5 ms·

Dubai Is a Parody of the 21st Century

144 points by tartoran 5y ago

stefantalpalaru 5y ago
Then there's the "Dubai Porta Potty" phenomenon: https://travellingjezebel.com/dubai-porta-potty/ https://travellingjezebel.com/dubai-porta-potty/
tartoran 5y ago
I the thing that I was surprised the most to hear was that those skyscrapers sewage is carried by trucks outside Dubai and dumped who knows where. I've heard of slavery stories before and am surprised they still get any new workers recruited, the stories I've heard are horrific. This is a place I will never visit, even if the trip is all paid for by someone else.
- zepearl 5y ago
  > I the thing that I was surprised the most to hear was that those skyscrapers sewage is carried by trucks outside Dubai and dumped who knows where. Mmmhh, does not seem to be 100% correct? At least not in relation to the Burj Khalifa as mentioned by the video... . https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/52204/is-the-sewage-from-the-burj-khalifa-transported-away-by-trucks https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/52204/is-the-se... => https://web.archive.org/web/20140110091115/http://repository.tamu.edu/bitstream/handle/1969.1/4529/ESL-HH-06-07-19.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20140110091115/http://repository... A complete soil, waste and vent system from plumbing fixtures, floor drains and mechanical equipment arranged for gravity flow and, ejector discharge to a point of connection with the city municipal sewer is provided. A complete storm drainage system from roofs, decks, terraces and plazas arranged for gravity flow to a point of connection with the city municipal sewer system is provided.*
  - hypertele-Xii 5y ago
    The problem is, the municipal sewer system has inadequate capacity to receive any of the poop, so while the sewers are being upgraded, the poop is hauled away by trucks.
    - devoutsalsa 5y ago
      It'd be hilarious to learn that the bottom N floors are actually a giant holding tank, and that some engineer calculated they'd have 20 years to figure out how to empty it all.
- hasmanean 5y ago
  > dumped who knows where Lol, maybe there’s a spot in the desert. A brown spot. Probably visible from space.
- bin_bash 5y ago
  I found that incredibly hard to believe and it appears to be false: https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/52204/is-the-sewage-from-the-burj-khalifa-transported-away-by-trucks https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/52204/is-the-se...
  - MisterSandman 5y ago
    Thank you for introducing me to my new favorite StackExchange. It used to be Workplace SE because of all the fun drama I got to read.
- m0llusk 5y ago
  This happened during a period of peak development. Not entirely sure, but my understanding was there were sewage processing facilities available, just a lack of functioning plumbing connecting everything at that time.
okareaman 5y ago
It seems like the time start was unintentionally shared with the link. It is much better to watch all 12 minutes, not just the end.
- tartoran 5y ago
  Yes, I accidentally do that and can't edit the link. @dang Is it possible that you remove the time (t) tag in this link? Thanks
freemint 5y ago
I watcher this video a few days before. For everyone interested in the overarching why and if you can stand a lot of rambling there is this [1] episode of problem of "Well There is your problem". [1] https://youtube.com/watch?v=PW6lg-7L7yk https://youtube.com/watch?v=PW6lg-7L7yk
nix23 5y ago
And Qatar is not better in that regard. >Revealed: 6,500 migrant workers have died in Qatar since World Cup awarded https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/feb/23/revealed-migrant-worker-deaths-qatar-fifa-world-cup-2022 https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/feb/23/r... Thank you FIFA for knowing it beforehand and give a shi* about it...once more.
cblconfederate 5y ago
Worth noting that this guy's channel is overly dismissive of everyone, sometimes strawmanning, and a bit nihilist. That said, Dubai turned to an unmitigated disaster of a real estate excess which will disintegrate in the sand from which it came unless its owners do something completely drastic. Covid-19 put the tombstone in the plans to build the Las Vegas of middle east
- jhbadger 5y ago
  There are things and people he is for -- he isn't dismissive of everyone and everything. For example, he is a fan of traditional rail and subway systems and thinks we should build more of them. What he is dismissive of (and I think with reason) are things like the hyperloop, which he suspects not only are unworkable, but are promoted precisely to avoid investing in proven infrastructure like trains and subways and instead waiting for this miracle technology that will be ready "any day now".
  - Tarsul 5y ago
    whats his opinion on maglev (Transrapid) trains?
    - emikulic 5y ago
      I know he doesn't like monorails but I don't know about maglevs.
    - tsujp 5y ago
      He doesn’t like maglev either because it’s extremely expensive compared to high speed rail and cites the Shanghai airports operating loss as an example. It also has similar infrastructure requirements as a monorail: a more complex platform than traditional rail.
  - relativ575 5y ago
    > this miracle technology that will be ready "any day now". Which hyperloop projects are promised to be ready any day now? Infrastructure projects are usually announced years in advance, and more often than not run into delay. I'm not aware of a firm date for any public ready hyperloop systems.
Barrin92 5y ago
the gulf states are a weird place to be. For the most part it really does have a complete fakeness to it. Being there feels exactly like what it is, a bunch of autocratic new money building itself status symbols. However I would call it more 20th century than 21st century, because all the aesthetics are like someone watched to many Western sci-fi movies of the 60s, 70s and 80s like Blade Runner and then decided to build exactly that because it looked cool, weirdly retro-futuristic. It's also often weird in a way that it tries to blend local and traditional culture with its material excess, but in a way you would expect from someone at the other end of the world who doesn't actually know anything about it.
junon 5y ago
This video is so, so good. The sewage trucks had me feeling several emotions all at once.
bellyfullofbac 5y ago
I remember reading a reddit retort from an expat who lived in Dubai when someone asked him why he lived in a slave state; he said something along the lines of the West also uses slave labor, who makes your electronics (or mines the minerals for them?), your clothes (probably poorly paid Bangladeshi). The difference is distance, in the Emirate countries the distance to the slave is a lot shorter...
- nix23 5y ago
  Having slaves IN your country IS something you can change, having slaves in other country's is not (or just very slow ATM). That expat has a disgusting mindset if you ask me. But having said that, Spain/Italy and the USA has their Modern-Slaves too, you don't have to go as far as bangladesh.
- kamray23 5y ago
  Arrogant immigrants are arrogant, classic whataboutism as well. "Everything I have is built by slaves? Well everything you have is built by slaves too, slavery must not be a bad thing!"
  - bellyfullofbac 5y ago
    Why isn't it a legitimate argument? It's true, isn't it? People like to accuse others of bad behavior because they think they're pious (speaking of "arrogant"...), but they themselves are ignorant of theirs. If the people complaining are ethical consumers, then...
    - nix23 5y ago
      So you support having Slaves in your own country too? You cannot immediately force ANOTHER country to stop with that, but you can stop it in your own, that's the difference, and you should not support a country who openly use humans like that. But yes you have a point, for example the FIFA (HQ in Switzerland) knew how bad the working conditions for the WM in Qatar where and gave a shi* about it (~6500 death)
anm89 5y ago
I love the point about how much smarter it would have been to invert the palm island by bringing the water inward as opposed to the land outward. I never thought of that. I'm not an engineer but that sounds about 100 times easier and more cost efficient.

