Arab Emirates
I just returned from a business trip to the united arab emirates and am still very impressed by this country. Most of us have already seen pictures from this rich emirates, but seeing these cities in real is an astonishing impression. The prosperity and money they got from their oil resources can be seen everywhere. For a long time I always thought it is only Europe and Northern America, which are rich countries (the "first world") and are shaping the Earth (no matter if in a good or bad way), but after being in some of the huge mega-cities of south east asia and now in the emirates, I am come more and more to the conclusion, that the global influence of Europe is much smaller than I believed earlier.
Dubai is an amazing town. Some 20 years ago it was just a tiny village, but nowadays it is a 40 kilometers long, 10-lanes-highway with countless of skyscrapers next to it. And if you look at all the construction going on, there must be one new skyscraper finished each other day. Abu Dhabi is not that big and crowded then Dubai, but still very big, and, because it is the capital of the Emirates, it even looks more prosperous. The Sheiks are proud about their money and they do not dare to show everyone what they have. As luxurious as their cities are, I am also thinking about how they are waisting resources, not only there in the Emirates, but also in the asian mega-cities. It doesn't make sense that there are more or less useless environmental protection laws put into power or money invested just to make things a little bit more efficient here in Europe, when there is such a waste of resources in other parts of the world ...
Dubai is an amazing town. Some 20 years ago it was just a tiny village, but nowadays it is a 40 kilometers long, 10-lanes-highway with countless of skyscrapers next to it. And if you look at all the construction going on, there must be one new skyscraper finished each other day. Abu Dhabi is not that big and crowded then Dubai, but still very big, and, because it is the capital of the Emirates, it even looks more prosperous. The Sheiks are proud about their money and they do not dare to show everyone what they have. As luxurious as their cities are, I am also thinking about how they are waisting resources, not only there in the Emirates, but also in the asian mega-cities. It doesn't make sense that there are more or less useless environmental protection laws put into power or money invested just to make things a little bit more efficient here in Europe, when there is such a waste of resources in other parts of the world ...