The 10 biggest development projects underway to transform Abu Dhabi are worth more than $200 billion, new research revealed on Monday.

Details of the top 10 projects from new cities and island resorts to new communities and a light rail system were revealed by the organisers of Cityscape Abu Dhabi, which takes place from April 19-22 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.

Organisers said the sheer size of the developments showed the city's continued ambition amid the global slowdown.

“Abu Dhabi is not immune from the global financial turmoil but has wisely avoided over exposure to the stressed international and regional credit markets,” said Mark Goodchild, exhibition director for organisers IIR Middle East.

“The big difference for Abu Dhabi compared with other cities is that while the emirate will collect less in revenues from oil than the records set in 2008, the capital has been financially prudent and has a sovereign wealth fund estimated at $328 billion at the end of 2008.”

More than $208 billion has been earmarked in the long-term masterplan budgets across the leading civil projects in the UAE capital, many of which will be showcased at Cityscape Abu Dhabi.

“While there has been some doubt expressed about the timescale and magnitude of several projects across the UAE, the sheer scale of those continuing to take place in Abu Dhabi is truly remarkable by any international standard,” Goodchild added.

The top ten projects identified by research company Proleads are:

1. The biggest single project is the new capital city for Abu Dhabi – Khalifa City. It has a masterplan budget of $40 billion and is planned to comprise all federal ministries, local government offices and embassies. The city is expected to be completed by 2030.

2. Work has started on the Yas Island Development, a massive $39 billion masterplan budgeted mixed use tourist development including residential, hotels, beaches, marinas, retail, golf and equestrian facilities. The island will have a total developed area about one-third the size of Abu Dhabi island. Total packages budgeted so far amount to $3.5 billion

3. Burooj Properties is behind a masterplan $24 billion mixed use real estate community project in Abu Dhabi to include 11 residential towers, offices, four hotels and a shopping mall.

4. Saadiyat Island is another massive offshore development underway with a masterplan budget of more than $28 billion. It includes 29 hotels, three marinas, 8,000 residential villas and more than 38,000 apartments. The project also includes museums, concert halls, maritime history centre, three harbours, a park, golf course and sailing club.

5. A $22 billion budget has been allocated for the ambitious Masdar City project, billed as the first zero-carbon, zero-waste city. It will depend on solar energy. Masdar City will also be car-free. Total packages budgeted so far amount to $2.4 billion.

6. Underway is the $18.5 billion Al-Raha Beach Complex, another mixed-use hospitality development involving reclaimed land and will include 50 high-rise and a number of low-rise buildings for approximately 120,000 people.

7. Abu Dhabi's International Capital Trading is planning a $10 billion mixed use city, tentatively called Ghantoot Green City. The project will comprise commercial centres, hotels, offices, residential areas, warehousing and light industrial areas. Total packages budgeted so far amount to $800 million.

8. Al-Reem Island development is a $7.8 billion mixed-use community next to the bridge connecting Al-Reem Island to Abu Dhabi city. Several 40 and 50 storey towers will form the central business district. The development will include two 80-storey buildings and house approximately 80,000 people.

9. With a masterplan budget of $6.5 billion, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed City is another new city comprising 374 residential and commercial buildings as well as the associated infrastructure and entertainment facilities. Total packages so far amount to $924 million.

10. At joint number 10n with masterplan budgets of $3 billion each are the Abu Dhabi Light Rail project and the MGM Grand Hotel. The rail project will involve some 350 kilometres of rail. The MGM Grand project will have two further branded luxury hotels and more than 1,200 rooms. It will also feature a 12,000 seat arena, retail, restaurants, waterfront residences and private yacht berths.

Source www.arabianbusiness.com (09/03/09)

The overall cost of living in Dubai is similar to that in most European countries, if you’re living in the style of the average western expatriate.   

Taken from JustLanded.com  

But the general lack of taxation has a significant impact on the cost of certain items, e.g. cars. On the other hand, the cost of accommodation is sometimes high, as is that of certain food items, particularly imported foods. If you buy internationally recognised branded foods and household goods, you might pay higher prices than in your home country, but there are usually plenty of cheaper locally and regionally produced alternatives that are of excellent quality. Clothing can also be expensive if you favour designer labels – this isn’t peculiar to Dubai – although there’s little need for winter clothing.

This is an overview of the Dubai property market taken from Platinum Homes Dubai . You can view further details on Dubai property on the Platinum Homes Website. 

Roads

Dubai has a very large bus system run by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA). The bus system has 193 routes on weekdays and transports over 30 million people weekly. The Public Transport bus system is large and advanced but not large enough to accommodate the volume of people who use it. This means that in busy areas it is common that at the end of the day commuters may have to wait more than an hour before they can board a bus. Unfortunately the amount of buses does not increase with the same rate as the amount of passengers, which makes this problem worse as time progresses. The (RTA) has announced that Dubai roads will see 620 new buses costing more than one billion dirhams by next year; the new fleet includes 170 double decker buses.

According to the census conducted by Statical Center of Dubai, the population of the emirate was 1,422,000 as of 2006, which included 1,073,000 males and 349,000 females. As of 1998, 17% of the population of the emirate was made up of UAE nationals. Approximately 85% of the expatriate population (and 71% of the emirate's total population) was Asian (chiefly Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan and Filipino). About 3% of the total population of Dubai was categorized as "Western". In addition, 16% of the population (or 288,000 persons) lived in collective labour accomodation were not identified by ethnicity or nationality, but were thought to be primarily Asian.  The median age in the emirate was about 27 years. The crude birth rate, as of 2005, was 13.6%, while the crude death rate was about 1%.