Today I saw something I hadn't seen yet – a construction crane that was moving. There are construction cranes everywhere in Dubai, but it didn't dawn on me until today that I hadn't seen one moving yet.
Much of the image of Dubai has been built on buildings. The city boasts the world's most expensive hotel, one of the world's largest malls, a completely enclosed indoor downhill ski facility, and the world's tallest building. But the future of Dubai's architectural achievement checklist is unclear at the moment. It's no secret that the economic downturn has hit Dubai hard. For a first time visitor, it is difficult to see directly the people who have left, the companies that have pulled out, and the smaller bank accounts. But you can see the enormous number of building projects that have stalled midway.
My first question in looking at all of this was – how was what already has been created possible? In the past ten years, Dubai has built ten of the world's 50 tallest buildings. Even with all the money in the world, how could all of this be built so quickly? The answer is that the construction industry is a bit different than the one I’m used to in the United States. Not only is labor cheaper in Dubai, but when it was in full swing, construction would be done 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In some cases, buildings were put up in half the time it would take in the United States. Many of the architectural designs were drafted much more quickly than they would be elsewhere, as well.
When the financial crisis hit, the business model of “build it and they will come” no longer seemed terribly wise. A significant amount of square footage that already existed was empty. Investors were disappearing and development companies sought to stem their losses. Overnight, a number of building projects simply stopped. Work continues in places, but the majority of the cranes that tower over sections of the city stand silent.
There may be a rather significant silver lining to this story. The emphasis on speed had meant that several other values were not as emphasized. For instance, some of the designs erected lack a bit of creativity – they were just cut and pasted from previous plans. The foreign laborers responsible for the construction have been in a difficult situation, as has been widely discussed in the media. And many green building ideas would have taken time and effort, so they were simply passed over. With the slowing comes a chance for Dubai developers to catch their breath and rethink their strategies.
There is evidence that this is happening. The Dubai government has put in place a number of provisions to protect the local workforce. One that has frequently been described in our meetings around the emirate is that construction companies must put worker wages directly into bank accounts. This makes it much easier for the government to ensure that the people who do the work actually get paid for their efforts. Evidently, the busses that carry the workers to and from construction sites have also recently been equipped with fans to make the trips a bit more bearable. These aren't huge steps, but they are steps in the right direction.
There may also be a strengthening commitment to sustainability in construction. In 2007, the Pacific Controls headquarters building in Dubai was made the 16th LEED Platinum Certified green building in the world and the first in the Middle East. Sheikh Mohammed, leader of Dubai, was inspired by this achievement and soon after proclaimed that all new buildings in the emirate would have to meet at least the basic LEED standards beginning in 2008. Amidst the flurry of construction it is unclear how many developers took the time to meet this mandate.
But there are a number of companies that are making a strong push for sustainable building. On a full day tour hosted by the Dubai office of HDR Architecture, our class was able to see firsthand what is possible in Dubai. We were able to explore the first completed building in the DuBiotech development, a biotech lab building that recently was awarded LEED silver status. We learned the difficulties of designing a LEED building for the extreme weather of the U.A.E. For instance, it doesn’t make sense to have bicycle racks as it would be incredibly unsafe to bike to the location on most days because of the heat. And we were shown the incredible importance of choosing both the right configuration and the right glass to simultaneously provide natural daylight and keep out much of the sun's heat. Our meetings at Pacific Controls confirmed that HDR is not the only company fully dedicated to building and promoting green architecture in Dubai.
As we stood on the 17th floor of the incomplete DuBiotech headquarters building, we could see construction sites stretching to the gulf in one direction and into the desert in the other. Nearly all of them were started when building fast was the most important goal. Now that things have slowed and values are being reassessed, a number of companies and organizations are working to make sure that future development in Dubai incorporates a broader number of incredibly important factors.
About the Author: Jameson Wetmore is an assistant professor with CSPO and CNS-ASU, and ASU’s School of Human Evolution & Social Change.
