Will the Dubai construction industry ever return to its peak?

Dubai - home to the world's tallest building (The Burj Dubai) and some of the most ambitious and jaw-dropping construction projects in the world. However, despite ongoing construction on mega-projects such as the Dubai Towers and the Dubai Marina, many believed that due to the economic downturn, the construction industry will never return to its 2008 peak.

According to a survey conducted by Arabian Business, 39.9 percent of people questioned believed that the sector would never return to its heyday, a time when property prices were at their highest and billion dollar deals were common.

Since the recession, some 556 Middle Eastern construction projects have been cancelled or shelved, the majority of them being in Dubai. As a result, construction and real estate sectors have been hit hard, with many of them seeking foreign projects, such as Arabtec's St. Petersburg recently announced super skyscraper scheme.

Thomas Barry, CEO of Arabtec, said, speaking to Arabian Business, that it was doubtful that the region's construction sector would return to its 2008 peak and as a result, the business would focus on projects in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and even further afield.

"We will always bid for projects in Dubai, whatever happens and however limited that may be, but our focus," he said.

Meanwhile, EFG-Hermes said the property market in Dubai will remain weak to stable at best, over the next 12 months while markets in Abu Dhabi could also face some pressure from downward pricing and rental trends in Dubai. Analysts Sana Kapadia and Jad Abbas said, speaking to Arab News, "We do not anticipate any strong recovery in Dubai selling prices before the second half of 2010 at the earliest."

Despite the doom and gloom, the sector has still seen growth; currently the UAE has 1,372 building projects under construction or in bidding with a total value of $900 billion. Amongst them are the Dubai Waterfront, which, when finished, will be 2.5 times the size of Washington DC. It will be the largest waterfront and largest man-made development in the world, and house 400,000 people.

Still not convinced the sector could recover? Then what about the largest artificial island project in the world... called, The World.

This artificial archipelago will see 250 to 300 artificial islands created by pumping huge quantities of sand onto the sea floor. Together, these islands will represent and show all the major bodies of land on the planet. Interested? Then you better have the cash as each island costs $25 million.

Oh, and then there's the Dubailand Snowdome. Fancy skiing in the desert? No problem, as this part of Dubailand, the largest theme park in the world when completed, will let you get in some quality slope time.

And I haven't even mentioned the world's first rotating skyscraper....

Something tells me that whilst things may look bad now, Dubai's construction sector will soon be back on top.

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