Dubai: The Race to the Top
At first, Dubai is a cacophony of glitter and steel. Like Vegas, you have a desert climate with skyscrapers thrust up out of the ground, lining Sheikh Zayed road in stern procession for miles. Because there is such a complex network of highways and roads, most 6 lanes wide, everyone drives here, which means there is very little pedestrian culture…what I mean by that are the sidewalks and small storefronts, the kind of thing we see near campus along Mill Avenue. There are storefronts here, but its expected you can drive right up to them, and between all your destinations. So the car dependency that we sustainability students are trained to loathe is brought to a new extreme here. I have never, ever seen so many expensive cars. Not Audi or BMW. We’re talking Ferrari, Lamborghini, the occasional Bentley or two. I was really excited when I saw my mom’s Toyota Rav 4 cruising down the highway.
The reason I mention buildings- exotic, no-two-look-alike towers shaped into dolphins or stick figures with helicopter pads studded in the roof -is because on Tuesday we were scheduled to cruise up to the top of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest structure in the world. Our class had prepaid tickets at 3pm.
However, the presentations from Dubai World Center had gone longer than we thought and we were in danger of being late. David, our faculty advisor, called ahead to ask if we could be late but we were told later than 3:15 would mean we would miss it.
The Burj Khalifa, at a dizzying 828meters tall, is built next to the Dubai Mall. A mixture of offices and residences, the entrance to the observation deck (strictly for tourists with a dedicated elevator) is actually within the ground floor of the Dubai mall. Our bus driver dropped us off on the far end of the mall at 3:06pm. Having been there the weekend previously, we all know that there’s a significant portion of the mall to cross before we get to the Burj Khalifa.
So David gets off the bus and says “Run.”
You can visit Dubai and attend a massive delicacy-filled brunch at the Burj Al-Arab, take a yacht cruise down the gulf coast, or stand in the center of the Grand Mosque of Abu Dhabi in all it’s majesty, but you haven’t really lived until you’re running as fast as you can and dodging leisurely walking women in black abayas carrying shopping bags shouting “Sorry! Pardon me!” as you race for the Burj Khalifa.
About seven of us careened all the way to the other side of the mall, only to find out we had taken a wrong turn. Everyone who walked slower? They got there in time and we all were able to go to the observation deck. Honestly, after the run, the tower might have felt anticlimactic! But it’s really an incredible view. You feel dizzy, staring down at the cars speeding on the highway like so many micro machines. We could see all the way into another emirate, Sharjah, and down south to the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, near where we were staying for the trip.
You literally feel on top of the world.
Now…what does anything in Dubai have to do with sustainability? Well, everything and nothing. After all, the Burj Khalifa is only one of the world record breaking structures the UAE holds dear. It seems the country is constantly pushing limits and boundaries, which means spending vast money and resources, and that usually never bodes well for sustainability.
The culture of Dubai is changing so rapidly that just the age difference of 12 years between sisters means one wears an abaya and a veil, while the younger wears jeans and her hair free. The dichotomy between traditional values, deep cultural mores, is not just clashing but melding in places with a drive and hunger for not just modernity, but the cutting edge? Dubai must feel like America felt like after World War 2; poised for success, racing towards the moon, bigger cars and better homes, new medicines and new attractions. The culture here puts a value on family that is seen everywhere from the doting men in white robes buying sweets for their children to the signs on the metro, buses and shops insisting that seats be reserved for mothers. And yet- there is an excitement for the biggest and the best. Where else in the world can you ski indoors?
(Answer: Shanghai, actually, but don’t tell anyone here that.)
The issue with all this rapid development, is not that it’s without forethought or planning. But it’s just happening so quickly, and the tourism industry is so important as well as impatient, that the country doesn’t have the time to institute sustainable practices simultaneously. However, the government (the royal family) has recognized it’s importance and is starting to put more stringent regulations in place. LEED standards for buildings, for instance, will be the norm for all new construction starting in 2014. When you see how many buildings have sprung up in the last ten years, and how many more are slated for the next decade, the possibly energy savings and emissions reductions of that initiative are significant.
There is almost too much to say about Dubai- taking it in, as well as being able to experience it with blindingly intelligent and witty students and professors, has been a life changing experience so far!