Just Burn the Money: Dubai’s Failed and Failing Megaprojects 

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One of the reasons why they say ‘Indefinitely hold’ rather than ‘cancelled’ is so they can refuse to compensate the investors and return any funds/equity.

I’ll say it again, you should do a segment on Oman. It’s the rich Persian Gulf state that consciously didn’t become another Dubai. Their Sultan wanted to preserve as much of the old culture as possible while embracing the modern world. So skyscrapers are banned, but more than half of the university graduates are women. It’s not perfect and not a democracy, but it’s a wonderful place to visit with people who are very proud of there country compared to the other gulf states. Oh, and if you go there, you’ll actually meet Omanis as the Sultan wanted his people to work instead of letting foreign workers do all the work. There are a lot of foreign workers, but nothing like rest of the gulf.

Lived and worked there for a few years and best way I could describe it is: everything feels like an elaborate prank, which somehow a lot of people keep falling for.

They’ll spend ridiculous amounts on buildings - while treating the builders like slaves. It is disgusting what goes on there.

Dubai is an example of someone expecting to play Cities Skylines with the infinite money and demand commands enabled in real life.

Building artificial islands in the desert where there is plenty of space for new developments has to be one of the dumbest ideas ever. Peak vanity.

The King of Dubai took that Field of Dreams line "build it & they will come" from Costner _way_ too literally

There are things that money can't buy. Having a beautiful landscape and a pleasant climate are two of them. That's why no matter how many trillions they burn in Dubai, it will never be an attractive place to live for most of us. It's interesting to visit it once, but that's enough. A simple log cabin with a view of the rocky mountains, or a humble B&B by a Norwegian fiord will always be a million times nicer than a corny mega skyscraper overlooking the sand plains and freeways in Dubai.

A quote from Ocean's Eleven comes to mind "Once you're out the front door, you're still in the middle of the f*cking desert!"

I worked in Dubai for a while. It took me about a week to realise that it was full of shoddily built Houses, Tall Buildings and Shopping Malls covered in plastic and stainless steel.

I worked in Dubai for about 4 months on their toll-road software back when the Burj Dubai was being built. It was said that the national bird was the construction crane. Shiek Zayed Road is lined with all these supertalls. I could see back then that their plans were going to fail. Dubai is not a place where people naturally want to go. Its weather sucks, and who wants to go on vacation/move to a place where you have to stay inside all the time?

This channel clearly has some beef with Dubai...and I'm totally on board with it.

Take a shot every time Simon says “but the project was halted due to the 2007 financial crisis.”

When you have money to burn and no common sense

When someone tells me that Dubai is their favourite place, it tells me all I need to know about that person 😂

I was in Dubai a few years ago and I was being driven somewhere and we went past the “Worlds Largest Picture Frame”. I told the driver it looked impressive and asked if they do anything with it like hang a giant sheet inside it to project pictures of whatever. He said “No. No picture. Only frame.” Seems like a missed opportunity.

I love the stories of people who invested in the initial failed real estate boom - then had to leave the country to escape their debt - leaving their Ferraris/ LandCruisers etc at the airport on the way out. I have a friend who was one of them - luckily he was an airline pilot - so just went to work and didn't do his return flight.

With all that money (and shit) they could probably afford to start seeding the land and make it greener. That might actually make it a bit more appealing

This guy has more RU-vid channels than there are skyscrapers in Dubai

Making money is not the same as keeping it there is a reason why investments aren't well taught in schools, the examples you gave are well stationed, this is a beautiful piece of designs and am investing my millions, people shy away from hard times, I embrace them.

Dubai is managed like if it's urban planning was controlled by a pre puberty teenager in a video game

Dubai is the equivalent of the small towns in the middle of the United States with things like world's biggest ball of yarn and what not

Don't know if there is any way to make a dry and hot desert like that a bit greener but that would have been the one mega project that might actually have some value.

When I visited to Dubai, it felt like being in some kind of weird lego fever dream.

Not to mention it's flippen hot in Dubai and dirt. There is a reason Navy named it "The Sandbox".

I remember when Dubai could not meet its obligations and had to be bailed out by the Abu Dhabi emirate. The economy nearly collapsed. A house built on sand.

amazing that no one ever seems to dream up and put billions into "the worlds best public transportation system" or "the worlds best sewage system"

Authoritarian country: *oppresses and alienates differing cultures and groups* “I just don’t understand why the foreigners wouldn’t want to visit us!”

