Or worse, an earthquake. Then the landfill liquifies and sinks.
@Sunny Wynn yes... all that death, destruction and misery. Hehehe indeed !
As much as I appreciate the gumption and hubris of the Dubai Tycoons, I’m pretty sure a question to entertain is, “what could go wrong?” As an airline pilot who was based in Bahrain (which was more of a financial center, since Dubai had a badly tarnished reputation in finance, as it was linked to money laundering) I was around in Dubai from 2007 to 2011. It was hilarious. Going from 25% of the worlds cranes in 2007 churning the skyline 24/7, to…. None, two years later. Oops. Tycoons fled! They left everything behind, (the airport parking lot was absolutely choked full of Beemers and Bentleys caked in dust) since there were no bankruptcy laws in Dubai and debtors prison was an actual thing. The slopes of “Ski Dubai” were suddenly less crowded. I always thought the artworks depicting mega projects in Dubai were of first rate quality, which gave the false impression that the place was going to be looking like a Star Trek Utopia of sorts. So I think a lot of gullible people bought this vision the art presented as an idyllic spot. A few things the artwork missed - Dust, and more dust. Summer Heat, and more heat. There were nice times of year. But there were also awful time of year. The worst of everything. But never in the artwork! I suspect these projects might only be viable if we were actually fully qualified as a Type I civilisation, but we’re not. We’ve not “mastered” nature yet, albeit we have the right set of vectors. Another element of underestimated difficulty is that increasingly advanced AI is not really going to mix well with theocracy. The later is unencumbered by the thinking process, while the former is acutely all about the thinking process. So that’s a set of internal stressors that’ll be at odds with any future enterprises. Stupid humans have absolutely no concept of how truly stupid they actually are. It can be so entertaining.
your also a human
@@smhsmh5410 I think he meant all of us from an alien lens
@@yashpatel261 The irony of you having to explain this. 😂
I went through in 2008. Something like 2/3 of the world's construction cranes were within five miles of where I was standing, and on a weekday, not one of them ever moved. Dubai is a sh*thole I hope to never see again
@@40below1000 lmao ur funny
Historically cities evolved because people worked in and around the city. Has anyone thought about who is going to be living in all these residences? Simon never mentions if major corporations are moving to Dubai. What are people going to to all day?
Dubai if now full of engineers, project managers and representatives of large western construction companies selling the next megalomaniac project.
There's also a healthy money laundering to gold business going on there. I believe they're at the top when it comes to places that don't care where or how a person got their money. Spend and launder away.
I think that's a key point. You can't force organic growth. It happens over long periods and because people had a reason to be there. Seems to me people would be trying to leave a 120 degree city, not migrate there. Imagine the infrastructure it would require to thrive in that heat.
Are you serious? Simon _does_ mention regularly whether these megaprojects attracted people/businesses as they were supposed to or not. But more importantly, The projects are mostly residential in nature, with the others being "businesses" that are so unique that they were supposed to make people want to live there or at least visit on vacation. The fact that they've failed should answer your question of whether businesses ever moved there or not to capitalize on the projects.
Dubai is honestly a dystopian hellscape that represents perfectly everything wrong with humanity in a single city. Why people want to visit is absolutely beyond me. I can't think of a single reason why personally I'd want to go to Dubai.
You ate the propaganda.
I hear they have Porta-potties..
@@tomgunton expats are not slaves. expats were exploited for cheap labor (like most of the world) but they have made laws giving more protectionss to expats to stop abuse. It's still a problem and they should still get more protection but they are nowhere near slaves. Qatar is the country with the much worse treatment of expats where most people think they are the same country. It's very easy to confuse the too. Just understand the absurdity of saying 80% of UAE population are slaves.
Because it’s shiny and superficially opulent covering up the misery of low wage foreign workers. Everything modern culture craves.
The only thing wrong with Dubai is there terrorist religion. Everything else is perfect.
I went to dubai before the palm was built. It had some great scuba diving. I heard all the sand being dredged and dumped killed all the marine life. Rip shark island
All that money and no research? I'm sure they were given statistics about the likelihood of the marine life not surviving those projects.
