Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Endorsed by the
Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council
Al Manakh is the collaborative initiative to monitor, reveal and forecast new urban developments unfolding in the Gulf region. This analysis focuses on how the Gulf’s recent pace has not only shaped its own urban centers but also releases significant effects beyond its borders ...
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The Birth of Burj Khalifa, 828 meters

January 5 2010
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dsc02041
photo: Joumana al Jabri

Filed under: Gulf Cities, UAE
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Letter to Makkah governor

December 17 2009
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A letter from Arab New’s editor in chief published today in Arab News.

Filed under: Uncategorized
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Dubai’s crisis and Jeddah’s disaster!

December 9 2009
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jeddahdubaicrises_5501
An article from today’s Emarat Al Youm. We’ve translated it here for our readers who don’t read Arabic:
by Rashid Mohammad Al-Fozan
translation by Sandra Bsat
photo credit: Mohammed Al Sharif (alsharif at flickr.com)

Filed under: Gulf Cities, Gulf in Crisis, Saudi Arabia, UAE
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Gulf Notes, for the week ending 5 December 2009

December 7 2009
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musklake
Despite governmental assurances otherwise, residents in proximity of Musk Lake, Jeddah’s receptacle for untreated sewage, began evacuating the area as fear spread its dam walls might burst. … [read more]

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Floods in Jeddah

December 2 2009
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On the first day of the annual Hajj — as roughly two million people entered the Hejazi region for the religious visits to Meccah and Medina — Jeddah and its surroundings were hit by torrential rains. In last week’s Gulf Notes we reported that over forty people had died as a result of the flooding. That number is now above 100. [...] Our wishes of health and optimism go out to our beloved Jeddah and its citizens.

Filed under: Saudi Arabia
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GULF NOTES, the week ending 28 November 2009

November 30 2009
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dubai_metro_8634

H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum: “Our intervention in Dubai World was carefully planned and reflects its specific financial position. The Government is spearheading the restructuring of this commercial operation in the full knowledge of how the markets would react.”
Photo credit: Katrin Greiling

Filed under: Uncategorized
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    • Focusing on how the Gulf cities are reexamining their methods and their relationships with the rest of the world.
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    The authoritative resource for understanding the scope of urban development along the Gulf coast.
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    Al Manakh is published as special edition of Volume

