

Ask HN:  Why is Dubai saving 'The World'? - keltecp11

I'm just confused why they are going to spend 7 Billion dollars saving this waste of space?  Reminds me of 'Stiltsville' in Miami - a city built on sandbars off the coast... destroyed and epic failure.<p>What are they thinking?  Whats the rationale? Anyone know?
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yannis
The rationale is that the UAE and generally the Gulf States at a point decided
to invest their money instead of investing them in funds in Europe of the
Americas. They had a vision to create a 'Singapore' in the desert and they
almost achieved it.

The financial crisis that hit the world - and which did not originate - in
that part of the World created most of the mess in Dubai as well as numerous
other places. They also saw all our overseas investments devalued which caused
problems in restructuring their debt.

There is no comparison with 'Stiltsville'. Trying to save their Companies and
investments and _paying_ their creditors cannot be labeled a failure.

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coryl
Not really a Singapore, more of a Vegas. They know their oil money is going to
run out one day, so they need to invest it in something sustainable and
concrete. That would be tourism, tech and finance.

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Mankhool
A colleague of mine's father was one of the engineers that designed the first
Dubai "island" - the one that the Burj Al Arab was built on. Even more so than
the subsequent Palms, The World was a colossal expense, but that is not the
main reason for the Emiratis to save it. They will spend any amount to avoid
loss of face in the international community. For an Emirati, title and
appearances are far more important than wealth. This is just IMHO from living
there for a number of years on 2 separate occassions.

