Industrialization in Dubai

Introduction

Dubai Emirate is located along the Arabian Gulf is the second-largest member of the United Arab Emirates by its area and also its population of about five million people. Dubai is classified as one of the fastest developing economies in the world boasting an US$ 82.11 billion economy. Presently the city is classified at position 27 out of 60 global cities of the world. The economy of Dubai was initially built on the oil industry but the industry is no longer the main revenue earner which currently stands at 6%. “The main economic drivers of Dubai are property, tourism, and various other financial services” (Dubai 36).

The pace of the economic growth in Dubai in the last two decades has been incredible with increased prospects due to the extensive projects that are currently being established. As a result, the government and the legislative institutions have been designed to minimize bureaucracy and create a business-friendly environment for all the investors. This has led to increased property development and ownership, increased capitalism, and the general growth of the economy. (Dubai36).

However, rapid industrialization, on the other hand, leads to some negative effects that include cultural decadence, overpopulation, and drastic economic growth that is at the risk of immense collapse. There are also many instances of human rights abuses especially towards a large number of immigrant workers.

The positive impacts of Dubai rapid industrialization

Industrialization in Dubai started in the 1970s and this has led to numerous benefits and the expeditious operations of the government with increased economic growth. The social economic and political standard of the country has improved with the development of excellent banking, education, transportation, commercial, tourism, manufacturing industry, and increased employment. All this is of benefit to the national community and should be further encouraged. (Samir 1).

Rapid industrialization has positive effects and economic benefits to the country’s economy. The trading industry in Dubai started in the nineteenth century with the concession of taxes by the then ruler that forced rapid immigration into the country by investors. Later in the twentieth century, the country specialized in the importation and exportation of goods with a major gold business with India and this helped in strengthening the industrial department and in turn the stability of the country’s economy. With a very bright vision, the country was able to upgrade the national infrastructure, and this paved way for the increased development that is evident today. (Christopher 35).

During the 1970s and the 1980s, the physical infrastructural growth continued to increase unabatedly with as much as 25% of the country’s GDP being spent on building and improvement of the seaports and the roads network. This includes the 150 miles high way along the coast that connects Abu Dhabi and Dubai. This offers a dependable and efficient means of transport that provides a peripheral route, especially for heavy commercial trucks. This is very beneficial for the increased efficiency and also effective transportation and communication. (Dubai37).

The transport usually consumes a lot of human resource time if not properly addressed and carefully planned. Through industrialization, the transport within the city was organized with reduced traffic congestion; through the use of bridges across the creeks including the establishment of a floating road. The cities have numerous tunnels that are also underneath the airport runways. There is the use of water buses and water taxis that offer alternative means of water transport.

The transport sector has gone a mile higher through the connection of the sea transport with the airport system through the empowerment from Canadian and Japanese firms. The mass transport system in Dubai that is predicted to be completed this year is aimed at solving the long-term problem in the transport sector (Christopher 235).

But it is not only the inland transport system that has been streamlined; the marine system is also very efficient with the merging of the “Dubai Ports Authority with the Dubai Ports International.” This has helped in the expansion and globalization of services. The country is among the top ten container terminal ports in the world. The air transport system is also well equipped and this makes it efficient and very effective for business. (Little 4). This also attracts a lot of international investors where they are sure of no delay in their products. Think of tourism also on the other hand. As a result, Emirates Airlines has expanded continuously and is registering a lot of profits every year.

This has positioned Dubai as a global hub with an efficient infrastructure. On completion as vision at 2017, the New Dubai World Central Airport will be the fourth largest in the world and this will greatly improve the trade industry and tourism in the country. Presently, “it is ranked among the top fifteen air cargo hubs and the busiest airports” (Christopher 56). This has heavily increased the resources in the construction industry.

The commercial infrastructure

The world is moving towards globalization where industrialization and information technology are among the major factors accelerating this. Industrialization in Dubai has led to the massive growth in the commercial infrastructure with the increased growth in the number and also the size of the shopping malls. Some are being run by government-backed parastatals and others are owned by merchant families. This has led to the booming of the various trades and the healthy competition from the various malls. A healthy market starts with many factors among these and brightens the future for the commercial sector, where the government has further increased support by the building of the nonphysical supporting infrastructure thus creating new opportunities for the business community.

The country is utilizing modern technology for extensive marketing overseas and the use of e-commerce has led to increased confidence in the sector where the banking sector has also been streamlined and consolidated for efficiency in transactions. The country has therefore become a major business center in the region with an increase in globalization and market integration thus acting as the regional hub. To increase the number of investors in the country and facilitate long-term sustainability, the business registration procedure is simple both for international companies and individuals. This is a very effective marketing strategy. (Dubai35).

Employment

The global crisis has led to massive unemployment in many global countries. Industrialization in the UAE has worked well in the provision of employment to both local and international workers. The unemployed population is mainly due to qualifications of the individual job preference, salary scale, and expectations and skills. The unemployment rate has however reduced were in the future; the government aims at less reliance on the ex-pat workforce and increasing the nation’s employment. Industrialization has opened the way for the emergence of various job opportunities. Industrialization is the mother of investment opportunities that have related to the increase in employment (Christopher 65).

