Dubai’s Unnecessary Development

Dubai has aimed to break all architectural records by trying to build the biggest and best of everything. While the UAE has not ignored sustainable development, planning to incorporate aspects of it in a new development in Abu Dhabi as well as investing $15 billion in green technologies, just the resource intensive task of building all these structures in a largely unsustainable environment may be making the so called green benefits insignificant.

Does Dubai really need to show the world its developmental might? Does it really need all of these extravagant buildings? Dubai has faced housing shortages in the past but what happens when the boom is over? Pricing corrections are predicted in gulf state housing markets, due in part to the same phenomenon occurring in some western housing markets.

The massive infrastructure and housing development undertaken by Dubai has already used massive resources and as more gluttonous development takes place, even more limited resources are being used. After the millions of expats residing in the nation doing temporary work leave, leaving empty residences in their wake, large amounts of power will still be needed to maintain the city.

Dubai does still have easy access to oil reserves but the amount is finite and soon to be completely dry. It is no coincidence that the UAE also happens to have the 2^nd highest carbon emissions per capita in the world.

Some may contend all this development is necessary as Dubai is a growing economy. But is it really necessary for Dubai to show off its wealth to the rest of the world at the expense of the environment?

Just because there are techniques and methods to conserve precious natural resources and use energy efficiently does not mean that we should rush out to consume more resources in order just to show off how much we can “save” through green technology. This is especially true when such developments have little necessity or benefit to the population as a whole.

We must remember that the best way to be green is to consume as little as possible. The most important step that society needs to take as a whole is learning to use just what is needed and not engaging in excess.  If this simple principle had been followed in the first place we would never be in such an environmental predicament to begin with.

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