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November, and as the hours shorten and cool descends, peacefulness seems to enshroud Abu Dhabi. The autumn winds are starting to strengthen and clouds of fine cement dust from demolished buildings and current construction goings-on blow around the city and settle as a thick layer on every surface.

As we move from summer to winter, the seasonal changes are moving in reverse for a country in the northern hemisphere; rather than stunting it, the cooler weather is encouraging plant growth and outdoor activity. And buildings that disappeared into a pile of hot rubble during summer have outgrown their protrusions of steel ribs and are emerging with new, shiny marble skins.

Never-ending construction
Some construction sites, however, seem to be never ending. They were a work-in-progress when we arrived here last year and there seems to have been little progress a year-and-a-half later. The metal boards surrounding the constructions barely cover up the white dust and constantly moving mass of heavy equipment, shifting piles of sand and rubble from one spot to the next.

As dreary as it sounds though, the noise and dust is signalling a change on the skyscraper horizon of Abu Dhabi. There is an explanation for them — and an end in sight as Abu Dhabi quietly carves out its own landmarks.

The world’s second seven-star hotel, the Conference Palace, will be completed by mid-2004. This mosque-like sculptured architecture will have 440 luxurious rooms and 1000m² royal suites. The 850 000m² project is crowned with a 40 metre central dome, which has a 20kg pure gold pole emerging from the top of it.

The Conference Palace under construction

And timed with the Conference Palace’s opening, the end of 2004 will also see the long-awaited completion of Lulu Island. This island, less than one kilometre from the Abu Dhabi coast, is a marvel of nearly five million cubic metres of earth and rock. Several years of planning and dredging with bulldozers working around the clock to carve out a desert dune landscape from the Gulf waters. With more than 600 000 palm trees planted on it, this will be a man-made Disneyland-style fun island, with hotels, restaurants, an aquarium, a museum and even a wildlife reserve. It is set to become a popular destination for visitors.

As for the changes in Dubai — this is one emirate that only seems to be content to construct new entries for the Guinness Book of Records! Here is a peek as to what is on the menu for the coming years:

Skyscrapers and science fiction
The Palm Project with its date-palm shape and 17 fronds, protected by a crescent-shaped barrier reef, is well known and has been spoken about for many years now. The man-made islands will be dotted with luxury hotels, villas, marinas, entertainment centres, golf courses and of course, malls. They are on schedule to become the ‘eighth wonder of the world’ by 2005. That is, if the following one doesn’t take its place.

The Hydropolis Hotel! Straight out of a science fiction novel, the world’s first underwater hotel will be part of a whole underwater luxury resort, complete with a floating ballroom, a marine-biology research lab and 220 suites with sunken garden landscapes views… It is expected to cost around $500-million and should be completed by 2006.

But perhaps it will be the Burj Dubai tower that steals the limelight from Burj al Arab as Dubai’s most famous landmark? Planned to be the tallest tower in the world, its height is a closely guarded secret in order to top the proposed 500m tower at the World Trade Centre site in New York. Its base will be built up with everything that is Dubai – hotels, entertainment, leisure outlets and the world’s largest shopping mall.

Among many other ambitious projects of construction, the World Project also deserves a special mention. Though only scheduled for completion in 2008, the 200 man-made islands will be positioned to form the world map, making the world’s most exclusive water retreat...

It tires the brain to spend too much time contemplating all this upcoming hard work, intense planning and hot hours to be spent toiling away under the sun and sea. It is now the festive season. As the holy month of Ramadan draws to an end, Eid-ul-Fitr and National Day celebration preparations are underway, and the streets have come alive under fairy lights and the black, red, white and green UAE flags. The shops are putting up Christmas trees, and tinsel and bobbles are being unpacked from old boxes. There’s a slower pace to life as everyone winds down for the end of the year… but the construction sites are still going full-speed and humming with activity.