Business | Property
Wonders rising in the sands of Dubai
From a fishing and pearling hamlet to one of the most vibrant cities in the world, Dubai has undergone a sea change in just 34 years.
- Gulf News Report
- Published: 23:03 October 15, 2007
- Image Credit: Press Release
- 1973: At the beginning of the first oil boom, Dubai was just a sleepy town spread on both sides of the Dubai creek - the major source of supplies. This satellite image shows the neighbourhoods that comprised Deira and Bur Dubai.
Dubai: From a fishing and pearling hamlet to one of the most vibrant cities in the world, Dubai has undergone a sea change in just 34 years. Gulf News reproduces satellite images which show the changing landscape.
Exhibitions like the Cityscape have helped Dubai - which boasts of wonders like the Burj Al Arab, the three Palms and the World islands - attract interest from global investors. The three-day exhibition, which begins today, brings together thousands of real estate developers, brokers, landscape architects, designers, engineers, contractors and suppliers. Projects worth hundreds of billions of dollars are expected to be unveiled.
About 50 per cent of the emirate's 4,114 square-metres of land has been brought under urban development. Rising rent has been a fallout of rapid urbanisation.
As the development march continues, about 131,000 new housing units will be ready for occupation in the next 3 to 4 years. And that, experts say, will bring down the rents.
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