Geography Teaching Today

In this lesson students understand that the construction boom in Dubai raises a variety of environmental issues. Students consider the relative importance of different environmental issues in Dubai and go on to design environmentally friendly fantasy architecture, based on an actual location in Dubai.

Key questions:

• What are the environmental issues that impact on the rapid growth of Dubai?
• How could architecture be designed to be more environmentally sustainable?
• What is the likely future for Dubai?

Key Concepts:
Interdependence
Environmental Interaction and sustainable development
Cultural understanding and diversity

What are the environmental issues that impact on the rapid growth of Dubai?
The sustainability of the new booming Dubai is a worry for environmentalists. In recent global analysis of ecological resource use, the UAE came top as the least environmentally friendly country owing to its heavy reliance on air conditioning and desalinated water just to survive (in the summer it can be more than 40 degrees Celsius outside) - each resident in Dubai uses twice the resources of the average Briton.

Turning sand (which Dubai has lots of) into real estate to sell for cash is one of the strategies of economic diversification away from oil. Building ‘The World' on its doorstep in order to attract the world to Dubai is having environmental costs. 33 million cubic metres of sand and shell from the sea bed have been dredged up to make the islands. Plumes of sediment disturbed by the developments have smothered sparse coral outcrops and dredging is causing permanent changes to current systems in the Gulf that carry developing fish and coral through the marine ecosystem.

Some environmentalists even think that this is short-term impact and that new dive sites will be created from the islands which will be a positive thing.

But would projects like this be permitted in Europe? Are attitudes toward the environment different?

How could architecture be designed to be more environmentally sustainable?
The challenge of building a sustainable building in the desert invites some interesting ideas. These include a revolving skyscraper powered by wind turbines placed between each floor. Each floor rotates separately meaning the building's profile will constantly change. The idea is that the tower will generate surplus energy to power other buildings.

What is the likely future for Dubai?
Dubai is greatly dependent on the availability of cheap energy, and its per capita consumption of energy is amongst the highest in the world. Cheaply available oil is used to desalinize the water that irrigates the lush tropical landscapes implanted in its desert, and that supports the water-spending habits of its leisure tourism and residents. It is used to air-condition its massive interior spaces during the gruellingly hot summer months. It is used to run motor vehicles in a city designed exclusively for automobiles (which increasingly are stuck in traffic) and not for pedestrians.

As global warming is becoming a more serious and real threat to the livelihood of the planet, there is a rising awareness that such a lifestyle that is dependent on an intensive consumption of fossil fuels may not be sustainable. Dubai's coastal location and low-lying reclaimed land mean it is at increased risk from flooding as sea-levels rise.

The city's location requires an almost total dependency on medium-haul air travel to survive, most visitors coming from Europe and India.

Click on an activity:
Starter
Main activity
Plenary

Downloads:

Diamond 9 activity

Future for Dubai blog extract