Dubai as a whole is proof that money doesn't solve everything. What a sad place.

They would need to change so many laws and massively change their culture for Dubai to become what they want it to become.

The 'old' airport in Dubai is the finest airport I've ever been to, by far, and I'm sure I've been to 200 or so. When I was there last time, I was told that the vacancy rate for commercial office space in the downtown area was about 75%, yet they were building new space. The Burj Dubai does not have proper sewer connections. It's a place of contradictions.

Surprised the video wasn't sponsored by Dubai. "We're so dumb we hired Simon to tell us how dumb we are!"

The Burj Dubai is not only a failure due to it's complete lack of a sewage system, but due to it's complete lack of floor space at the upper levels. It's also the tallest free-standing structure that could be considered a building. Any more tapered and it's literally just a spire you live inside (re the jeddah tower) and therefore, not a building.

They don't mind wasting that money since they never worked hard for it.

the rich don't want to live there, the poor can't afford nothing there, and the middle class, well.. there is no middle class anymore.. what a waste of investment..

Millionaires trying to decide, “do I live in The French Riviera, a luxury home on Sydney Harbour or a sandpit surrounded by more sandpits in a strict religious state, hard decision ”? 🤔😂

UAE is like your biplor colleague - who one minute is telling you how they’re going to fly to Mars, and the next trying to kill you because you have your ankles on show or touched a man’s hand…

How long before natural erosion pulls those island complexes back into the sea? I'd say in a lifetime.

My dad went to Dubai several times from the late 70’s to mid 80’s (maybe late 80’s as he got a job at Barclays Bank HQ in London in 1989) while working for Shell and Texaco then went back for a holiday in 2008 and said the difference between when he first went there to now is unbelievable

It's like being the rich kid in school, but you can't even buy friends.

100% love you for making this. Dubai is a joke of a city.

Not to mention that those islands will disappear when the sea levels rise over the next century. Their highest levels are not much above that of the Maldives.

The most amusing thing about the mega islands, is how they would be much easier to build _simply by digging channels inland, and letting the seawater get in,_ no need to transport sand while keeping access to the bedrock, they could even build stuff first and then the channels later, just use pylons as in a swampy terrain

Hey Simon and Evan Maloney, one more subject on the city state of Dubai you might want to talk about is its citizenship. Only about 1% (!) of the current population of Dubai are citizens. The other 99% are referred to as "guests". I have met people who have lived decades there--even born there--who are still not citizens. And if you're always a "guest", there's always a good chance they might decide that your stay has become too long . . . .

The Ridge wallet is a neat concept, but it's not worth anywhere near $100+. That's crazy. I think $40 is a fair price, and even then only because of the brand recognition attached to it.

I can’t imagine what even a small hurricane would do to those sandbars. Or worse, an earthquake. Then the landfill liquifies and sinks.

I went to dubai before the palm was built. It had some great scuba diving. I heard all the sand being dredged and dumped killed all the marine life. Rip shark island

I worked for a consultancy that worked on some projects in Dubai. I don't think they ever got paid. I don't think anyone did. It would be an interesting to see how much of this development was actually paid for. It wasn't their money they were burning, lol.

Dubai always seems so weird nowadays because of all the excess buildings that didn’t make too much sense, particularly when they go bust. I remember (back in middle school) feeling hyped about hearing about the Burj Khalifa as the tallest building in the world, plus the mega-malls present there (since I had seen some pretty cool mega-malls before in the Philippines when visiting as a kid once). But after seeing some of the weirder projects that were talked about, notably those “sand” complexes that went bust, it feels like the rest is more excessive than it should be. Edit: Fixed some grammar errors. And I’ll add that I was focusing more on the major projects since those tended to focus on the super-rich rather than the general populace. Some stuff is still pretty neat, like the Burj Khalifa, but others feel like something the average person might not gravitate to, at least nowadays, because it’s something that the super-rich would only be able to afford or make use of.

I lived in Dubai for about 6 months. The one thing I will share is that it is hot there, it's damn hot. One day the temperatures went to the north of 120° Fahrenheit. Can't imagine tricks and through and outdoor theme park in that kind of eat. Even in the winter time it's freaking hot.

In the southern part of the UAE they have mountains that are nearly 2,000 meters high, where the temperature is about 10 degrees cooler than in Dubai. They should focus more on building nice mountain towns, where the temperature is pleasant and the views are nice, rather than building those tacky monstrosities in a scorching hot desert where being outside for 10 minutes is torture.

