Sep 5, 2014
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Old Dubai VS New Dubai

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Whenever i think about Dubai and how different it is from rest of the world and how advance and a global city it is, it always makes me reach to the conclusion that all the facilities that the Dubai residents and Specially locals enjoy today, is all because of the people from the 19th century who worked hard and made Dubai and the UAE a global hub.
If you have a look at how hard life has been for the past generations of the UAE, you will agree with me that all the fame Dubai and UAE has got now they do deserve it!! There is a live example in-front of your eyes;
how people who could hardly get water to drink, built a very strong economic system and a very classic City. To express our gratitude to the people of UAE we will share some pictures about Dubai and how it has changed within 50 years.
The first picture i will share not only represents the change in infrastructure but also in the economy. This is the picture of Dubai Creek when trading pearls was the biggest source for the Dubai residents.

Dubai creek in 1960

dhows at Dubai creek in 1960


dubai dhow race

Traditional Dhow for tourists these days


Above is a picture of dhows at Dubai Creek which were used to find pearls. The picture below is of a crew participating in a dhow race.
Unlike today instead of Ferrari`s and other luxury cars there were many Dhows and camels which were used for transportation. This small fishing town was taken over by the Bani Yas tribe from the Liwa Oasis in 1830.  However the tax exemption was nothing new here, the first time the Emirate was exempted from tax was in 1892 and it was heaving with expats who made tons of money. However the recession did hit Dubai in 1930 and it hit the Pearl industry like in 2008 the Real Estate industry was hit.
clock tower Deira

clock tower Deira


The Deira Clock Tower was built in 1964 at that time it was a remote area with nearly nothing around it , right now it is surrounded by many hotels and is located in one of the areas known for massive traffic as it provides access to Al Maktoum Bridge. It was designed by an engineer named Edgar Bublik. It was built in 1964, however  it was refurbished in 1972 because of the cracks.
deira clock tower

deira clock tower now


In 1959 Sheik Rashid borrowed money from Amir of Kuwait to renovate Dubai creek as sand banks created hazards for dhows and very few dhows were navigating to the port, also to make it able to accommodate bigger ships. In coming years Dubai ports played a very important role as Oil was discovered in the Gulf in late 60s. Dubai itself discovered oil in 1966 in Fateh field and in 1969 Dubai started to export oil.
In 1980 the Dubai oil economy took another hit and Dubai`s Rulers started looking for other possible sources of income and they started focusing on tourism. They established in March 1985 with backing from Pakistan Air Lines who provided them the first air crafts on lease. Their Airline was headed by Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum who is still the Chairman of the airline company.
al naif souq

Al Naif souq


This is the picture of Al Naif souq which was engulfed by fire in the year 2008. Unlike now this picture shows how simple life was in 60s and 70s. Now this souq is full of many gold shops and you can find many gold shops loaded with tons of gold and many happy shoppers coming in luxury cars to buy gold.
dubai gold souq

dubai gold souq

Now a few pictures of Dubai Life in 2014

Suite in burj al arab Hotel

Suite in Burj al arab Hotel


DUBAI MALL

DUBAI MALL Biggest Shopping mall in the world


mall of the emirates

Mall of the Emirates is the first Shopping mall in whole middle east with indoor ski resort


A luxury Villa Home in Dubai

A luxury Villa Home in Dubai


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Source: Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding

Article Categories:
Dubai City Guide

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