Rip shark Island makes me think they were all afraid of sharks. Hope they don't get attacked in their afterlife.😇 glad I never thought I was bigger than the oceans
Every day we have a new problem. It's the new normal. At first we thought it was a crisis, now we know it's a new normal and we have to adapt. 2023 will be a year of severe economic pain all over the nation.. what steps can we take to generate more income during quantitative adjustment?I can't afford my hard-earned $80,000 savings to turn to dust
@Jane Viella haha, You know Sofia Erailda Sema? crazy! I appreciate every single second of the six month I worked with her. She is such an amazing woman, patient and down to earth teacher my next monetary goal is leverage trading and I'll be starting with sofia’s strategy! i have heard many positive reviews from my Co-workers since the recent dumps.
Oh my god this is totally a real thread with real not-bots talking!
@@NightRogue77 yeah...Not fake at all...
Oh thank you, Sofia Esmeralda is a pearl, she helped me transform my McDonald's minimum wage into 600 billion dollars. Now I have a Ford Pinto and I eat Wendy's everyday, thank you Sofia that is absolutely a real person !!
What a pathetic effort to steer people towards a financial scam by faking a random conversation about a topic that has nothing to do with the video🙄 . A word of advice , doing these type of steering tactics is a red flag for people to stay away from . You people should stop doing it because it is offending people's intelligence .
😆😆 Can Confirm this. I Lived in Business Bay for just over 2 years. YES, Everything 'LOOKS' very pretty. That area particularly is very Touristy. However, I noticed that everything is also build on the cheap. The place i lived had TERRIBLE water/electrical problems. Cockroaches are Everywhere too. Lots of Very rich men with very small penises flexing everywhere in that town. :D (and they really do hold passports for a lot of workers so they can't leave) Remember 99% of the people who live there make very little $$. All of Dubai except downtown is a slum. Sad actually to go drive out in the suburbs.
I've heard that 70% of Dubai's housing is empty.
@@CordeliaWagner It's more like 20%. But making stuff up cool. but no, dubai has a huge population.
@@AL-lh2ht Citation needed, bud.
@@griffinmckenzie7203 Don't bother he replies to almost comment that calls out Dubai. He won't provide anything
I grew up in Dubai and lived in almost every sub-city within from Jebal Ali, Discovery Gardens and DSO to Ghusais, Jumeira, Deira and Al Quoz…and a slum is not a word anyone could use to describe even the filthiest of places. Cockroaches are common cause that and flies are the only insects that can survive the heat, and I would gladly take a few cockroaches a year over the whole host of other insects in other parts of the world. Never have I gone for a drive in Dubai and felt sad, even the frugal regions are lively, bustling and full of activity. Have you been to Meena Bazaar? Karama? Dragon Mart in International City? Al Nahda? These are the poorest areas I can think of and even they are a far cry more fun and enjoyable to live in, tour and visit than many non “slum” areas in developed and developing countries I’ve lived in and visited around the world. Sure, worker conditions and pay aren’t always the best and can get miserable in a lot of cases due to exploitation but even then the conditions are better than where a lot of us immigrants migrated from, not to mention I’ve seen (and been) people broke and exploited in NYC, Paris, Seoul, Mumbai and I genuinely feel Dubai might be on the brighter side comparatively. Employment conditions will no doubt see massive improvements in the near future, but till then Dubai will be fine and it’s “slum” dwelling denizens don’t need your pity or sympathy.
1:03 airports, parks, and cities 9:19 the islands 14:40 Dubai creek tower 16:29 final thoughts
Thank You
Bhadiya premium
I worked for a consultancy that worked on some projects in Dubai. I don't think they ever got paid. I don't think anyone did. It would be an interesting to see how much of this development was actually paid for. It wasn't their money they were burning, lol.
I think their problem is what every designer struggles with, practicality. They never stop to think if their project will be practical. Moreover, they kept trying to build multiple megaprojects at the same time. Big mistake
Most if not all of these oil nations will return to the desert once the black gold is either no longer required or all used up, might be 20 years, might be 200 years, but one way or another it’s back to dust for them.
racist. Good job
@@AL-lh2ht what exactly is racist about this? Literally 90% of the economy in the middle east is based off oil production and as the world moves away from oil it WILL crash their economy
@@AL-lh2ht No, you're just salty that he made a truthful statement that you have taken personally. His comment made no mention of race, so maybe you should read the definition of a word before using it as a label for people you disagree with.
@@AL-lh2ht And still correct. Cry, raggie
@@AL-lh2ht Even the old Saudi king said something like "my father rode camels, my sons and I will ride in Mercedes, and their grandsons will ride camels".
Authoritarian country: *oppresses and alienates differing cultures and groups* “I just don’t understand why the foreigners wouldn’t want to visit us!”
