Key to the World: Sky's the Limit in Dubai
City will soon house an amusement park three times the size of Manhattan.
April 23, 2007 — -- Their motto could be, "Excuse our dust…and our audacity."
Coming soon to Dubai: the world's only shape-changing skyscraper, with individually rotating floors, an amusement park three times the size of Manhattan and a Versace-owned resort, complete with an air-conditioned beach.
Plans for the future Dubai seem like fantasies, until you witness present-day Dubai.
In just over a decade, the city has built massive skyscrapers and gleaming malls, indoor ski slopes and world-class hotels with chilled swimming pools and 12-page pillow menus. Tiger Woods, Roger Federer and Andre Agassi have taken part in publicity stunts for the United Arab Emirates, playing a few rounds from thousands of feet above ground. In a city that will soon be home to the world's tallest building, they build islands in the shapes of palm trees and a splintered map of the world. The 10-acre "Florida" can be yours for $32 million.
"Before," said Dr. Eesa Bastaki, standing on the rooftop of his childhood home, "we could see just the creek, the beautiful creek, and the houses on the end."
That roof was the highest spot in town when Bastaki was a boy.
Through the 1970s, his family watched as the ruler, Sheik Rashid bin Saeed al Maktoum, set out to turn the sleepy trading post into a world-class business hub. He deepened the salt creek, expanded the port and started an airline with two jumbo jets.
Turning Sand Into Gold
Twenty years later, Emirates Air has 102 jets, and the vision for Dubai is now carried by the son, Sheik Mohammed -- a multibillionaire who races horses, writes poetry and runs this city-state like an overcaffeinated CEO, exploiting the port's prime location, surrounding wealth and international talent.
But the secret of his success may be something his land doesn't have: oil. There is a small amount of crude under Dubai, and what little there is will be gone by the end of the decade. So unlike other Middle Eastern countries, the royal family in Dubai has been forced to come up with new ways to turn their sand into gold.
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