Coastal Policy and Politics

Dubai is a coastal small state in the Persian Gulf. As we look at coastal development, conservation, and sustainability we need to realize that in most places around the world the opposite is happening!

Dubai is home to the three largest man-made islands in the world, visible from outer space. (Picture of "Palm Island").

Dubailand, the world's largest theme park, will house 45 megaprojects such as the Snowdome, an indoor ski resort boasting a five-star hotel shaped like an icicle.

• "Tiny Dubai has big plans. Armed with riches seemingly as endless as its ambition, Dubai aims to exploit its Persian Gulf perch to become an aviation superpower. Leaders of this booming Middle Eastern financial center have budgeted $82 billion to construct the world's largest airport on barren desert 30 miles from its downtown and make its home-town carrier, Emirates Airline, one of the biggest on the planet. Dubai wants to make the most of its setting, a crossroads between Europe, Asia, and Africa and a natural link between new economic powers like China and India. Blessed with year-round sunshine, stunning beaches and azure gulf waters, Dubai also is pumping billions of dollars into turning itself into a layover playland."

So what does this mean for the waters and coastal ecosystems in the Gulf?

Development!