Tourism industry

Industrialization has led to the development of high-end tourist destinations and amenities with an increase in the number of attractions. The government has also embarked on increased overseas marketing and campaign for the various holiday destinations. As a result, the number of visitors attracted to the country has increased and this has increased the gross domestic product. Recalling that tourism is a major contributor to the country’s GDP I tend to strongly support its existence.

Furthermore, with new festivals, exhibitions, and sporting events, and more so with the reputation-building overseas acquisitions and the notable success of eth emirates airline brand, the Dubai tourist potential has continued to grow, with, several million visitors expected in the future.

Industrialization and culture

The Dubai culture is deeply influenced by Arabic Islamic traditions. But culture is just opium since it rarely contributes to the daily individual survival needs. Whether there is the decay of culture or not, I differ with retaining culture as a weapon by any means. “This links the Dubai culture with the religion but in the United Arab Emirates, the culture and religion is developed where they are welcoming to theare oreigners with the freedom of various religions, serving of alcohol in the hotels and liberalized dressing code as opposed to many Muslim countries” (Christopher 67). The women are not segregated nor discriminated against where they are allowed to drive and this offers the charming warm friendliness of the society. (Christopher 67).

The industrialization has helped in shaping the conflicting gender dominance that is prevalent in many Muslim states and various nationalities in Dubai, irrespective of the religion perfectly works side by side without any conflicts. Despite being a male-dominated society, females are offered leadership positions and they have dominant powers in the family included the extended family. Retaining culture to die of poverty is blackmail, though, to help in the promotion of cultures, the country has embarked on cultural and sporting events which are representative of the very traditions.

Industrialization and politics

Even though the country has a hierarchical government system, the manner of the ruling is diversified and the one-man regulation of the marketplace is not extremely practiced. There is a close collaboration between the business world and this installs confidence in the investment in the country and the resulting economic growth. The diversification of power was brought along by industrialization as opposed to the many countries that depend on oil. (Dubai 24).

The negative impacts of Dubai rapid industrialization

Due to the rapid expansion of industrialization, several problems come in handy. But in comparison to the number of positive impacts, the negatives are heavily outweighed. However, for every action, there is always an opposite negative force and the use of analytical and systematic procedures helps to reduce them. These among others include; the violation of human and labor rights; increased pollution of the environment; loss of culture, language, and the neighborhood, and the uncertainty of the future economy.

The environmental issues and the ecosystem

Though the government is adhering to the various international acts on biodiversity, endangering of species, the hazardous wastes, the marine dumping and the protection of the ozone layer industrialization might be hazardous to the future of the ecosystem. The enforcement of laws regarding the conservation of the environment including the conservation of the coasts from further development before the government notice is making desirable and optimum efforts. (Samir 1).

But surely, pollution is happening everywhere globally, what is different is just the quantities. Too much focus on the environment would incapacitate the living generation and immensely affect the future, in the ‘purpose’ of sustainability.

In culture and religion, rapid economic development has led to changes in the lives of different people. The multi-national cultures have slowly led to the decay of the mother cultures of the society. However, “the country’s rulers are committed to the safeguarding of their heritage against erosion that has been caused by the speedo development and the increased access to the outside cultures and material goods” (Samir 1). But generations need to move with the evolution and advancement. We cannot relate the modern generation with the fifteenth-century era and thus we need to move forward irrespective of cultural loss.

Some may argue that very rapid capitalism and economic growth without sufficient regulation makes the economy sterile and this kind of economy can easily collapse where they categorize Dubai also. But there is the expeditious control of the markets to effectively regulate and maintain long-term sustainability and reduce the wastage of human labor. This increased growth will lead to the motivation of the markets but the monetary policies work effectively to control this. (Dubai35).

The increased immigration has been accused of the decay of human rights with the blackmail in the media. This is more of the propaganda by the already established world to help tarnish the image of the country and reduce competition. There have been no culprits who confess to the torture as accused. (The Doha Debates).

Conclusion

The competition over the long-term sustainability and the regional rivalry in the oil-focused emirate led the Dubai planners to pursue the industrial sector. This would help n pursue such externally oriented strategies that would help in placing the country’s economy at a reduced risk from the dependent circumstances.

Also, the country had a narrowed economic base which would have eventually exposed the country to the threats of unemployment due to the reduced job opportunities. Industrialization led to increased job opportunities and employment for both the nationals and the multinationals. This has led to economic growth and expansion in the various sectors of the government. This is more so in the tourism industry and the commercial sector where the country has become the economic hub in the emirates region (The Doha Debates).

But development in industrialization also leads to the decay of various sectors in the society. These negative traits have to work hand in hand with the positives for any healthy economy. As a result, there is no need the focus on the minority side effects whereas the positivity is immense.

Works cited

Christopher, M. Davidson. Dubai: the vulnerability of success. New York. Columbia UniversityPress. 2008.

Dubai: the complete residents’ guide. Explorer Publishing. 2006.

Explorer: Living in Dubai. Web.

Little, Claire. Understanding the economic development of Dubai. Abu Dhabi University. 2007.

Samir, Pradhan. Dubai’s manifest destiny. Gulf Research Center, Dubai. Web.

The Doha Debates: This House believes Dubai is a bad idea. Web.