The failure of Dubai’s “The World” project is just another entry in a long list of grand plans dreamed up by man — and upended by logic, nature, or sloppy calculations. Here’s a lighthearted look at some of man’s grander projects that met their ends in fiascos or near-disasters.
Dubai or Don’t Buy?
Dubai one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is like the peasant who married the princess. Dubai was a small fishermen’s and oyster divers’ village until the 1960s when its huge deposits of oil were discovered. Seemingly limitless possibilities opened before Dubai’s wide-eyed citizens who wanted to rule it all — the land the sea and the air — and see their name splashed across the world’s headlines. They’ve since erected skyscrapers galore for habitation tourism and business. Dubai’s Burj Al Arab consistently voted the world’s most luxurious hotel stands on an artificial island with a private bridge leading to the mainland.
But Dubai sought to go higher still. Its Burj Khalifa the world’s tallest building at 2717 feet dwarfs every structure in the vicinity.
Even as Dubai aimed for the heights (and world records) the country’s innovators also focused on the ground with a project called the Palm Islands three man-made islands built in the shape of a palm tree.
The three islands named the Palm Jumeirah the Palm Jebel Ali and the Palm Deira boast residential leisure and entertainment centers and add about 325 miles of beach to Dubai.
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