How Dubai was made | History of Dubai (2020)

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Dubai is known to be one of the urban miracles of the modern world; a futuristic city rising in the middle of a desert is something our ancestors 100 years ago could only imagine in a sci-fi film. It’s hard to imagine that this fascinating location used to be just a tiny fishing village. It seems almost illogical that a small town in a very inconvenient climate zone could become one of the world’s biggest business and financial hubs. How did this happen? To answer this question, let’s have a look at the history of Dubai.

The Persian Gulf, however, was still an important area for the British Empire. Being a strategic route connecting London to Bombay, Royal Fleet needed to secure this area from pirates.
In the XIX century, the British East India Company signed an agreement with local sheiks, particularly with the Al Maktoum family, the ruling dynasty of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, to secure peace in the area. Al Maktoum dynasty rules Dubai until the present day.

Despite the lack of interest from the Empire, Dubai was becoming more and more significant for the region. In 1900 the current ruler announced that no taxes will be charged from the traders, and soon Persian and Indian merchants started moving in. The city was convenient for trading also thanks to Dubai Creek - a saltwater canal that was allowing trading ships to sail from the Gulf right into the city.

Dubai, however, was still a big village rather than a city. The urban development started with the reign of Sheikh Rashid. In 1959 he went touring around Europe and was greatly inspired by European capitals, particularly London. Walking around the city and traveling on the Tube, he was fascinated by the urban design, transport system and overall comfort and convenience that London had to offer.

After his trip, Sheikh Rashid started implementing his great plan of turning Dubai into an international city. In 1961 he instructed to artificially deepen the Dubai Creek so that bigger trading ships could sail in. Under his guidance, the city was being rebuilt with stone and cement. Having a dream of a great city in his mind, Sheikh Rashid started building an international airport, although his investors thought that he is being too romantic, and these urban projects are simply unnecessary, and it was becoming challenging to fund all these ambitious projects.

Sheikh Rashid’s plans of creating an international capital would probably stall at this stage, but in 1966 they found oil in Dubai.

Like most of the other newly developing cities, Dubai needed a grand project that could attract international attention, so Sheikh Rashid instructed to build a skyscraper. In 1979 the 39-story building named Dubai World Trade Center was officially opened for business.

After Sheikh Rashid died in 1981, his work was continued by one of his sons, 31-year-old Mohammed. Just like his father, he was obsessed with the idea of turning Dubai into a modern, international city. His main inspiration was Daniel Burnham, an American architect and urban designer that is known for planning and designing modern Chicago in the early 20th century. Daniel Burnham was convinced that a city architect has to plan big; if you want your city to be spoken about, small and mediocre projects won’t get you anywhere. Sheikh Mohammed adopted this approach and decided to make Dubai a city of the biggest and the tallest.

In 2000, he introduced Emirates Towers, which were higher than any building in Europe at the time. But that wasn’t big enough for Dubai; Sheikh Mohammed wanted to build the tallest building in the world. In 2010 they’ve completed the construction of Burj Khalifa, the highest skyscraper in the world.

Being a very hands-on manager himself, Sheikh Mohammed was spending most of his time on construction sites. He was circling the city in his white Mercedes, which registration plate said “Dubai 1”. This plate was reflecting his overall philosophy and life mission.

Sheikh Mohammed had another ambitious project in mind; he wanted to turn Dubai into a world financial center, competing with major financial capitals like New York and London.

Soon Dubai International Financial Center was created; it’s a special economic zone covering 110 ha, with its laws and regulations. It was basically a separate state within a city, like the Vatican in Rome.

Dubai is an urban phenomenon that serves as an inspiration for many other developing cities around the world today.

#dubai #history #documentary #uae
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0:50 - British Empire in Persian Gulf
2:23 - Sheikh Rashid
4:56 - Sheikh Mohammed

UrbanStories
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I've been to Dubai late 2019. It's magic, I felt great walking in the streets and watching the skyscrappers, I do love architecture and visiting the Burj Khalifa was a dream! I loved every minute at the city. People are welcoming, it's easy to move around, we definitely feel very safe, the prices are good, the food is great, lots of things to do. I want to visit Dubai again very soon...

OffTom
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It’s pretty sad that the father that died in 1981 didn’t get to see the city.

RoqueMatusIII
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One of the most peaceful, safe and inspiring places I’ve ever been to. Had the pleasure of staying in Dubai for the 2021 Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix where Max Verstappen won. Dubai is unreal, it truly is a marvel to observe, from the beaches to the level of service you get from each place you visit, it’s one you MUST do within your lifetime!

murrvy
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Am in Dubai currently and can say it is the most insane (in a good way) place I have ever been to. They just do things above and beyond here in terms of their architecture it’s truly stunning.

georgespade
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I am from the UK and Dubai is far and away the most jaw dropping place me and my family have ever been to. Sure it is mad hot but you soon get used to it. There's no crime that we have seen and the place is just full of wonders. Burj Khalifa, Dubai Fountain, Jumeirah Beach, the shopping Malls and many more things too. If you haven't been I urge you to do so.

jeffallinson
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You can feel the magic in the air when you travel through sheikh zayed road...its mind blowing

stansoman
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It's grown out of all proportion since the 1990s, but it's a very safe place to live. Its growth since then is phenomenal. Prior to this, it was quite an intimate place where nearly every ex-pat knew nearly everyone, and where to meet up. I can appreciate its development, but too congested for me now. Great place to live and work in the '80s, but time doesn't stop still and today it's called progress. Great video!

alanjacks
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Very good video and a joy to watch. Dubai splits the western minds around the world. Living here for almost a year after 11years in London I can say I'm happier and more optimistic here than I would be in Europe at this time. For people from Asia, Dubai seems to be the number 1 place to move to (leaving the Japanese out of this). Growth is here and if you want to be where growth is you'll have to learn to look East, whether you want to accept this or not.

brexistentialism
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Fabulous editing... No other vdos told about the inspiration of sheikh from the European cities. Thanks for this informative vdo

hemprakashprasanna
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I love dubai.. My journey, my story, my ups and down is pretty colorful.. Now im 5yrs here uae, without coming backhome to philippines. Its ok, dubai is my 2nd home. 💗

reddbarrera
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This story, the city itself... all so inspiring. I love Dubai

driplikesake
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i lived and worked in dubai for 2 years and it's fantastic. if you get the chance to live/work there, do it.

tonyclifton
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These look like cities of the future projections from long ago. I always assumed that such architectural accomplishments would be realized first in the USA. It is all visually quite impressive.

factchaser
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Good informative video, thank you. Good luck with your travel and your youtube channel.❤️

thisandthatfloridausa
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very well made video for a channel with only 1.94k subscribers, this is professional quality

egg-iufe
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None of the country in the world can make us feel secured like UAE. Long live UAE ❤️

mohammadahmed
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After watching hundreds of videos about Dubai, I still love seeing videos about It.
Dubai Dubai Dubai, such an incredible city

immhdirfan
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Currently right here right now in Dubai with my family, such a beautiful urban place..

Mrdaci
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I love dubai da safest place on earth. I was born there in 1985 and lived there until 2003. Very strong good security, pollution free, extremely clean beautiful and full of entertainment. U will never get bored in Dubai. U can eat all da worlds foods all food is available. Name it and u have it. Da best and biggest shopping malls and movie cinemas and theaters. Da best of night clubs. And alot of garden parks. So cool to live there. I miss my good old days living there.

adonic