Abu Dhabi's Got the Edge on Dubai

The United Arab Emirates of Dubai and Abu Dhabi are generating a lot of speculation and interest as they develop into two major cities, but Abu Dhabi's focus on infrastructure sets it apart -- and ahead -- of its neighboring emirate.

1 minute read

February 5, 2008, 9:00 AM PST

By Nate Berg


"Not that there's a rivalry, but this city, widely regarded as the world's richest, is spending $100 billion -- that's billion-with-a-B -- on infrastructure over the next five years to change its numbers and attract more vacationers. A bigger airport, wider roads and dozens of developments that each measure in the tens of millions of square feet already are under construction, somehow without the frenzied sense of urgency that permeates Dubai."

"The world's only extension of Paris' vaunted Louvre Museum will rise, all 258,000 square feet of it, here in Abu Dhabi. A 323,000-square-foot Guggenheim also is in the works. Look for them to open their doors in 2011-'12 on Saadiyat Island, a 10-square-mile natural formation that claims to be the largest single mixed-use development in the Arabian Gulf, which would make it bigger than any of the man-made island projects Dubai's got going."

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