Sharjah is the third largest emirate of the United Arab Emirates. With an area of 2,600 sq km, it is similar in size to Ireland’s County Limerick, and it has a population of 800,000 people. It also has land on the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
The cultural capital of the UAE, Sharjah accounts for approximately 7.5 per cent of the UAE's GDP. Although it may be lagging behind Abu Dhabi and Dubai in terms of development activity, Sharjah does have development ambitions.
During the 90’s and early 2000’s Sharjah’s main focus was on industrial development: It now accounts for 48 per cent of the UAE's entire industrial output. It has 11 industrial zones across 26 sq km, linking the UAE's main transport arteries: the north-south Emirates Road, and the east-west highway to Khorfakkan and Fujairah. Sharjah International Airport is also the region's largest airfreight cargo handler.
Further development of Sharjah as an industrial and logistics hub can be expected in the coming years with a recent $130m investment in its road network resulting in the expansion of the important regional artery, the King Abdulaziz Road.
Sharjah's most ambitious development scheme will see the creation of a $5bn retreat for those working in the nearby Dubai City.
The Nujoom Islands, when completed, will comprise a number of tall, mixed-use towers as well as villas, hotels and retail, all linked by a network of ‘swimming canals’ and bridges. Expected to accommodate 80,000 residents and tourists, work on the Nujoom Islands resort started last year.
But before you start thinking of an Amsterdam in the emirates, Sharjah is the most conservative emirate in the UAE. The sale, possession and consumption of alcohol are banned, and there is a conservative dress code for men and women.
Find the latest construction professional jobs in Sharjah, UAE and the Middle East
Friday, September 12, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Dubai – Making pie in the sky a reality
With an area of 4,114-sq km, Dubai is slightly smaller than County Tipperary, and has a population of just under 1.5m people. Dubai's gross domestic product (GDP) surged to a record US$38.7 billion in 2007, is predicted to sustain an average growth rate of 11 per cent for the next eight years.
Much of the emirate of Dubai’s success has been attributed to its political stability when compared to emerging ambitious countries such as Iran and Syria.
The Dubai residential development market is dominated by high end residential development, with the majority of current and future residential supply targeted at high income earners.
The office market in Dubai is seriously undersupplied, with a resulting double digit inflation in rental rates in the past few years. Free zones such as Dubai Media and Internet City and the Media Production Zone are very popular with Blue Chip Clients.
With Grade A office accommodation in poor supply Dubai’s construction industry has had to climb a steep learning curve, with much new office property expected to hit the market over the next 12 to 18 months.
As for commercial development, 75 per cent new retail units in shopping malls to be completed between now and 2010 is already prelet.
The total number of tourists to visit Dubai in 2007 is estimated at about 7million, with hotel occupancy across the year sitting at a comfortable average of about 85 – 88 per cent.
Five Dubai developments to inspire
Much of the emirate of Dubai’s success has been attributed to its political stability when compared to emerging ambitious countries such as Iran and Syria.
The Dubai residential development market is dominated by high end residential development, with the majority of current and future residential supply targeted at high income earners.
The office market in Dubai is seriously undersupplied, with a resulting double digit inflation in rental rates in the past few years. Free zones such as Dubai Media and Internet City and the Media Production Zone are very popular with Blue Chip Clients.
With Grade A office accommodation in poor supply Dubai’s construction industry has had to climb a steep learning curve, with much new office property expected to hit the market over the next 12 to 18 months.
As for commercial development, 75 per cent new retail units in shopping malls to be completed between now and 2010 is already prelet.
The total number of tourists to visit Dubai in 2007 is estimated at about 7million, with hotel occupancy across the year sitting at a comfortable average of about 85 – 88 per cent.
Five Dubai developments to inspire
- Dubailand: When completed, Dubailand will be the largest theme park in the world. Spread over seven ‘Worlds’ (Attractions & Experience; Retail & Entertainment; Themed Leisure & Vacation; Eco-Tourism; Sports & Outdoor; Downtown; and Science & Planetarium), Dubailand is being built in four phases. The first phase is due for completion by early 2010, with overall completion expected some time between 2015 and 2018. It is seen a strategic tool to move the UAE economy move away from its reliance on oil. Cost of development is being estimated at approximately US$70bn.
- Dubai Sports City: Set within Dubailand, the US$4bn Dubai Sports City will comprise over 50m sq ft of sporting venues, academies, homes, cultural centres and retail developments. It is due for completion in 2010 and may be a future Olympic venue.
- Business Bay: “A business city within a city”, Business Bay is being hailed locally as “the Wall Street of the Middle East" – One of Dubai’s ambitions is to become a world business hub. With an area of over 64million sq ft Business Bay will feature office and residential towers in landscaped gardens, interspersed with a network for roads, pathways and the 13-lane Business Bay Crossing Bridge. Phase One of the ambitious project comprising over 200 towers is due for completion in 2010.
- Burj Dubai: The Burj Dubai is already the world’s tallest skyscraper, and it is still growing. Due for completion in September 2009, the budget for the project is €1.4bn. As of 01 September, 2008, the Burj Dubai had reached 160 floors and a height of 688m to become the world’s tallest man-made structure.
