Mega projects in the UAE

It's worth checking out this slideshow of two massive developments in the UAE. One is of an all new city in Dubai (which I guess will be called "new new Dubai") and the other is of an eco-city in Abu Dhabi. The artist renditions of Dubai are all taken from 30,000 feet -- you see no people, and get no sense of what it will actually be like to live there. Dubai just not into that kind of detail.

By contrast, the pictures of Abu Dhabi's eco-city are much closer in. You see actually people walking down actual shaded streets. I have a feeling that it will be much nicer, although I also think they're going to end up sealing the whole thing and air-conditioning it (assuming it ever gets built). Abu Dhabi thinks it can also avoid filthy commerce, and run the entire city off museums and universities. Abu Dhabi is just not into that kind of detail.