Helix Bridge, Dubai Canal. December 2018
Never say never - more questions than answers
I imagine if I had been in Dubai 20 years ago when they dredged an open-bracket-shaped canal into the desert far from what was then the city center and was told, "One day, this will be one of the most exclusive places to live in Dubai AND you will love it", I would have laughed out loud. Today, Dubai Marina is a neighborhood of the rich and famous AND one of my favorite places in the emirate {See: Dubai Marina}. Not one to think small, Sheikh Mohammed, Dubai's leader, has yet another project started, Dubai Canal.
Old Dubai was built around a salty inlet that leads to a marsh. "Dubai Creek" passes through the original Dubai, a small place that was just a collection of simple buildings on both sides of the water. The old way to cross the creek was by a public, hop on/hop off "ferry" called an Abra. (NB: one of my favorite cheap thrills in Dubai) As Dubai expanded, the creek was widened and developed along waters edge back toward the marsh. Luckily, Sheikh Mohammed is either conservation minded OR the marsh proves too difficult to build over - it remains a natural protected area. Beyond the marsh, he pushed the creek even farther through a collection of high rises behind Burj Khalifa {See: Burj Khalifa} and then placed a group of glass towers around the new end of the creek calling it "Business Bay". Business Bay was dammed up by a barrier-like highway and the metro tracks where the water ended abruptly. The whole thing from above looked like a huge letter "C" connected to the sea on one end and tantalizingly close to it on the other.
Was it the incredible success of Dubai Marina? Sheikh Mohammed decided that the water should continue from Business Bay, go under the highway/metro, cut through one of the largest parks in Dubai, and then proceed straight through some relatively new housing developments to reconnect to the sea at the end of Jumeirah Beach (Dubai's premier beach). I watched the project take shape over time as the metro passes right over it. The eight lane highway was raised enough so that boats could pass under (luckily the metro was already high enough). While doing that, a pipeline was put on one edge of the highway bridge becoming a stunning, although occasional, waterfall. Three new pedestrian bridges were constructed, one of which (my favorite) is the Helix Bridge. On that visit, MWK and I saw residential and retail projects were already under construction.
One casualty of the canal is Safa Park. Dubai's largest, one of the few open spaces with trees where people can walk, it lost about 25% of its area. The canal project shaved off one side to accommodate the new waterway and adjacent development (and avoid the costly purchase of already built up land). I can only imagine that the last bit of the canal (which required tearing down a few houses and villas) came to the great glee of home-owners who suddenly found themselves newly living on prime waterside real estate. I suppose they will eventually give into pressure to sell at inflated prices so that the entire project can be lined with condos, malls, and pedestrian walkways à la Dubai Marina. Current world slowdown due to the coronavirus pandemic aside, I think after 10 years this area will be unrecognizable and, most likely, beautiful. For now, it languishes as a canal with walkways on both sides and a few interesting bridges, not much else.
The next Dubai Marina?
How much more can Dubai expand in a place where no huge city should ever have been built? How many upscale condos and malls can one place support? As for energy, in the post-petroleum world, Dubai and the whole UAE could easily go solar. However, what about water? Desalination is incredibly energy intensive and expensive. A large city needs a LOT of water. To air condition a mega city in the desert requires a LOT of electricity. Just how much alternative energy might be needed? Will Dubai be ringed by a vast black sea of solar panels? Then the issue of the weather cannot be ignored. I have visited Dubai in the summer and it is punishingly hot even in the evening. The ground radiates the day's heat upward even at night and walking is uncomfortable. Can such massive development afford only to be seasonal? For me, far too many questions need to be answered.
"Build it and they will come" is definitely Sheikh Mohammed's hope and mantra. It remains to be seen if the gamble will be successful in the long run. Cities can and do rise and fall. Archeologists might have a lot of questions when they excavate Dubai in the distant future.
(a great shout out to MWK for agreeing to see Dubai Canal with me even though there was nothing much there. Only a true friend would indulge me like that on one of his very few days off)
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