I spent a few days there recently. Some generous hosts had me give a couple talks; thanks to them for having me. Some quick impressions of the city:
- Add “largest/tallest/biggest in the world” in front of any basic landmark in Dubai and there’s a decent shot it’ll be true. Everything in excess.
- The winter months, when I was there, are quite pleasant weather-wise. Perfect, actually. I hear summer is unbearable.
- The infrastructure is super advanced and the overall feel is cosmopolitan — 80% of the people are expats. But so long as the internet is censored, as it is in Dubai, it won’t quite feel 21st century.
- Two days is probably all you need for basic tourism. A day in the city; half day to lounge around; half day for a safari in the desert. Worth seeing it all.
- The entrepreneurs and businesspeople I met tell me that the transience of the population makes it hard to retain talent for very long. Few people are “from” Dubai. Makes sense. Dubai seems like an amazing place to post up for a few years and use as a Middle East hub, or even a gateway to Asia and Africa, but maybe not a long term place to build a life.
- The real estate bubble is back, folks. Very, very back. The reason? Expo 2020. I’m not joking. Everyone I talked to talked about Expo 2020, and when I asked two smart people, separately, what was fueling the run up in real estate prices, their answer was the same: Expo 2020. It’s become the catch-all rationale to build build build.
- Despite the opulence of the city, Dubai airport is not over the top. Some parts of the airport even feel just average, which is unlike the rest of the city. And Dubai/Emirates Airlines, while amazing in so many ways, loses out to Hong Kong/Cathay Pacific in terms of overall experience.