Every day we have a new problem. It's the new normal. At first we thought it was a crisis, now we know it's a new normal and we have to adapt. 2023 will be a year of severe economic pain all over the nation.. what steps can we take to generate more income during quantitative adjustment?I can't afford my hard-earned $80,000 savings to turn to dust

Historically cities evolved because people worked in and around the city. Has anyone thought about who is going to be living in all these residences? Simon never mentions if major corporations are moving to Dubai. What are people going to to all day?

I think their problem is what every designer struggles with, practicality. They never stop to think if their project will be practical. Moreover, they kept trying to build multiple megaprojects at the same time. Big mistake

Dubai is the city that I tried to build on Sim City when I was little but failed because I ran out money building all the fancy buildings.

As much as I appreciate the gumption and hubris of the Dubai Tycoons, I’m pretty sure a question to entertain is, “what could go wrong?” As an airline pilot who was based in Bahrain (which was more of a financial center, since Dubai had a badly tarnished reputation in finance, as it was linked to money laundering) I was around in Dubai from 2007 to 2011. It was hilarious. Going from 25% of the worlds cranes in 2007 churning the skyline 24/7, to…. None, two years later. Oops. Tycoons fled! They left everything behind, (the airport parking lot was absolutely choked full of Beemers and Bentleys caked in dust) since there were no bankruptcy laws in Dubai and debtors prison was an actual thing. The slopes of “Ski Dubai” were suddenly less crowded. I always thought the artworks depicting mega projects in Dubai were of first rate quality, which gave the false impression that the place was going to be looking like a Star Trek Utopia of sorts. So I think a lot of gullible people bought this vision the art presented as an idyllic spot. A few things the artwork missed - Dust, and more dust. Summer Heat, and more heat. There were nice times of year. But there were also awful time of year. The worst of everything. But never in the artwork! I suspect these projects might only be viable if we were actually fully qualified as a Type I civilisation, but we’re not. We’ve not “mastered” nature yet, albeit we have the right set of vectors. Another element of underestimated difficulty is that increasingly advanced AI is not really going to mix well with theocracy. The later is unencumbered by the thinking process, while the former is acutely all about the thinking process. So that’s a set of internal stressors that’ll be at odds with any future enterprises. Stupid humans have absolutely no concept of how truly stupid they actually are. It can be so entertaining.

😆😆 Can Confirm this. I Lived in Business Bay for just over 2 years. YES, Everything 'LOOKS' very pretty. That area particularly is very Touristy. However, I noticed that everything is also build on the cheap. The place i lived had TERRIBLE water/electrical problems. Cockroaches are Everywhere too. Lots of Very rich men with very small penises flexing everywhere in that town. :D (and they really do hold passports for a lot of workers so they can't leave) Remember 99% of the people who live there make very little $$. All of Dubai except downtown is a slum. Sad actually to go drive out in the suburbs.

1:03 airports, parks, and cities 9:19 the islands 14:40 Dubai creek tower 16:29 final thoughts

To quote a former Nigerian Head of State, "Our problem isn't money, but how to spend it". Perhaps that's the issue the Emir of Dubai is facing.

4:01 I bought the 12 dollar knockoff wallet for the gas station almost a year ago and I gotta say I love it. It even has the tapered edge like the Ridge so card’s slide in easier.

Simon might want to do a video on the "skyscraper index" or the "skyscraper curse" as it's also known.

Dubai is honestly a dystopian hellscape that represents perfectly everything wrong with humanity in a single city. Why people want to visit is absolutely beyond me. I can't think of a single reason why personally I'd want to go to Dubai.

I believe that the fascination with and success of Dubai is very temporary.

Grew up there it was crazy at how fast new projects came some got made many failed all caused a lot of traffic jams 😂

0:52 the phrase "more money than brains" springs to mind

The only people I know that ever told me they had a good time in Dubai were middle-aged men. I'm sure that's just a coincide though...

Very interesting and an example of bets that didn't pay off. Btw, the new high tech and extremely successful Istanbul International Airport has definitely dealt a killer blow to Dubai's new airport.

Most if not all of these oil nations will return to the desert once the black gold is either no longer required or all used up, might be 20 years, might be 200 years, but one way or another it’s back to dust for them.

You should talk about how Dubai has no sewer systems.

These megaprojects have a "last days of Rome" quality.

When the oil money runs out (maybe even before), Dubai will have some magnificent ruins in the desert.

