The
city boasts world class hotels, hospitals, universities, and museums—namely the
7 star Emirates Palace (the only 7 star hotel in the world), Cleveland
Clinic and John Hopkins, Sorbonne and
New York University, the Louvre and Guggenheim are currently under
construction.
Most
people can’t find Abu Dhabi on a map.
They’ve heard of Dubai---the Palm islands, the opulence, the money, the
largest skyscraper in the world. They
see Dubai on television, read about it in magazines as a luxury playground for
the rich and famous. Abu what?
All
that has changed in the last five years, and more will change in the next five
to ten years as Abu Dhabi’s Development Authority puts into play the plans for
2030---an elaborate well-thoughout city design plan to build up Abu Dhabi and
literally put it on the map.
On the
surface what has happened in Abu Dhabi mirrors Dubai---what I call a Disney
World. Not real. Everything has been built in the last 10
years or so. What drove Dubai’s
development is not what drives Abu Dhabi’s growth. Dubai is story of survival—a small city
running out of oil saving itself with tourism, commercialization, and lots of
pizzazz. Abu Dhabi doesn’t need to save
anything. It’s the richest city in the
world with oil reserves and the financial wherewithal to sit back and watch
Dubai, even bail it out to the tune of 10 billion dollars. Abu Dhabi has diversified its economy away
from oil. Its residents are real estate
and business moguls who own some of the richest companies in the world. It’s pretty amazing.
Abu
Dhabi sits atop of a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf. An elegant Corniche, a coastal road that
follows a coastline, stretches along the length of the city’s coastline. There are manicured round-abouts and gardens
and parks, flowing fountains, and more trees than anywhere on the Gulf. 
The two
cities are friendly rivals in the global arena and operate like a family
business. The Maktoum family of Dubai
and the Nahyan family of Abu Dhabi are cousins.
Dubai, an emirate the size of Rhode Island, was concentrated on a small
merchant community that capitalized on the town’s navigable Dubai Creek. Abu Dhabi, roughly the size of West Virginia,
was much poorer. Bedouin tribesmen
roamed the desert. Pearl diving was the
main occupation. The divers lived in
huts where the city lies today and traveled back and forth between the coast
and the oasis Al Ain.
In
1958, British explorers discovered the fifth-largest crude reserve, 90 percent
of which was under the town of Abu Dhabi.
That discovery made the Nahyans the dominant family in the region when
the British pulled out in 1971. SheikhZayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, now called the Father of the country, the ruler of
Abu Dhabi, became the President of the newly formed Federation of the UAE,
which Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed al Maktoum of Dubai became Prime Minister.
When
the oil started flowing the city of Abu Dhabi had just 46,000 people, four
doctors, and five schools---none of which existed in the early 1960’s---and
Sheikh Zayed had a vision to carve out a modern country in the sand. Rich people had mud houses; the poor families
built houses of reeds. Zayed believed
education to be the future of the country.
Longtime government advisor Mohammed Ahmed al Bowardi remembers, “as
students, we were provided books, transportation, and a small salary.” The 100 dirham provided, about $27 today,
meant a lot to the students. It was an
incentive to attend school.
Zayed
was savvy. He insisted that “not a
single grain of sand” be sold. Most men
received a plot of land but transferring ownership was required by the Sheikh’s
approval. Native-born Abu Dhabians, rapidly
becoming a minority in their own country, got land while outsiders didn’t. This restriction eventually changed and 99-year
leaseholds purchases were allowed by foreigners. The real estate boom started as a result of
this decree. Abu Dhabi now boasts an
international airport, home to the world’s best airline carrier Etihad Airways,
and the landmark Emirates Palace Hotel, the world’s third largest mosque, as
well as the Yas Island development that hosts Formula One racing each year with
a landmark hotel with the racetrack running through it and a marina where rich
Gulf residents watch the race from aboard their docked private yachts. 
Abu
Dhabi dreams of becoming the cultural oasis in the desert with the $30 billion
project of Saadiyat Island that includes 29 hotels, three marinas, two golf
courses, and exclusive housing for 150,000 people. This development includes the Louvre and
Guggenheim museums that are presently under construction and the completed
Cultural Arts Center already hosting exhibits from around the world.
The one
thing about Abu Dhabi is that the plan involves retaining the more traditional
and religious population and customs of the country. They are unwilling to sacrifice these things
for tourism. Advertising for Abu Dhabi
tend to show Arab families in traditional dress engaged in traditional Arab
activities and focuses on family. Even
though the ex-patriot community is evident everywhere you turn in Abu Dhabi,
traditionalism and national pride are paramount. Locals rarely step out in anything other than
their national dress. It is a sense of
pride for the nationals and the drive to retain their culture. 
Abu
Dhabi is the legitimate business capital of the Emirates. Many of the country’s largest corporations
are based in Abu Dhabi. ADX, the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange is located on Hamdan
Street in downtown Abu Dhabi. Mubadala, a government owned corporation with
a mandate to facilitate the diversification of Abu Dhabi’s economy, is involved
in development projects around the world.
HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al Nahyan
serves as its Chairman of the Board. The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, which Sheikh
Zayed set up to manage the emirate’s oil profits in 1976, now has an estimated
more than $1 trillion invested in world markets. With the Middle East known as a primary
source of oil and capital, the Emirates have been very important to the growth
and stability of the global economy. And
it all happens right here in Abu Dhabi!
The Arabs are smart, sophisticated, and well trained----and not to be
underestimated. They could just as well
be working at Goldman Sachs or a powerful corporation in the US. 
CNN.money.com, Mar 2007, "The Richest City in the World, Gimbel, Barney, Fortune Magazine.
