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This is a skyline that seemed out of reach when they were young. For thirty years, Amanda’s childhood home was in the same place, with only a few miles of empty desert outside.
In the process of Dubai’s rapid rise from a pearl town to a booming financial center, Jebel Ali VillageA series of huts built for European port workers in the late 1970s remained basically unchanged.
This is a relic of another era. Foreign residents still stroll along quiet, windy roads and play Christmas bingo games in the clubhouse.
But now, the bulldozer is here.
Nakheel, the state-owned developer of Dubai’s iconic Palm Island, announced plans to demolish the community to make room for a gated luxury two-story villa community. Residents discovered that a 12-month eviction notice was posted on their door.
53-year-old Amanda James said: “We are almost breaking down. His British father moved his family to this village for the first time in 1984.” Iran-Iraq war. I have experienced two Gulf Wars. …We have been through three generations. People are growing up, meeting, and family members are all here in history. ”
In response to a request for comment, Nakheel stated that it had informed residents of its plan and complied with legal requirements.
The company said: “We recognize the importance of Jebel Ali Village to Dubai’s history and its residents, and therefore decided to redevelop the community to protect and extend the life of its descendants.” Parks, sports fields and bike paths will be in new ways Gather the residents together.
As oil flourished in the 1970s, American and European employees of the International Petroleum Corporation were lured by generous living allowances to the dusty towns of the Persian Gulf.Expatriates and their families settled in the heavily fortified communities in the area, changing the outposts, such as Saudi Arabian Petroleum Company. Compounded into an elaborate landscape replica of the California suburbs.
Dubai doesn’t have much oil, but with everything it has, Jebel Ali was built, the region’s first major shipping hub and dry dock. Dutch and British port workers moved into houses built with concrete windshields. With the development of the community, a school came into being. The same goes for the stables, swimming pools and clubhouses, where residents gather for brunch and beer exchange stories.
Donna Dickinson, 40, from Norfolk, England, said: “This sense of community is very unique in this place. She spent her teenage years in the village and moved back to her family last year.” Copy my childhood for my children. ”
Residents recalled the rapid changes in the city, which reached a climax in 2002, when the rulers of Dubai allowed foreigners to buy real estate in the emirate.That frees one real estate Speculators fueled the enthusiasm.
Luxurious residential developments, expansive golf courses, luxury resorts, exquisite water parks and huge shopping malls crowded the land around James’ home. Over time, the coral stone houses of the ruler of the emirate along the Dubai Creek were razed to the ground.
“A lot of history has been dismantled and replaced,” said Todd Reisz, author of “Showpiece City: How Architecture Made Dubai”, talking about the razed treasure. “For a city that is always trying to meet market demands, change is inevitable. But there are still places with culture and places where we understand history.”
Nakheel announced plans to renovate Jebel Ali village and evict residents before demolition. But the real estate bubble burst in 2008. The company struggled with billions of dollars in debt and abandoned its vision for the website.
As Dubai’s real estate prices plummeted and oil-rich Abu Dhabi rescued the emirate from default, rural houses were left vacant. Years later, with the economic recovery, Nakheel allowed new and old residents to return, ready to spend money to restore this dilapidated community to its former glory.
“When you are an expat, owning the history of a certain place is quite difficult,” said Dickinson, as her 7-year-old son is bouncing on a trampoline. Behind him, Dubai’s huge aluminum smelter near the port is looming.
She said that in a temporary city where foreigners holding short-term visas and unable to obtain citizenship far outnumber locals, the village “has always been home in my heart, really,” she said.
However, there are signs that one of Dubai’s last fortresses in the 1970s may soon cease to exist.
In 2017, Nakheel transformed the rustic clubhouse into a stylish bar with suede chairs, and added a dining cinema named after the food network star Guy Fieri-in stark contrast to the dilapidated country houses. Even if the children on bicycles return to the winding roads, some houses are still abandoned, attracting noisy teenagers in search of secret gathering places, to the chagrin of residents.
Rumors spread from the village about Nakheel’s plan to demolish all of this. But it wasn’t until last week that the residents’ most worried issue was confirmed. Flyers proclaiming “the past has a new future” covered their cars and gates to advertise modern glass and steel villas.
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