The Mall of the World is currently well underway in Dubai and is a building so large, it can actually be considered a mini-city within the city of Dubai. This center is 50 million square feet and is completely climate and temperature controlled so nobody will have to endure the intense summer heat. Inspiration has been taken from London’s Oxford Street and New York’s Broadway Avenue. Massive domes, making it completely sealed off from the outdoors, will cover the entire urban center.
The Mall of the World will hold an impressive 20,000 hotel rooms, parking space for over 50,000 cars, and of course, hold the world’s most enormous shopping ball. The main incentive for this massive project is to increase tourist interest and travel in Dubai. Space will also be extremely technology-based, with 3-D printers creating meals, drones delivering services, and mobile app purchasing.
Luxury Cars are Often Abandoned in Dubai
Amazingly, there is a huge amount of luxury car abandonment in Dubai. If you tour the parking lots of Dubai, you will find thousands of BMWs, Mercedes, Ferraris, and Porsches, completely abandoned. In fact, the BBC reported that a Ferrari Enzo, which is worth $1 million, was found completely abandoned in the Dubai airport parking lot.
You’re probably wondering why this is occurring. Though there isn’t one reason, in particular, it is speculated that the Sharia Law could be to blame. This law states that if you stop making car payments, or fall behind, you will have to go to prison. For this reason, these cars are potentially the property of people who have fled the country in order to avoid going to jail.
There are Hefty Class Divides
As an up-and-coming global center for business, there are hundreds of skyscrapers being erected every year in Dubai. The population of workers who help construct these enormous buildings is largely made up of immigrants from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. There are around 3.2 million people living in Dubai and immigrants from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh make up over 50% of Dubai’s population while 17% of the city is made up of Emiratis and the remaining 43% are generally wealthy foreigners from other parts of the world.
The economic divide between these sectors of the population is enormous. Many immigrant workers live their day-to-day lives in uncomfortable, impoverished conditions and are often taken on busses back and forth between labor camps with dorms, while native Emiratis have their rent, education, and medical bills paid for by the government and upper-class foreigners earn huge salaries from their white-collar jobs.
All Big Everything
In an attempt to bring attention and attraction to Dubai, it seems everything is being built on a massive scale. Americans may be familiar with the mentality that bigger is better, but in Dubai, the biggest is best. Everywhere you look there are giant buildings and attractions in Dubai.
Dubai is home to the tallest tower in the world, the Burj Khalifa, a giant at 2,722 feet tall. Not only that, but the world’s largest indoor ski facility, indoor aquarium, and biggest mall are located in Dubai. There are even plans to build the largest amusement park in Dubai. It seems there are no limits to the grandeur of this amazing city.
Dubai’s Airport is a Huge Source of Income
The airport in Dubai contributes around $22 billion per year to the UAE GDP. Amazingly, oil only constitutes 2% of Dubai’s revenue. The bulk of the money coming into Dubai comes from the transportation, commerce, trading, financial service, retail, and tourism industries.
Due to the high amount of revenue that comes from tourism, it may not actually be so surprising that so much money comes from the airport in Dubai. Dubai International Airport employs over 90,000 people and holds over 400,000 jobs. It is actually the busiest international airport in the world and the airport with the highest number of passengers per flight. It even has the largest airport terminal in the world, Terminal 3.