Social And Economic Impacts Of The Palm Essay

Social and Economic Impacts of the Palm

In 2006 the building of the Palm Jumeirah, the first in the Palm Trilogy of man made Islands, was completed in Dubai, which is in the north east of the United Arab Emirates. Before the Palm Jumeirah was built, Dubai had a major beach shortage so a company called Nakheel came up with the idea to build a very large man-made Island in the shape of a Palm Tree to provide plentiful new coastline for the city. The Palm Jumirah has had a number of both positive and negative social, environmental and social impacts for Dubai.

A big social impact of the Palm is the positive influence it has had on employment in Dubai. The construction of the Island alone created many jobs for people, especially the lower class, who may have been struggling to find employment before hand. The inflating tourist industry will have also established many employment opportunities in different fields (food, shopping, transport etc.) Having an employed city will decrease crime rates and social controversy and definitely make for a much more peaceful city.  
The influx of migrant workers and settlers which are arriving by the thousand to Dubai has been another social impact. When an outsider comes into a place they do not usually understand how insiders operate, but in Dubai’s case the effects have shown that instead of the immigrants adjusting to the local’s culture and way of like, they are introducing their own. An example of this is the language. Fifty years ago 80% of the residents spoke Arabic now in 2008 fewer than 30% speak the language. This culture separation may cause disharmony amongst the residence and result in a violent segregated society. On top of all this there is the problem of providing housing for all of the migrant workers.

It is thought that by 2010 Dubai’s oil supply will run out so the building of the Palms will introduce a whole new industry-tourism. This will have a big economical impact on Dubai. The establishment of the...