Hello Dubai : Skiiing, Sand and Shopping in the World's Weirdest City

Boom town, modern marvel, commercial hub, where Middle-East meets wealthy West, playground for tourists, crawling with ex-pats, built by Indians, owned by Arabs, Dubai has risen from next to nothing to an awful lot in little more than 30 years. How? And can it go on? Joe Bennett goes to find out. "Seven-star hotels, indoor skiing and illicit all-night parties ... Welcome to Dubai. Dubai transformed overnight from a quiet Arabian port into a hub of global trade and finance and quickly became the new ex-pat paradise. At the height of the emirate's economic boom, scores of British flocked there to bask in the sweltering heat and to enjoy a life of excess fuelled by high wages and non-existent taxes. But when the economic crisis put the wind up global capitalism, Dubai came to be seen as the emblem of a rotten world. Dubai was brash. Dubai was exploitative. Dubai, in short, was plain bloody horrible. In Hello Dubai, Joe Gennett embarks on a quest to discover just what Dubai really is."--Publisher description Seven-star hotels, indoor skiing and illicit all-night parties ... Welcome to Dubai. Dubai transformed overnight from a quiet Arabian port into a hub of global trade and finace and quickly became the new ex-pat paradise. At the height of the emirate's economic boom, scores of British flocked there to bask in the sweltering heat and to enjoy a life of excess fuelled by high wages and non-existent taxes. But when the economic crisis put the wind up global capitalism, Dubai came to be seen as the emblem of a rotten world. Dubai was brash. Dubai was exploitative. Dubai, in short, was plain blody horrible. In Hello Dubai, Joe Bennett embarks on a quest to discover just what Dubai really is Boom town, modern marvel, commercial hub, where middle-east meets wealthy west, playground for tourists, crawling with ex-pats, built by Indians, owned by Arabs, Dubai has risen from next to nothing to an awful lot in little more than thirty years. How? And can it go on? Has it sold itself to the corporate dollar? Is it anything more than a mall in the desert? Will the sands return? Joe Bennett goes to find out. Boom town, modern marvel, commercial hub, where middle east meets wealthy west: playground for tourists, crawling with expats, built by Indians, owned by Arabs. Dubai has risen from next to nothing to an awful lot in little more than thirty years. How? And can it go on? Has it sold itself to the corporate dollar? Is it anything more than a mall in the desert? Will the sands return? Joe Bennett goes to find out