As much as I admire what Dubai has done, using oil money to create jobs and build the economy instead of merely wrestling with each other over it as a supply of freebies, I'm not sure what they've built will survive when the middle east runs out of oil. Of course some would apply that to the world economy as well. But much of their industry is tourism, and much of their tourism is from the middle east. Of course many of these countries will have oil for decades after Dubai is projected to start running out, so they've at least bought themselves some time.

DUBAI: Skyscrapers, sprawling resorts, malls and residential complexes are mushrooming across the desert sands of Dubai, a Gulf emirate in the throes of an apparently endless construction frenzy.

Much of the effort is positively futuristic in both design and concept, though it is often difficult to imagine the scope of the finished product.

Dubai, which is forging ahead with a multi-billion-dollar tourism drive to meet depleting oil resources, is soon to boast the world's tallest habitable tower, the Burj Dubai, and an underwater hotel.

Grandiose projects like the 185 million square meter "Dubailand" - the emirate's answer to Disneyland - the Middle East's largest water park and its first indoor ski resort are all in the making.