144 points by tartoran 5y ago

Then there's the "Dubai Porta Potty" phenomenon: https://travellingjezebel.com/dubai-porta-potty/ https://travellingjezebel.com/dubai-porta-potty/

tartoran 5y ago

I the thing that I was surprised the most to hear was that those skyscrapers sewage is carried by trucks outside Dubai and dumped who knows where. I've heard of slavery stories before and am surprised they still get any new workers recruited, the stories I've heard are horrific. This is a place I will never visit, even if the trip is all paid for by someone else.

zepearl 5y ago
> I the thing that I was surprised the most to hear was that those skyscrapers sewage is carried by trucks outside Dubai and dumped who knows where. Mmmhh, does not seem to be 100% correct? At least not in relation to the Burj Khalifa as mentioned by the video... . https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/52204/is-the-sewage-from-the-burj-khalifa-transported-away-by-trucks https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/52204/is-the-se... => https://web.archive.org/web/20140110091115/http://repository.tamu.edu/bitstream/handle/1969.1/4529/ESL-HH-06-07-19.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20140110091115/http://repository... A complete soil, waste and vent system from plumbing fixtures, floor drains and mechanical equipment arranged for gravity flow and, ejector discharge to a point of connection with the city municipal sewer is provided. A complete storm drainage system from roofs, decks, terraces and plazas arranged for gravity flow to a point of connection with the city municipal sewer system is provided.*
- hypertele-Xii 5y ago
  The problem is, the municipal sewer system has inadequate capacity to receive any of the poop, so while the sewers are being upgraded, the poop is hauled away by trucks.
  - devoutsalsa 5y ago
    It'd be hilarious to learn that the bottom N floors are actually a giant holding tank, and that some engineer calculated they'd have 20 years to figure out how to empty it all.
hasmanean 5y ago
> dumped who knows where Lol, maybe there’s a spot in the desert. A brown spot. Probably visible from space.
bin_bash 5y ago
I found that incredibly hard to believe and it appears to be false: https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/52204/is-the-sewage-from-the-burj-khalifa-transported-away-by-trucks https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/52204/is-the-se...
- MisterSandman 5y ago
  Thank you for introducing me to my new favorite StackExchange. It used to be Workplace SE because of all the fun drama I got to read.
m0llusk 5y ago
This happened during a period of peak development. Not entirely sure, but my understanding was there were sewage processing facilities available, just a lack of functioning plumbing connecting everything at that time.

