Page 288 - UAE Truncal States

A City Stale - Example Dubai

The harbour project, leading to large-scale
industrialisation
In about 19G4 il became obvious that before very long there would be
more sea-borne traffic than could be handled in the creek. The
number of local, Iranian, and Pakistani dhows entering Dubai Creek
was increasing rapidly; ocean-going vessels were calling in ever-
increasing numbers and still had to be off-loaded onto barges out at
sea; the barges then unloaded in the creek. To add to this growing
congestion, industrial enterprises such as McDermott, building off­
shore oil platforms, and Oilfield Supplies Co. were also based in the
creek. When il became apparent that oil would soon be exported
from Fath, Dubai’s off-shore field, Halcrows were commissioned in
1965 to undertake a feasibility study for a deep water harbour. The
plan chosen was for a harbour to accommodate four ocean-going
vessels, which could be expanded to berth nine ships. It was not
difficult to arrange for foreign credit, as Dubai’s off-shore oil-field
was soon to come on stream. The contract for the construction of the
four-berth harbour, worth about £9 million, was signed on 6 June
1967, but the start of work was delayed for several months due to the
outbreak of the June war.
Meanwhile congestion in the creek became ever more acute as the
building boom in both the public and the private sector accelerated;
the expansion of the RAF base at Sharjah in 1967 also contributed to
the quickening pace of economic growth. Therefore Shaikh Rashid
decided to have the design of the extension to the harbour altered to
include fifteen berths; the £23 million Port Rashid project was
officially opened on 5 October 1972.
When people’s attention was turned from merely improving
facilities at the creek to building a deep water harbour in 1967, the
population of Dubai numbered some 59,000.44 In 1973, when the City
State enjoyed the benefits of the new harbour, the population had
grown to an estimated 120,000, and by 1981 to well over one quarter
of a million, due to immigration from abroad. The rapidly developing
infrastructure serving the needs of the local community was
progressively overshadowed by the very diverse requirements of the
many nationalities who came to Dubai in such large numbers; their
different life styles and habits, their requirements for medical
services, schools, power and water all had to be met. Within a space
of ten years Dubai was transformed: multi-storey buildings now
overshadow the fine wind towers, the old fort has been converted to a

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