After the contraction suffered by the building industry in the UAE between 2009 and 2010, as a result of the global financial crisis, with a 2012 turnover of 39.4 billion dollars the sector is now experiencing a new and important growth, with significant investments both in public and private sectors.
The resumption of business is primarily linked to the numerous projects currently being executed, including, in particular, the 1.6 billion dollar new residential plan, announced recently by Meraas Dubai, holding company controlled by the Prime Minister, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and called Bluewaters Island, which will be realized on an artificial island in front of the Jumeirah Beach coast, together with the Dubai Eye, a 272 billion dollar project which will become the new world’s largest observation wheel (210 meters high).
The need to diversify the economy, focusing primarily on services and tourism, has led, over the years, to the creation of structures that are unique, both from the architectural point of view and in terms of size. In January 2010 Burj Khalifa was opened; 828 meters high, it is today’s tallest skyscraper in the world. In 2008 the archipelago The World was completed; a group of three hundred artificial islands, which, when viewed from above, recall the shape of our planet and its continents. Each island will be sold individually at a price ranging between 1 and 15 million dollars depending on the size of the island. Finally, the Palm Islands will be completed by 2015; three artificial peninsulas created in the Persian Gulf. Each island, Palm Jumeirah, Palm Jebel Ali and Palm Deira, will have the exact shape of a palm tree, enclosed by a crescent.
To date, however, the most famous area, in terms of tourism, remains that of Jumeirah, where the same construction holding company owned by Prime Minister, Sheikh Al Maktoum, has built four of the most luxurious hotels in the world, most notably, the famous Burj Al Arabthe, icon of Dubai. It is estimated that the resort has about 23,000 employees, 1,600 of whom are employed in the renowned “Sail” alone.
The recovery of the construction industry has also helped to increase the value of real property which, experienced a dramatic growth between 2011 and 2013. Official figures mark a 56% increase in sales prices and a 41% increase for rentals. Large-scale constructions have transformed Dubai into one of the cities with the largest urban development in the world. Tens of skyscrapers are rising and the city itself is no longer well defined, since also the desert lands are undergoing the building process.
The UAE’s economic boom is also involving the Italian exports connected to the construction industry, which, between 2011 and 2013, showed an increase of 94.8% (almost 3 million euros) compared to previous years, mainly with reference to the mining and quarrying sector.
These estimates, according to the UAE Construction Industry Outlook 2016 report, will certainly be set to increase by about 9.5% over the next four years, bolstered by the recent conquest of the Expo 2020 and the resulting increasingly intense expression of interest towards the Gulf market.
(Bologna Office – Linda Tontodonati – 051 2750020)