- Dubai Towers at The Lagoons: The twisting Dubai Towers at The Lagoons are due for completion in 2010, and are somewhat evocative of Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona. Towers 4 will be one of the tallest towers in the world, coming in at 550m.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Abu Dhabi – Where big is just too small
In 2007, the construction sector of Abu Dhabi was valued at €4.7bn. An aggressive marketing campaign carried out by the emirate in the past year suggests that growing confidence in the state will bring its share of the overall UAE mortgage market from five per cent in 2007 to 22 per cent by the end 2008. That is a growth rate of over 400 per cent in just over a year.
The sales price growth of property in Abu Dhabi is reported to have by 53 percent to date between 2007 and 2008 (Colliers International). It is predicted the under-supply of residential property in the emirate will continues for the next three years to at least beyond 2010.
In the commercial market, office supply is currently mostly concentrated in the Abu Dhabi City area. However, key areas for commercial development in the next two to five years will be Al Raha Beach, Al Reem Island, the Between Bridges Project and the ADNEC Capital Centre.
A strategic plan for the future development of the Abu Dhabi City up to 2030 foresees the creation of two new Central Business Districts (Al Suwa Island Financial Centre and the Capital District), at opposite ends of the city, where office spaces will be consolidated.
The prestige tourist market continues to grow in Abu Dhabi. 10,000 new hotel rooms are due for completion between now and 2010, with a further 7,000 rooms by 2015.
Five Abu Dhabi Developments to Watch
Find the latest construction professional jobs in Abu Dhabi, UAE and the Middle East
The sales price growth of property in Abu Dhabi is reported to have by 53 percent to date between 2007 and 2008 (Colliers International). It is predicted the under-supply of residential property in the emirate will continues for the next three years to at least beyond 2010.
In the commercial market, office supply is currently mostly concentrated in the Abu Dhabi City area. However, key areas for commercial development in the next two to five years will be Al Raha Beach, Al Reem Island, the Between Bridges Project and the ADNEC Capital Centre.
A strategic plan for the future development of the Abu Dhabi City up to 2030 foresees the creation of two new Central Business Districts (Al Suwa Island Financial Centre and the Capital District), at opposite ends of the city, where office spaces will be consolidated.
The prestige tourist market continues to grow in Abu Dhabi. 10,000 new hotel rooms are due for completion between now and 2010, with a further 7,000 rooms by 2015.
Five Abu Dhabi Developments to Watch
- Yas Island Formula 1 Racetrack: (Phase 1 due for completion late 2008). This €28.5Bn Entertainment Island will be home to the world's first Ferrari Theme Park.
- Masdar City: Ironically for the oil rich UAE, the 6-sq km Masdar City is to be 100 per cent environmentally friendly and carbon neutral and will house 50,000 residents when completed in 2015. Phase 0ne of the €22bn city is due for completion by the end of 2009, with phase six planned for completion 2015.
- Saadiyat Island: A new €280m Guggenheim Museum, due for completion in 2011, will be the centre piece of this cultural island which will also include a Louvre Gallery, a Maritime Museum and the Sheikh Zayed National Museum. The island will be completed with luxury villas, condos and apartments, golf courses and 29 hotels.
- Khalifa City: The future capital of the UAE, Khalifa City will be a totally new master-planned metropolis which will take another 20 years to complete.
- Reem Island: This gargantuan new Island Project that will be the centrepiece and jewel in the crown of Abu Dhabi. Eventually it will become home to over 250,000 residents as well as a large number of businesses.
Find the latest construction professional jobs in Abu Dhabi, UAE and the Middle East
United Arab Emirates – Where construction professionals dare
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) comprises seven oil-rich federations in the Persian Gulf region of the Middle East. Incidentally, an emirate is a State nation ruled by a hereditary emir. The two other independent emirates in the Persian Gulf region are Kuwait and Qatar.
The emirate states – particularly Abu Dhabi and Dubai – have set themselves up as a global fulcrum linking East and West, in which the most ambitious, somewhat madcap, and certainly “gargantuan ”construction ambitions will be realised over the coming years.
For anyone with ambitions as a construction professional or building contractor, this is the place to be.
The largest of the UAE states is Abu Dhabi, which also contains the UAE’s capital, Abu Dhabi City.
The seven UAE states in order of size are:
Over the following blogs we will assess the ambitions of these individual emirates as well as look at the ambitions of other emirates and kingdoms in the region.
Find the latest construction professional jobs in the United Arab Emirates and the Middle East
The emirate states – particularly Abu Dhabi and Dubai – have set themselves up as a global fulcrum linking East and West, in which the most ambitious, somewhat madcap, and certainly “gargantuan ”construction ambitions will be realised over the coming years.
For anyone with ambitions as a construction professional or building contractor, this is the place to be.
The largest of the UAE states is Abu Dhabi, which also contains the UAE’s capital, Abu Dhabi City.
The seven UAE states in order of size are:
- Abu Dhabi (67,340-sq km)
- Dubai (4,114-sq km)
- Sharjah (2,600-sq km)
- Ras al-Khaimah (1,700-sq km)
- Fujairah (1,150-sq km)
- Umm al-Quwain (750-sq km)
- Ajman (260-sq km).
Over the following blogs we will assess the ambitions of these individual emirates as well as look at the ambitions of other emirates and kingdoms in the region.
Find the latest construction professional jobs in the United Arab Emirates and the Middle East
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