Dubai – Arabian Lux – Premium Services throughout the Arabian Peninsula

Dubai Overview

Dubai is a city of skyscrapers, ports, and beaches, where big business takes place alongside sun-seeking tourism. Because of its large expatriate population, it feels like a Middle Eastern melting pot, and the atmosphere is generally tolerant. Religious affiliations are not a prominent aspect of city life. Islam is the majority religion, but churches and Hindu temples coexist with Dubai’s mosques.

Dubai is a relatively crime-free place where administrative efficiency and openness to business have encouraged astounding growth. he western area of Dubai benefits from small stretches of sandy beaches, which have helped to catalyze the city’s tourism industry. Dubai’s rulers have sought to increase the city’s limited seafronts, and, in the absence of natural offshore islands, developers were encouraged to construct giant man-made islands off the coast of the city. The most famous of these is Palm Jumeirah, which has the shape of a palm tree. Others include the “World” islands, a cluster of small islands positioned to resemble a world map when viewed from above.

Dubai straddles a natural inlet called Dubai Creek on the southern shores of the Persian Gulf. For more than a century, the area was Dubai’s centre, because of the early city’s reliance on fishing, pearl diving, and maritime trade. Lining the creek are the oldest buildings in Dubai, most of which date from the 1960s and are rarely more than two stories in height. In the Bastakiyyah quarter, on the western shore of the creek, some much older buildings have been restored, and many of these feature the distinctive wind tower design that was imported by Persian merchants early in the 20th century.

The new city centre is a string of skyscrapers lining Sheikh Zayed Road. Notable among these are the Emirates Towers, which were built in the late 1990s and early 2000s and which house a hotel and government offices. Close to Sheikh Zayed Road is the Dubai International Financial Centre, housed in a futuristic arch-shaped building, and the Burj Khalifa, which at the time of its official opening in 2010 was the world’s tallest building; it was named after the president of the United Arab Emirates and emir of Abu Dhabi, Khalīfah ibn Zāyid al-Nahyān. To the west of the skyscrapers lie several affluent uburbs, most of which house substantial villas. On their periphery lies the Burj al-ʿArab, a giant sail-shaped tower which is home to a luxury hotel. Farther west are new clusters of skyscrapers surrounding a man-made marina and several man-made lakes.