okareaman 5y ago

It seems like the time start was unintentionally shared with the link. It is much better to watch all 12 minutes, not just the end.

tartoran 5y ago
Yes, I accidentally do that and can't edit the link. @dang Is it possible that you remove the time (t) tag in this link? Thanks

freemint 5y ago

I watcher this video a few days before. For everyone interested in the overarching why and if you can stand a lot of rambling there is this [1] episode of problem of "Well There is your problem". [1] https://youtube.com/watch?v=PW6lg-7L7yk https://youtube.com/watch?v=PW6lg-7L7yk

nix23 5y ago

And Qatar is not better in that regard. >Revealed: 6,500 migrant workers have died in Qatar since World Cup awarded https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/feb/23/revealed-migrant-worker-deaths-qatar-fifa-world-cup-2022 https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/feb/23/r... Thank you FIFA for knowing it beforehand and give a shi* about it...once more.

cblconfederate 5y ago

Worth noting that this guy's channel is overly dismissive of everyone, sometimes strawmanning, and a bit nihilist. That said, Dubai turned to an unmitigated disaster of a real estate excess which will disintegrate in the sand from which it came unless its owners do something completely drastic. Covid-19 put the tombstone in the plans to build the Las Vegas of middle east

jhbadger 5y ago
There are things and people he is for -- he isn't dismissive of everyone and everything. For example, he is a fan of traditional rail and subway systems and thinks we should build more of them. What he is dismissive of (and I think with reason) are things like the hyperloop, which he suspects not only are unworkable, but are promoted precisely to avoid investing in proven infrastructure like trains and subways and instead waiting for this miracle technology that will be ready "any day now".
- Tarsul 5y ago
  whats his opinion on maglev (Transrapid) trains?
  - emikulic 5y ago
    I know he doesn't like monorails but I don't know about maglevs.
  - tsujp 5y ago
    He doesn’t like maglev either because it’s extremely expensive compared to high speed rail and cites the Shanghai airports operating loss as an example. It also has similar infrastructure requirements as a monorail: a more complex platform than traditional rail.
- relativ575 5y ago
  > this miracle technology that will be ready "any day now". Which hyperloop projects are promised to be ready any day now? Infrastructure projects are usually announced years in advance, and more often than not run into delay. I'm not aware of a firm date for any public ready hyperloop systems.

Barrin92 5y ago

the gulf states are a weird place to be. For the most part it really does have a complete fakeness to it. Being there feels exactly like what it is, a bunch of autocratic new money building itself status symbols. However I would call it more 20th century than 21st century, because all the aesthetics are like someone watched to many Western sci-fi movies of the 60s, 70s and 80s like Blade Runner and then decided to build exactly that because it looked cool, weirdly retro-futuristic. It's also often weird in a way that it tries to blend local and traditional culture with its material excess, but in a way you would expect from someone at the other end of the world who doesn't actually know anything about it.

junon 5y ago

This video is so, so good. The sewage trucks had me feeling several emotions all at once.

bellyfullofbac 5y ago

I remember reading a reddit retort from an expat who lived in Dubai when someone asked him why he lived in a slave state; he said something along the lines of the West also uses slave labor, who makes your electronics (or mines the minerals for them?), your clothes (probably poorly paid Bangladeshi). The difference is distance, in the Emirate countries the distance to the slave is a lot shorter...

nix23 5y ago
Having slaves IN your country IS something you can change, having slaves in other country's is not (or just very slow ATM). That expat has a disgusting mindset if you ask me. But having said that, Spain/Italy and the USA has their Modern-Slaves too, you don't have to go as far as bangladesh.
kamray23 5y ago
Arrogant immigrants are arrogant, classic whataboutism as well. "Everything I have is built by slaves? Well everything you have is built by slaves too, slavery must not be a bad thing!"
- bellyfullofbac 5y ago
  Why isn't it a legitimate argument? It's true, isn't it? People like to accuse others of bad behavior because they think they're pious (speaking of "arrogant"...), but they themselves are ignorant of theirs. If the people complaining are ethical consumers, then...
  - nix23 5y ago
    So you support having Slaves in your own country too? You cannot immediately force ANOTHER country to stop with that, but you can stop it in your own, that's the difference, and you should not support a country who openly use humans like that. But yes you have a point, for example the FIFA (HQ in Switzerland) knew how bad the working conditions for the WM in Qatar where and gave a shi* about it (~6500 death)

anm89 5y ago

I love the point about how much smarter it would have been to invert the palm island by bringing the water inward as opposed to the land outward. I never thought of that. I'm not an engineer but that sounds about 100 times easier and more cost efficient.