Sat, 13 Mar 2010, 30 minutes, Current Affairs, CC, Repeat
No sooner had the spire been fixed to the world's tallest building than an almighty shiver went through the sprawling super-city below. What? Could it be possible that this glittering celebration of wealth, this ultimate gathering place of the world's well-heeled had , er, money problems?
Sure it could.
In fact it's surprising it hadn't happened earlier when the rest of the world was reeling from the Global Financial Crisis. Because if there's one thing Dubai relies on for its audacious growth and dizzying plans – it's the rest of the world.
Oh, and as we'll see in our story, the largesse of neighbours.
Cashed-up Europeans bought luxurious villas, global celebrities bought sandy islands shaped like countries and international businesses and an army of expatriate executives set up shop. This was a place where 5 stars were frankly slumming it, so they bolted another and another to marble edifices everywhere.
Then just as everyone was getting comfy in their Gucci loafers, Hermes scarves and crispy-cool air-conditioning - the unthinkable! One of the Emirate city's biggest operations Dubai World was billions of dollars down the hole. Confidence was rocked and fears grew that Dubai would sink into its setting as if the desert were quicksand.
At the last minute a wealthy neighbour rode over the sand-dunes with a bag of money.
