Author's Note: I wrote this article spontaneously after one week in the UAE. During the 3+ weeks I spent in the country, I also had the opportunity to get to know some locals and changed some of my opinions a little. Nevertheless, I decided to publish this article without editing it, as these were my first impressions. Enjoy.
Dubai is not what most people think it is. Did you know that only 20% of the population of the Emirates are actually Emiratis? This makes the UAE home to one of the world's highest percentage of immigrants. Indians form 28%, Pakistani 12% of the Emirates' population. The Emirates are home to over 200 nationalities.
Dubai itself consists of 85% expatriates. 85% of those expatriates are from Asia, but there are also many from Europe, mostly british and french people.
So saying that Dubai is a typically Middle Eastern, mostly muslim city is simply wrong – you'll barely find any locals. The language which you hear most is English.
Most people furthermore tend to think Dubai is only malls and luxury. Even that is far from reality. Most people in Dubai came to work, have quite limited financial resources and therefore can't afford expsensive lifestyle. Once you get out of the malls and start exploring other parts of the city – the ones without tourist attractions – you'll easily find very affordable restaurants with prices comparable to other asian countries. You'll find falafel wraps for the same price as in Jordan, indian food for just a bit more than in India, chinese food and all other kind of affordable food.
Even staying is relatively cheap: there are many cheap places, hostels starting at 5€ and double rooms in hotels with swimming pool starting at 20€. But as the perecentage of open-minded expatriates is so high here, you'll also be surprised by the huge Couchsurfing Community – you'll likely find a host who's willing to host you for a few days in his home.
Malls aren't the only thing in Dubai – to be honest, it's the most boring thing you can possibly do here. There are plenty of alternatives: being a city of 3 mil. People from all around the Globe, Dubai and in general the UAE are for example an amazing place for culture. In Dubai, you'll frequently have interesting shows at the Opera, plays at the theatre or you head to Alserkal Avenue, a renowned cultural district of contemporary art galleries, non-profit organisations, an arthouse cinema and nice restaurants. Apart from that, you have Deira, the „Indian“ part of the city, the Creek, the Souqs.
But after a week, you might be running out of cool options what to do in Dubai. There is not much around to visit, the huge empty streets can become boring – a feeling stats to emerge: there is simply no life in this city. The people don't really talk to each other and everyone goes everwhere by car, so you son't actually meet too many people. There is simply no other option: Dubai is built for cars, not for pedestrians. Before coming to the Emirates, I spent a year in India – the complete contrast. Streets full of life, warm-hearted, cheerful people. In Dubai, you'll quickly notice that most of the people don't seem to really enjoy their life. It's not a place for happy people.
Apart from that, you'll quickly miss something authentic. In Dubai, everything is made for tourists. Obviously the malls are, but also the „historical“ district Al Fahidi, the Souks – everything seems and looks kinda fake. It feels like a big amusement park, only made for one purpose: consuming. Spending money. Even the art galleries I just praised are only commercial the artist's scene resembles more privileged grown-up expats kids who pretend to be something different than rich now.
After a few days, the fassade begins to crumble: Dubai is actually a very empty city. Most people come here for work. The expensive cars riding the highways belong to rich expats working for big companies. But everything else in Dubai – the security, the supermarkets, the buses, restaurants, cleaning services and all other kind of things are only working because of cheap asian workers. Once you start speaking to those workers, many will tell you that life isn't so easy here. The payment is low – just high enough to make it worth it to come here instead of staying in their home countries – and most of them miss their home. The economic inequality of the world becomes visible here: the rich north lives on behalf of the economically weak south.
Capitalism is what makes Dubai possible: 50 years ago a little fishermen's village of 20.000 inhabitants, nowadays a 3-million people megacity in the desert breaking world records - growing fast. The UAE have no social state. The fact that taxes are extremely low here attracts all kind of big companies, but also leads to the fact that everything here is privatized. There are no workers unions supporting the immigrants in their cause for a better life. There are no government schools, no public health system – even the health insurances are mostly being provided for the employees only by the companies they work for. Once you get fired or you quit your job, your visa expires and you need to leave the country. The UAE are basically ruled by companies, and that's somehow scary. The government itself – rich undemocratic Emirs and an authoritarian king only give the conservative normative background. Although you don't see many policemen in the streets, there are many rules existing – which the people obey. Whether your clothes are inappropiate, you drive too fast, you are too open with your partner or drink alcohol in public, you get fined huge sums. Workers who commit those crimes are likely to lose their jobs, leave the country and to make place for another immigrant. For rich people, it's completely different: Money has the most power in the UAE, even more than the king.
Dubai and the UAE are an absurd place. The unmotivated poeple who don't talk to each other, the huge streets and the cold-hearted malls can make you feel lonely very quickly. There isn't any social life in this city, there isn't any sense in those big buildings standing aroud alone in the desert.
The UAE barely produces anything, everything is imported. Unlike many people think, it's not oil which makes the Emirate of Dubai rich (Abu Dhabi has most of the oil). Neither is it the production of dates, one of the only things actually FROM the Emirates. The Emirate survives because of its new tourism strategy and the low taxes and countless companies who have their offices here. Apart from that, there is barely anything else. Malls, luxury hotels and skycrapers have been built to present a completely artificial, unappealing world to foreign tourists.
Dubai and the UAE are a place in which conservative values are paired with a neoliberal, capitalist system at its extreme – and as the world teaches us, that mostly works shockingly well. All of the things I wrote above aren't necessarily bad. You can disagree with me and find pleasure in Dubai, a city in which most people's main thought is career and money and their dream to get rich. As a tourist, you can definitely visit Dubai and the Emirates on a budget and have fun for one or two weeks. But before you book your flight tickets, you should ask yourself if you really want to come here.
If you have a job here, fine. If you have a layover of a two days here, fine. But apart from that, the Emirates are not really a good place on earth. They represent a cold, fake world - ruled by money. That may work in some capitalists' dreams, but not in real life. There is no genuine joy in this city – I don't count shopping and roller-coaster rides as real joy. So before choosing Dubai as your next holiday destination, check if there are not maybe other places you'd prefer to visit – there are plenty. Places with real heritage sites, warm-hearted locals, culture which isn't made only for consuming, interesting traditions and a lot to learn. Cause you won't find any of these in the Emirates. At least I don't.
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