    • Dubai offered an alternative future 4 hours ago
      In a place where discussion rarely breaks out beyond night-time chat shows and the closed walls of the majlis, Mishaal al-Gergawi, a young government official and media commentator, last month gave a talk on the city he loves, in a rare moment of civic debate.
    • Djibouti feels effect of Dubai investment mix 2010/01/25
      The country is the most fully developed example of a strategy pursued by Dubai World, Dubai’s government-controlled investment vehicle, to boost trade in a series of developing countries and capture some benefits for Dubai’s businesses. Dubai World’s port operator, DP World, operates Djibouti’s ports and airports. Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority (Jafza) runs a free-trade zone near a new container port. Dubai World’s customs operation runs Djibouti customs and Nakheel, its property arm, has built a luxury hotel.
    • Abu Dhabi 2100: under water? 2010/01/19
      ABU DHABI // The UAE could lose up to six per cent of its populated and developed coastline by the end of the century because of rising sea levels, according to a government-sponsored report on the local impact of climate change released yesterday. A rise of one metre, the most modest scenario presented as not “unlikely” in the report, would put 1,155 square kilometres of the country’s coast under water by 2050; while nine metres – the most dire – would see almost all of the capital and much of Dubai submerged.
    • Gulf must not waste crisis lessons 2010/01/14
      The world economy is likely to experience positive growth once again in 2011. Counter-cyclical fiscal policies will be crucial and the GCC is in the comfortable position of using these effectively without facing serious budget constraints. This is not the case in the west. The shift of economic power from the west to the east has begun, but it will take decades to be completed. Asia has shown us how countries can learn lessons from previous crises. The GCC must not waste them.
    • Dubai to open new Cruise Terminal next month 2010/01/14
    • Gulf Times – Qatar’s top-selling English daily newspaper - First Page 2010/01/14
      Chief executive officer Eng Essa al-Mohannadi said: “Skyscrapers and isolated living compounds are not the communities we aspire to. We therefore decided to revive our past, rediscover our traditions, and regenerate the communities we have lost in this globalised world.”
    • Dubai Intl is World’s Fastest Growing Airport 2010/01/14
    • Piercing the Sky Amid a Deflating Economy - NYTimes.com 2010/01/14
    • RTA dismisses claims of delay in Dubai Metro work 2010/01/08
      A senior official from the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has denied reports that work on Dubai Metro will be suspended because of delayed payments to the construction consortium. "The report is baseless. The work is going on in the project as normal as it can be," Matar Al Tayer, chairman, RTA told Gulf News.
    • Japanese engineers ‘go slow’ over Dubai Metro 2010/01/08
      The consortium of Japanese engineering companies building the Dubai Metro mass-transit system is to begin a “work slowdown” until they are paid hundreds of millions of dollars owed to them by the Dubai Government. The dispute follows official revelations in Tokyo last month that Japanese companies outside the financial sector have outstanding debt of $7.5 billion (£4.7 billion) owing to them from the Government of Dubai and a variety of state-affiliated groups.
    • Polling groups lift veil on Arab views 2010/01/07
      In the absence of democratically elected local or national governments, trying to discern what people in the Arab world are thinking has historically been an art – or even guesswork – rather than a science. Yet the growing activities of polling organisations such as YouGov Siraj, Ipsos, Gallup and the Pew Research Center are casting increasing shafts of light on Arab public opinion.
    • Dubai Must Not Compromise 2009/12/21
      The emirate has made itself available to state and non-state actors; it cleverly wears many hats, plays numerous roles and appeals to diverse audiences. It is as important to Iran as it is crucial to US interests in the region. Tehran has benefited from Dubai as much as Washington has. Both keep an eye on Dubai's affairs and value its strategic attributes. The emirate is also socially and commercially vital to Saudi Arabia and provides critical logistical services to the other GCC states, as well as Pakistan, India and a host of African and Middle Eastern countries. No other city in the region can perform these logistical and strategic roles better than Dubai. The emirate is simply irreplaceable and is years ahead of its closest regional competitors.
    • Dubai crisis throws the spotlight on analysts 2009/12/20
      Dubai has admitted that it owes about $80bn, but the restructuring of the Dubai World conglomerate announced earlier this month has revealed a mass of undisclosed loans. Some analysts estimate that the emirate could owe as much as $150bn in total.
    • The man in demand at Dubai Inc - The National Newspaper 2009/12/10
      A western businessman who has been working in the UAE for many years says this: “What we need are more like Sheikh Ahmed."
    • Blow as property merger blocked 2009/12/10
      The move appears to indicate the government's intention to separate Dubai's good assets from troubled vehicles in need of restructuring as the emirate grapples with a debt burden of at least $80bn. Dubai's stock market fell another 6.4 per cent yesterday as Dubai's debt problems continued to weigh on investor sentiment. Emaar, the market's bellwether stock, has fallen 38 per cent since Dubai World triggered global panic by asking for a standstill on $26bn in distressed debt.
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    Abu Dhabi tower, December, 2009. Photo: Sander van Horssen
    Abu Dhabi tower, December, 2009. Photo: Sander van HorssenYas Island, Abu Dhabi, December, 2009. Photo: Sander van Horssen
    Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, December, 2009. Photo: Sander van HorssenGas station, outside Jeddah, Saudia Arabia. October, 2009
    Gas station, outside Jeddah, Saudia Arabia. October, 2009Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar, October 2009.
    Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar, October 2009.Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar, October 2009.
    Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar, October 2009.IMG_Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar, October 2009.
    IMG_Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar, October 2009.Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar, October 2009.
    Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar, October 2009.Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar, October 2009.
    Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar, October 2009.Demolition for Dohaland, Doha, October 2009.
    Demolition for Dohaland, Doha, October 2009.Souq Waqif, Doha, October 2009.
    Souq Waqif, Doha, October 2009.