Dubai, UAE the magical kingdom of glittering wealth and startling architectural commissions can’t seem to get out of the news. Coverage of the Kingdom comes in two basic flavors; Positive and extremely negative.The positive view emerges from the sheer visionary spectacle of modern, design, architecture and building that is underway. These include man made islands, buildings that resemble sailing ships and soon a rotating residential skyscraper. A strikingly designed museum with art borrowed from the Louvre has presented modern art in a part of the world largely unfamiliar with the subject. The master architects and urban planners who have descended on the city-state are pursuing once-in-a-lifetime commissions for fairy tale buildings. The best of their efforts are little short of amazing, ensuring that Dubai will be the center of Middle Eastern sophistication and culture for generations to come. The negative view is that Dubai’s wealth arises from its secret banking laws making it the new Switzerland of the world. This sparks criticism that the country has essentially become the gold reserve for; Plunderers of national sovereign funds, blood diamonds, stolen money, drug profits and others who need to hide the source of their wealth. Coincident with these charges that the kingdom floats on a sea of questionable money are the human rights abuses. Construction workers are paid $5 a day or less, no health care for injuries and routine confiscation of passports. As construction projects went on hiatus due to the worldwide financial slowdown workers began to flee the country . Their panic was sparked by the fact that Dubai has debtor’s prisons and if you fail to pay your bills, there’s a jail cell waiting for you courtesy of the emir. Many workers decided to skip the country rather than try and navigate Dubai’s  judicial system.

Newspapers and magazines ranging from Architectural Record to the New York Times have had pieces on this story from time to time but the narrative is still being written. ArchitectureWorld.tv has compiled blogs, articles and websites that speak to the main issues involving architecture, worker's rights and building in Dubai.



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