To quote a former Nigerian Head of State, "Our problem isn't money, but how to spend it". Perhaps that's the issue the Emir of Dubai is facing.
If they were smart they'd spend it on things that will be useful if demand for oil falls. Setting up world class universities and research institutions should be a priority but they'd rather spend it on tacky bullshit.
Very interesting and an example of bets that didn't pay off. Btw, the new high tech and extremely successful Istanbul International Airport has definitely dealt a killer blow to Dubai's new airport.
Dubai is building a new airport for more than 3 years now which is expected to complete in 2027 and you will know than how big is istanbul once you visit that airport
1:05 - Chapter 1 - Airports, parks & cities 3:00 - Mid roll ads 4:20 - Back to the video 9:25 - Chapter 2 - The islands 14:45 - Chapter 3 - Dubai creek tower 16:35 - Chapter 4 - Final thoughts
🥊🤡🥊🤡🥊🤡🥊🧿🧿🧿
Grew up there it was crazy at how fast new projects came some got made many failed all caused a lot of traffic jams 😂
4:01 I bought the 12 dollar knockoff wallet for the gas station almost a year ago and I gotta say I love it. It even has the tapered edge like the Ridge so card’s slide in easier.
Same, I got a knockoff ridge wallet on Amazon for like 14 bucks and it even came with all the clips that you can switch out and the elastic strap, etc. I don't want to support Chinese knockoff brands, but ridge wallet is over 100 bucks which is ridiculous
I had an American Eagle wallet for a decade and a half. Worked great.
0:52 the phrase "more money than brains" springs to mind
Dubai is the city that I tried to build on Sim City when I was little but failed because I ran out money building all the fancy buildings.
In the southern part of the UAE they have mountains that are nearly 2,000 meters high, where the temperature is about 10 degrees cooler than in Dubai. They should focus more on building nice mountain towns, where the temperature is pleasant and the views are nice, rather than building those tacky monstrosities in a scorching hot desert where being outside for 10 minutes is torture.
Dubai loves to promote its Hatta exclave. Thing is the only way to get there is a couple hours driving or taking a bus.
Dubai will soon announce "Jurassic Park", a revolutionary park that's brought dinosaurs back to life, is totally safe, and nothing will go wrong, nothing at all
I've commented about the large Cube city and the Line Saudi is building as "more money than sense", i was called envious and not wanting them to succeed. This is just another video that proves that point of mega projects being vanity projects lol
Whoever told you that is bonkers. You can't "will" a project to succeed. They do have more money than sense. It almost seems like the oil money at times is a hindrance. If they didn't have oodles of money they might be forced to do substantial research on projects instead of pop them up like umbrellas.
Simon might want to do a video on the "skyscraper index" or the "skyscraper curse" as it's also known.
"Hey! I've got it! Let's get all of our rich friends together, pool our money, and create a product that doesn't have a market... We'll worry about that later. That's just salesmanship. We'll hire lots of --poor-- little people to deal with that."
Dubia is already achieved their goal of not being dependent on oil.
@@AL-lh2ht How much do you get paid for all your incessant replies?
@@slypear I think you meant: "How much do you get paid for all your incessant lies?"
The only people I know that ever told me they had a good time in Dubai were middle-aged men. I'm sure that's just a coincide though...
These megaprojects have a "last days of Rome" quality.
Can you imagine if they used all that money to work on cures for cancer and other diseases.
There's a dozen better things they could have done, and could do. It's very sad, and such a waste.
Man don't it suck they managed to not be dependent on oil anymore. We should be so made at them for bettering themselves.
@@AL-lh2ht Its just not right that they are able to stand on their own. They ought to be dependent on the United States and European countries. I mean they just don't deserve all this progress.
@@AL-lh2htYou should not be so mad in this comment section reacting on almost every post.
@@RK-cj4oc It's a paid troll.
You should talk about how Dubai has no sewer systems.
WHAT? ??? FLORIDA 🇺🇸 USA
@@Ms1lonewolf are you saying Florida is Dubai's sewer system?😂😂😂
@Chat GPT your funny 😁. That's my sign off symbol FLORIDA 🇺🇸. FLORIDA with a flag.
it actually has sewer systems....
@@trader2137 , if so then why the line of waste removal trucks at the tallest building in Dubai ? Shouldn't the building be connected to the city's sewer system 🤷🏽♂️ .
