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Here is a list of notable projects that are completed or currently under construction in Dubai. It is not an exhaustive list but it gives you a general idea of the scope of construction going on at the moment. Most of these projects contain the words "world's" and "largest".

Dubai Marina

This area is known as the New Dubai. Upon completion it will be the world's largest man-made marina
Dubai Marina

Jumeirah Beach Residence

The world's largest single phase project. Jumeirah Beach Residence consists of more than 40 towers, mostly for residential purposes.
Jumeirah Beach Residence



Ski Dubai
What to do on a 45 degrees summers day? Snow skiing of course. Dubai has the largest indoor ski resort in the world.
Ski Dubai

Dubailand

An entertainment complex consisting of six zones. Some of the projects are complete but much of it is still under construction.

- Attractions and Experience World:
A theme park area that will be bigger than Disneyland/DisneyWorld combined. Will feature a Universal Studios and Dubai Snowdome, an indoor ski resort.

- Downtown:
Includes the Mall of Arabia (mallofarabia.ae), which will be the world's largest shopping mall.

- Retail and Entertainment World:

- Themed Leisure and Vacation World:

- Eco-Tourism World:

- Sports and Outdoor World:

Dubailand is expected to be completed in 2010.
Dubailand

Dubai Metro

There are 4 metro lines proposed for Dubai, and two are under construction.
There will be a total of 70 kilometres of lines, and 42 stations (including 9 underground stations).
Dubai Metro

Burj Al Arab

The Burj Al Arab 5-Star Deluxe hotel, (advertised as the world's only 7-Star hotel) stands at 321 metres, which makes is taller than the Eiffel Tower.
Burj Al Arab



Rose Tower

The Burj Al Arab was the world's tallest hotel until the 333 metre Rose Tower took the title.
Rose Tower

Burj Dubai
The worlds tallest tower. Its eventual height is still a secret.
Burj Dubai

Jebel Ali Airport
Still under construction, this will become the world's largest airport, with 6 parallel runways and covering 140 square kilometres.
Jebel Ali Airport

The World
A man-made archipelago of 300 islands in the shape of a world map currently being built off the coast of Dubai.
The World

The Palm Trilogy
Like The World project, The Palm Islands are being built off the coast and it will be the three largest artificial islands in the world. The project features The Palm Deira, Palm Jumeirah and Palm Jebel Ali.
The Palm


Further reading: Dubai Megaprojects

Labels: buildings, dubai, infrastructure, uae

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
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Much has been written in the last few years about the rise of China and India. While China has become the world's factory, India - with its large population of English speakers - is becoming the world's service centre.

If you travel through the outer suburbs of Bangalore and Chennai you will see rows and rows of shiny new office blocks that could be at any business park in the U.S. Outside these buildings though and it is India as usual - half dug up roads and traffic chaos everywhere.

With all the talk of India's emerging economy, I was half expecting more work being done on infrastructure. On this whole trip I have found myself looking at every thing from a civil engineers perspective. Some people come to India to find themselves. I was already "found" before I left, but I think if I had of came here before I got into web development, I would have realised my calling in life is for town planning.

India's great attribute of being the world's largest democracy is also a great obstacle for massive infrastructure overhaul. China doesn't have this problem. If the Chinese government want to build a new freeway that will wipe out a small village in the process, they will build it. In India the villagers will protest, the project stops, then the whole thing becomes an election issue, then nothing gets done.

Former Indian PM V.P. Singh once said that his main priority as prime minister was to manage contradictions. Trying to appeal one billion people is no easy task.

While I was thinking of these things I happened upon a copy of BusinessWeek which had a very interesting article on this topic, The Trouble With India.

Labels: india, infrastructure

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
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Mangalore is my first taste of a non touristic every day working Indian city. I'm stopping here for a day enroute from Goa to Kerala. I got here at 7am and I had planned to stay here the night to recover from the overnight bus trip. The bus to Kerala doesn't leave until 8.30 at night though, so I am out of here tonight as there is no reason to spend two whole days here.

Indian urban infrastructure is jerry-built at best, and in Mangalore you can see it in all its shambolic glory. You will be lucky to find 3 contiguous metres of unbroken footpath.



I passed a building site, while not typical, that's not out of place in the way things are done in India. On a normal construction site, demolishing and clearing the old structure first is de rigueur. As this photo shows, the construction of the new building is going on the same time as the demolition of the old building on the same block.



There is nothing much to see here but I thought I would go walkabout. The combination of dishevelled footpaths and a night without sleep defeated quickly. So I went back to the hotel to have an afternoon snooze to prepare for tonights overnight bus trip.

Labels: india, infrastructure, mangalore

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
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