GIANT DUBAI PROJECT IN CHAOS
CITY OF ARABIA LOSES  TOP CONSTRUCTION FIRM
Cloaked in denials and contradictions the story leaked out anyway. Hill International the people who like to build on a grand scale have left the massive project. DubaiLand of which the City of Arabia was to be a showpiece containing the Wadi Walk and shopping oasis is now in crisis..... News from the magical kingdom is always difficult to confirm for several reasons. The first is that it is a real, old-fashioned kingdom with princes and emirs and others who dispense justice in a manner that Westerners would find objectionable. And therefore unwelcome news carries a punishment clause. Secondly, even a company that hates Dubai and gets fired will always hope they get the next design contract, project management or planning commission. Commissions that easily reach into the many millions of dollars. In short, for the construction, architecture and building industries, Dubai and the  UAE are the best payday in town.

Hill International as best as can be ascertained, didn't get paid on time or in full. Other reasons may appear from the desert sands later but this doesn't seem to be an amicable split. But rather one of fiduciary necessity. The firm responsible for hiring and then watching Hill disappear over the hill has issued the standard PR releases on the mutual respect everyone has for one another and yet, one of the world's top project risk management firms has departed the project. In Hollywood terms this would be akin to the director leaving the film half way through shooting. PR padlum aside, the underlining reasons can't be good. For the 1,500 workers from foreign countries who exist in Dubai on $9 day in pay, conditions are likely to go from intolerable to worse.
CONSTRUCTION WEEK ON LINE'S REPORT

CITY OF ARABIA VIDEO
The video is a fascinating snapshot of culture and architecture. It starts with the kickoff party for the project with an animatronic T-Rex and segues into building animations and architecture models. The intersection of the stunning architecture, Arabian culture, 21st century dinosaurs and a party that would put Bernie Madoff to shame is the thing to watch. Surrealistic with fascist overtones. 5 stars.