Worked in Dubai for a couple of months and I found it a pretty decent place for a skilled expat. Very safe also. That being said I always wondered why so few windows were lit up when I visited the Palm Jumeirah and other swanky parts of Dubai in the evening. My suspicion is that a lot of the apartments and bungalows are uninhabited. They can still have been sold and held as investments though.
You are right. A lot of properties are bought by investors and locals in other emirates. Its often used when people come into Dubai. Another reason is that there are a lot of people here who are away 5 days a week. Its a combination of all these and of course a few empty units that give this impression
Stop using the word expat. Its cringe. You were an immigrant.
@@bendover7841 unless you think that words in the dictionary should have their meaning changed because they're 'cringe', he is an expat and not an immigrant !!
@@bendover7841he is actually using the right term, an expat is someone who lives temporarily in another country for his work. While an immigrant moves to another country permanently. But usually the word expat is simply used for rich or upper middle class individuals even if they are infact immigrants and that is just classist and cringe, especially if these ppl keep on hating on immigrants and misapply the word expat to differentiate themselves from them. Sorry for my english
@@MrLilRajje no he is very much an immigrant. Anybody who unironically uses the term expat is mocked behind their backs.
I'd love to see you do a video on the Iron Pillar of Delhi, over 1600 years old and still rust free
You mean rust free, don't you.
@@philphildebeers2075 Yes, thank you. Fixed it
All Indian steel was rust free.
Witchcraft!
It hilarious people claim it's rust free when you literally see rust on it in pictures,
Airport: Well, I have been there and the triple airport is just triple discomfort personified. It's actually a shopping mall that has some travel perks tacked on! It has NO aesthetically pleasing aspects whatsoever, and is pretty sterile. If you want to see a passenger- and planet-friendly airport I suggest you fly into Change airport in Singapore! It's in a completely different dimension entirely! It has WOW factor, in spades!
I deeply dislike Dubai airport for the same reason! Chang’e is just on another level though haha
I agree about Changi. Shopping? Yes, but it's still very much an airport, one that's hard to better.
Dubai and Disneyland/World are very similar. They always have new projects in the works with many never coming to fruition or becoming old news quickly.
I don't think you ever been to Disneyland
@@sjsharks2106you are right but I have been to Disney World and watched too many Disney centric videos on KZhead about proposed rides that never can to fruition or were changed drastically before their debuts.
Do a story about Qatar. Doha has 3 metro subway and 3 light rail lines. Saudi Arabia is digging a canal to cut Qatar off from the Arab peninsula and make it an island.
it does feel like that point in the game where one person has all the monopoly money but everyone is still playing so they start making new rules: ‘and i’ll buy another super hotel here…’
I feel like theyd see more success buying land abroad to build these megaprojects on, then live off the profits. Or just heavily invest overseas like China does. I just can't see the tourist industry ever reaching a point where these projects are financially viable, mostly because the place is opulent to the point of vulgarity, expensive, basically a featureless desert, and every so often theres the story of someone being arrested for drunken shenanigans that scares everyone off. Its sad to see it slowly becoming another Venezuela where the massive oil reserves could have been used to improve the society and set up a long-term innovative economy but are just being squandered on vanity projects.
How are you not aware dubias tourism industry is super massive?
@@AL-lh2ht" super massive " guys our goverment subsidized tourism is totally massive guys. It totally wont collapse once the oil runs out and we have to pay taxes.
@@AL-lh2ht Yes, tourism is a stunning 5% of Dubai's GDP. Compare that to the pathetic 7% in France, 8.6% in Mexico, 8.4% in Iceland ...
@@JonMartinYXD Iceland is much more of an economic miracle than the UAE ever was or could be.
@@johnr797 LOL.
When the oil money runs out (maybe even before), Dubai will have some magnificent ruins in the desert.
Dubai had very little oil to begin with. It ran out long ago. This video is poorly sourced. Look it up yourself
@@gregmccauley1687You need to look it up yourself. Dubai is a city in the country The United Arab Emirates. The UAE produces an average of 3.2 million barrels of petroleum and liquids per day (as of Nov 2023). You're welcome.
"Mr. Whistler, welcome to Dubai! Would you follow me please?" Simon is never seen again....
@@sunnywynn56 what?
I mean with that money, I'd have invested as much as possible in hydroponics and sea water desalination to make Dubai self sufficient as possible, then build a marina and towers inland to claim more desert. Just so that if the world goes down the tubes, Dubai is officially a rich person's sanctuary.