Someone in Dubai is trying to compensate for their "short" comings 🤔😂

I cant wait to vacation in Dubai - Nobody... EVER.....

I've commented about the large Cube city and the Line Saudi is building as "more money than sense", i was called envious and not wanting them to succeed. This is just another video that proves that point of mega projects being vanity projects lol

Dubai will soon announce "Jurassic Park", a revolutionary park that's brought dinosaurs back to life, is totally safe, and nothing will go wrong, nothing at all

I mean with that money, I'd have invested as much as possible in hydroponics and sea water desalination to make Dubai self sufficient as possible, then build a marina and towers inland to claim more desert. Just so that if the world goes down the tubes, Dubai is officially a rich person's sanctuary.

Can you imagine if they used all that money to work on cures for cancer and other diseases.

They would pull even more tourists if they built a museum dedicated to showcasing their failed mega projects.

Airport: Well, I have been there and the triple airport is just triple discomfort personified. It's actually a shopping mall that has some travel perks tacked on! It has NO aesthetically pleasing aspects whatsoever, and is pretty sterile. If you want to see a passenger- and planet-friendly airport I suggest you fly into Change airport in Singapore! It's in a completely different dimension entirely! It has WOW factor, in spades!

"Hey! I've got it! Let's get all of our rich friends together, pool our money, and create a product that doesn't have a market... We'll worry about that later. That's just salesmanship. We'll hire lots of --poor-- little people to deal with that."

Do a story about Qatar. Doha has 3 metro subway and 3 light rail lines. Saudi Arabia is digging a canal to cut Qatar off from the Arab peninsula and make it an island.

I worked in Jabel-Ali a short drive from Dubai. I found out that the migrant workers Passports were being held hostage by employers and these men & women were essentially slaves to the nation.

The real pain megaprojects always face, is yearly maintenance.

One of my dirty little pleasure : a video bashing Dubaï hard... 😁

I'd love to see you do a video on the Iron Pillar of Delhi, over 1600 years old and still rust free

Worked in Dubai for a couple of months and I found it a pretty decent place for a skilled expat. Very safe also. That being said I always wondered why so few windows were lit up when I visited the Palm Jumeirah and other swanky parts of Dubai in the evening. My suspicion is that a lot of the apartments and bungalows are uninhabited. They can still have been sold and held as investments though.

THERE IS **NO GREENERY** IN THAT ENTIRE, DUSTY, DESERT OF A CITY-NO TREES….NO PLANTS….KINDA LIKE HELL….

it does feel like that point in the game where one person has all the monopoly money but everyone is still playing so they start making new rules: ‘and i’ll buy another super hotel here…’

1:05 - Chapter 1 - Airports, parks & cities 3:00 - Mid roll ads 4:20 - Back to the video 9:25 - Chapter 2 - The islands 14:45 - Chapter 3 - Dubai creek tower 16:35 - Chapter 4 - Final thoughts

The richest people on earth are throwing their money at poor construction workers in what is a complete waste, but at least it's less money in rich people's hands.

Love the addition of the Super Mario music when things go wrong.

still can't believe they built the tallest building without a sewage system lmao

Imagine, they would pump these countless billions in sustainability for the next thousand+ years, instead of short lived vanity projects!

All those sand islands: you just don't mess with mother nature, she has her own plans. Eventually they will be reclaimed.

Dubai and Disneyland/World are very similar. They always have new projects in the works with many never coming to fruition or becoming old news quickly.

"Mr. Whistler, welcome to Dubai! Would you follow me please?" Simon is never seen again....

I feel like theyd see more success buying land abroad to build these megaprojects on, then live off the profits. Or just heavily invest overseas like China does. I just can't see the tourist industry ever reaching a point where these projects are financially viable, mostly because the place is opulent to the point of vulgarity, expensive, basically a featureless desert, and every so often theres the story of someone being arrested for drunken shenanigans that scares everyone off. Its sad to see it slowly becoming another Venezuela where the massive oil reserves could have been used to improve the society and set up a long-term innovative economy but are just being squandered on vanity projects.

I'm constantly torn between admiring the engineering required to actually realise what Dubai is, and tearing up at the stupidity of actually ever going forward with it

I live in UAE since 10 Years and its pretty nice in here. I make a decent salary , go out , have community of friends. Its a pretty normal lifestyle minus the fact that there is zero crime and everywhere we go we know service will be great. I love Europe and my homecountry but UAE is pretty great too