Key to the World: Sky's the Limit in Dubai

April 23, 2007 — -- Their motto could be, "Excuse our dust…and our audacity."

Coming soon to Dubai: the world's only shape-changing skyscraper, with individually rotating floors, an amusement park three times the size of Manhattan and a Versace-owned resort, complete with an air-conditioned beach.

Plans for the future Dubai seem like fantasies, until you witness present-day Dubai.

In just over a decade, the city has built massive skyscrapers and gleaming malls, indoor ski slopes and world-class hotels with chilled swimming pools and 12-page pillow menus. Tiger Woods, Roger Federer and Andre Agassi have taken part in publicity stunts for the United Arab Emirates, playing a few rounds from thousands of feet above ground. In a city that will soon be home to the world's tallest building, they build islands in the shapes of palm trees and a splintered map of the world. The 10-acre "Florida" can be yours for $32 million.

"Before," said Dr. Eesa Bastaki, standing on the rooftop of his childhood home, "we could see just the creek, the beautiful creek, and the houses on the end."

That roof was the highest spot in town when Bastaki was a boy.

Through the 1970s, his family watched as the ruler, Sheik Rashid bin Saeed al Maktoum, set out to turn the sleepy trading post into a world-class business hub. He deepened the salt creek, expanded the port and started an airline with two jumbo jets.

Turning Sand Into Gold

Twenty years later, Emirates Air has 102 jets, and the vision for Dubai is now carried by the son, Sheik Mohammed -- a multibillionaire who races horses, writes poetry and runs this city-state like an overcaffeinated CEO, exploiting the port's prime location, surrounding wealth and international talent.

But the secret of his success may be something his land doesn't have: oil. There is a small amount of crude under Dubai, and what little there is will be gone by the end of the decade. So unlike other Middle Eastern countries, the royal family in Dubai has been forced to come up with new ways to turn their sand into gold.

"We don't have much oil -- I mean, today, I don't think we have more than 70 to 80,000 barrels a day, and that's a very small quantity, so we had to diversify our economy," said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al Maktoum, the chairman of Emirates Air and a member of the royal family.

"Dubai has said it loudly that life without oil is infinitely better than life with oil. That's the Dubai model," said Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, a professor of political science at Emirates University.

While much of the Arab world thrives on the rising price of oil and gas, in Dubai, it is all about building and banking, technology and tourism. And to fuel the boom, the Emirates must lure brains and brawn from around the world. In fact, Emiratis have become a minority in their own country: 80 percent of the population in Dubai is made up of expatriates and foreign workers.

'England Without the Rain'

This creates both tolerance and, some say, cases of exploitation. Hordes of South Asians are paid less than a dollar an hour to build these skyscrapers. The humanitarian organization Human Rights Watch claims that thousands have dropped dead during 12-hour shifts in the heat.

It's a different story for the Europeans who come here for the high-paying jobs and hyperactive nightlife. Englishman Stewart Aldus moved to Dubai last year and was out on a recent Tuesday at one of Dubai's many nightclubs.

"Work hard, play hard," he said. "They work you very hard out here. But, lots of women, lots of bars -- it's like England without the rain. I mean, what more could I want? Why would I ever go back now?"

Aldus sells insurance for five times the salary he would make back in England.

"You just have to know the hierarchy. King. Emiratis. Whites. Workers. I'm not racist, that's just the way it is," he said.

The epic party scene is just one of many collisions between Islam and liberal Western values.

"I went to this water park and I saw a woman in a thong," said Roland, a college student who was raised in Saudi Arabia and Dubai -- and was home for spring break. "I thought she was going to get taken away somewhere but she was fine."

Mohammed al Roken is one of the few prominent natives speaking out against this economic rocket ride.

"It creates some anger," he said, "but it's an inner anger that voice only in closed circuits among the families."

Roken fears that his people are selling out their Arab identity for profits. But his voice is drowned out by those who believe they can have both.

The Religion of Business

While Dubai remains part of the Muslim world, the real religion here is business.

"The people of the population who live here, they love the place," said Sheikh Ahmed. "They have a business that they enjoy. They will always want it to be that way."

"This is a city that is packed with talents, packed with creative minds that are coming from all over -- from Asia, from the Arab world, from America, and it is the energy that these guys bring to the city that makes it tick," said Abdulla.

So the businessman in charge keeps building -- and writing -- on a dizzying scale. Sheik Mohammed's poetry will surround one of the man-made islands, spelled out in villas on stilts.

"It takes a man of great vision to write on water," it will read.

And there may be more to come. "Sheik Mo," as he is called, is fond of saying that all of this -- all of this audacity under construction -- represents less than 10 percent of his vision for Dubai.