Dubai is building a moon…
Yes, you read that right.
In an effort to make itself a global leader in ‘space tourism’, it’s launching what will be the region’s biggest ever tourist project.
Dubai’s giant moon will cost Dh18 billion.
It will contain spas, restaurants, nightclubs, luxury residences, a moon shuttle, and training services for various space agencies worldwide.
Take a look at the mock-up.
I’m not sure I’d want it in my backyard, but you can’t deny it’s impressive, to say the least!
Of course, Dubai doesn’t do anything by halves.
Free trade, low taxes, and zero income tax attract businesses and populations from around the world…
As such, Dubai has the world’s highest international passenger flow.
When it was founded in the 18th century, it was little more than a fishing village surrounded by desert.
Now it’s an economic powerhouse.
It boasts a mega city of enormous skyscrapers, ports, beaches, shopping malls with mammoth aquariums and indoor ski slopes…
If you’ve ever visited Dubai, you’ll know it does luxury like nowhere else on Earth. Big business sits alongside sun-seeking tourism.
Visitors queue for hours — often booking days in advance — to visit enormous structures with state-of-the-art facilities and elaborate research centres.
These construction projects don’t come without an environmental cost, of course.
You may not be aware that every house, skyscraper, glass building, bridge, road, airport, pavement, tunnel, etc., constructed there uses vast quantities of sand!
Largely in the form of concrete.
An average house uses an estimated 200 tonnes of sand.
A hospital: 3,000 tonnes.
Each kilometre of highway: 30,000 tonnes.
And a large structure, such as a power plant, around 12 million tonnes.
And whilst Dubai is surrounded by desert, its sand cannot be used for construction.
It’s too wind-beaten and rounded.
Only a certain type of sand can be used for construction.
That’s silica sand!
It’s sourced from beaches, seabeds, and riverbeds — causing massive environmental damage globally.
There’s a massive black market for it, with small beaches sometimes disappearing overnight due to illegal dredging.
It’s a compelling story, and projects like this drive investment into the materials needed.
The reason I mention it is because you may also not be aware that 45,700 tonnes of sand from Australia went into the construction of the world’s tallest building in Dubai.
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