Desalination is not a awnser. It creates too much salt.
@@RK-cj4oc You know you can sell salt right?
@@johnr797 Wow. What a genius you are. If only goverments around the world had your intellect.
@@RK-cj4oc Well, they do, actually, which is why organizations like SEA4VALUE exist. If the UAE were to invest in this research, they could easily find ways to make desalination profitable, especially if using renewable energy to power the plants.
Imagine, they would pump these countless billions in sustainability for the next thousand+ years, instead of short lived vanity projects!
My parents actually lived in Jumeria between 1996 and 1999 - it was pretty cool back then but I bet it’s unrecognisable now and way, way over the top. It was certainly an experience to visit and for them to live there but we all felt that it had an odd ‘vibe’ - it was definitely style over substance.
I live in UAE since 10 Years and its pretty nice in here. I make a decent salary , go out , have community of friends. Its a pretty normal lifestyle minus the fact that there is zero crime and everywhere we go we know service will be great. I love Europe and my homecountry but UAE is pretty great too
What zero crime😂
Ditto. I absolutely love living here and am very proud of the government for what they have achieved. I think internationally they must have been in the top 5 best countries to have gone through Covid. Well controlled and balanced. I feel safer here as a woman than being anywhere in North America.
Dubai is the Hare to Abu Dhabi's Tortoise... And we all know how that ended up... Still I love a grandiose mega project and feel kinda sad seeing this video...
This vidoe is filled with straight up false info. Not the first time this channel has done this.
@@AL-lh2ht Stop crying, kid.
One of my dirty little pleasure : a video bashing Dubaï hard... 😁
The real pain megaprojects always face, is yearly maintenance.
Yes, it costs millions maintaining the mega-sky scrappers
From British perspective Dubai is where Serco (ceo Rupert Soames) has its HQ as does the company which owns GBNews. Perhaps you would research how many others have set up in this ‘home from home’ while Britain rots from the same ‘mega-project-and-social-engineering’ top down mind set.
British "patriots" spreading pro-Brexit propaganda from a notorious tax haven thousands of miles away from the UK? Seems totally appropriate, in fact it'd be slightly disappointing if the swine went anywhere else.
One of the abandoned island projects would've spelt out a poem by the sheikh which reads "Take wisdom from the wise / It takes a man of vision to write on water". Talk about hubris!
Dubai is a great stop for those of us who travel from Aus to Europe
It's not 'burning' when you secure a billion dollars in funding, spend a million, and then keep the other 999 million for yourself.
So recently I moved to Dubai South, it's a bit far from the main city but I enjoy living there because it's pretty chill. Then I discover they're building a beachfront in the area. A BEACHFRONT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT. Do the developers know what a BEACH is? 😂 I'm assuming they're building a fake lake like they always do but a beach?? Make it make sense. I love Dubai but some of their projects sound ridiculous
Mosquitoes are coming.
I cant wait to vacation in Dubai - Nobody... EVER.....
nobody... except like 16.73 million visitors came in 2019
Well, to me the palm Jabel Ali (from the air) looks more like a horse shoe crab, and the Palm Deira , looks like the latest incarnation of the USS Enterprise, or an sitting infant with a with a big head. Great big place to bring your cats .
I was just there 2 weeks ago (21 hour layover). Had to pay $150 for a 96hr visa but wanted to see Dubia. January is the prime tourist season but I didn't see many. I used the taxi , public transit, visited the aquarium, the famous mall, the Burj khalifa, the food court etc. The train during rush hour was jammed packed which means most were workers. The mall was empty except for the aquarium where I saw the tourists. The food court is perhaps 50 total people at lunch time. 90% of the shops had 0 to maybe 3 people in them. (Dubia mall). And some of the luxurious cafes I did see a few of the wealthier local people but not many . I did take the train to the less tourist side where the workers lived and shopped. This area was full of people. Lots of small shops and local restaurants. I didn't see one tourist however. 90% plus were southern Asian / indians/ Pakistani etc. of course The infrastructure was not as nice here like you see on the promo video. All this being said, the awesome architecture were quite impressive I must say. It was clean, airport awesome, I did feel safe, service was good, the local food was ok $5-$10usd. If you spend $15+ it was good especially the curries. I'm pretty sure for the wealthy people this place can be awesome where cost isn't an issue. For an average person, money is better spent elsewhere.
They would pull even more tourists if they built a museum dedicated to showcasing their failed mega projects.