Dubai

(Image: Burj Dubai. When it opens in 2009 it will be the largest man-made structure in the world)

I have a love affair with Dubai. I have wanted to travel there since I first started learning about it and the amazing advancements that are being made there. But since that time I've grown more and more wary of the over the top opulence that continues to come out of there.

Last month there was the celebration for Atlantis The Palm in Dubai:



Then there was the whole moving building concept:

Premiere architecture dynamique au monde à Dubaï
by allcurious

None of this is wrong in any moral sense, mind you. But couple it with the island building, the indoor ski resorts, and then you throw in a refrigerated beach, you begin to get the feeling like the city is setting itself up for a big fall. I'm all for pushing the envelope and creating new and exciting things. But in a world that is being challenged economically the way we are, I'm not sure how wise or sustainable all this is.

I'm reminded of the great monologue from The Matrix where Agent Smith tells Neo about what a plague on the Earth the human race is. When I see this stuff, I begin to think he may have been onto something...