Joanna James
Nearly everything in the city is artificial, and it's a bit strange to find a city that's wholly air-conditioned in the middle of the desert, but that's not the only eccentricity.
Dubai experienced a property boom, and during that time, cranes were a ubiquitous sight that could be seen all over Dubai's skyline. According to some sources, the city held 25% of all the cranes in the world. Even now, you don't see a fall in the number.
The construction of Palm Islands required a lot of resources, and sand was one of them. It is said that these artificial islands of Dubai needed 94 million cubic meters of sand. To put things into perspective, the amount of sand that was used could build a 2-meter-wide wall that would circle the entire globe three times over.
Everything in Dubai is about decadence, and the police force isn't left out of this theory either. This is a known fact to many; the Dubai police force uses supercars, and everyone who visits the city is thoroughly impressed by them. Among the car brands used by the police force in Dubai are Aston Martin, Lamborghini Aventador and Ferrari FF. In fact, the amount of money a police officer spends on a car in Dubai is more than what a university student in the USA spends on their education per year.
A competitor to the likes of Avani Deira Dubai Hotel, and many other accommodation providers for that matter, Burj Khalifa is the only 7-star hotel in the world. It is also the hotel in Dubai that has 1,790 squares covered with 24-carat gold.
The residents of Dubai are more foreigners than locals. It is estimated that the percentage of locals amounts to 15% while foreigners constitute the rest. Most of the workers employed in the construction sector are immigrants from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. There's a very distinct class divide; the labourers suffer horrible working and living conditions, while others live in luxury and comfort.
Nearly everything in Dubai falls into the categories of largest, tallest or biggest in the world. So, the latest development project is another one aiming to be the largest in the entertainment category, as entertainment is always among the things to do in Deira Dubai. It is called Dubai Square, and according to estimations, the size of it will be equivalent to 100 football fields. The project draws inspiration from London's Oxford Street and Los Angeles's Beverly Street.
Camel racing is a popular, traditional sport in Dubai. More often than not, depending on the size of the camel, only the children can participate in these games; this resulted in child trafficking. After the world became aware of the issue, Dubai has started using Robots in place of Children.
Dubai has been developing at a rapid pace, and due to that, initiation of an address system was overlooked. If a resident were to tell you how to get to the place where they live, they'd have to write out all the directions and landmarks for you. This was the case until 2015; in 2015, they started assigning unique number codes to all the buildings.
Employees – apart from the construction workers – get an attractive salary, and that's not it, they also don't have to pay income tax. This tempts a lot of people into visiting Dubai in search of jobs.
You'll be surprised to know that some ATMs in Dubai dispense gold bars, and in 2013, 40% of all physical gold trade took place in Dubai; the amount that was traded had the weight of 354 elephants!
A true believer that the pen is a mighty weapon, ventures into reaching the minds of every reader with the earnest hope of leaving an indelible stream of thought.
A travel writer who has a pas...
