TRANSPORTATION DEVELOPMENT IN THE UAE SINCE 1970

TRANSPORTATION DEVELOPMENT IN THE UAE SINCE 1970

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TRANSPORTATION DEVELOPMENT IN THE UAE SINCE 1970

Introduction

The UAE thirty years ago was one of the least developed countries of the world. The income level it has achieved currently is comparable to that of the industrialized nations. The hypothetical development stages that most developing countries pass through were never experienced by the UAE. Its large oil revenues have rather allowed her to leap these stages to that of high mass consumption. The UAE have enabled to short-cut the usually lengthy and difficult processes of capital accumulation and saving mainly due to its massive oil revenues necessary for economic development. The UAE given its natural resource endowments abundance from its industries that are more (RBI) resource based in nature for its gas and oil use this implementation as a strategy for development that is an industrial strategy that is based on natural resources utilization.

There has been a largely directed deployment since 1973 of windfall income at instant economic and social development that has helped boost the infrastructure to the current level. The UAE’s modern internal transport system in an overview was primarily developed in the 1960s and 1970’s with emphasis being laid on connecting the major cities through construction of the main roads. Because of the UAE’s strategic location Maritime trade has become a mainstay of the economy on the Dubai’s ports and Persian Gulf, at Mina Jabal Ali and Mina Rashid which are not only considered the UAE’s premier maritime facilities but also the largest man-made port in the world. In urban areas the road network is well advanced and in Dubai City a light rail system is under construction. There are six international airports in the UAE and Dubai and the emirates of Abu Dhabi in airport infrastructure are both making major investments, which over the next 10 years has exponentially increased the passenger’s traffic (Hvidt, 2013).

Dubai had very few roads and cars prior to the 1970s. Driving a car on Dubai’s roads was in fact a hazardous undertaking due to the free wondering camels, leading to the unwary getting involved in fatal sometimes nasty crashes. Vehicles could travel between Ras Al Khaimah and Dubai in 1971 along a modern single tarmac road carriageway paid for by Saudi Arabia. However it was an entirely different proposition if you were travelling to Abu Dhabi.

There were only four wheel drives and no roads, taxis and trucks used along the beach lines sand tracks as a means of traveling between the then cities. Taxi drivers being familiar with these sand tracks were mostly relied on by the individual travelers, there was however no hand, help to pull out the vehicles in case they became lost or bogged with the sand. Land rovers nicknamed ships of the desert were the vehicle of choice in what was the beginning of modern development of the emirates transport infrastructure and trade systems (Little, 2007).

As compared to other emirates Dubai enjoyed lower customs, this saw the traders smuggling goods without headlights over night to avoid raising alarm. Some opportunists in the late 60s/early 70s in order to facilitate transportation opted to borrow from the Dubai Defense Force Land rover’s owned by H.H Sheikh Rashid’s mainly during some of his trips oversees. After H.H Sheikh Rashid learned what had happened they were eventually returned.

Abu Dhabi and Dubai road construction ended the difficult land crossings effectively with the main construction being completed in 1973 to connect with Abu Dhabi. Both parts of their roads borders were constructed by both the emirates mainly a two lane highway with no lighting. Within the UAE transport is almost entirely road-based since the 1970s the roads networks development, particularly in Dubai and in Abu Dhabi the quality of the roads is good, and its growth has been rapid. The UAE has 253 kilometers of expressways that has paved roadways that are estimate to be 1,088 kilometers (Badran, Turk, & Walters, 2003).

The UAE government statistics show that currently serving the country are 15 commercial ports, this is with the inclusion of the oil terminals Located in the city of, Mina Rashid and Dubai, with a total capacity of more than 70 million tons, which in the Gulf region is the leading port that was completed in 1972. It has modern facilities to handle almost all types of passenger and commercial shipping, including handling of the containers. Completed in 1979 and located in Mina Jabal Ali in Dubai, it is not only the largest man-made harbor in the world but also the largest port in the country. It primarily deals with industrial material and in bulk cargo for the Mina Jabal Ali Free Zone (Owen, 2008).

Redistribution of goods by road from Dubai took off following the Free Zone and Jebel Ali port, Pan –Gulf opening. Thus for the future of the regional logistics industry the Dubai-Abu Dhabi highway became vital. It was widened to four lanes on each side by the mid-1990s, roundabouts and resurfaced were replaced or removed by flyovers. Abu Dhabi by the late 1990s could be reached in less than two hours from Dubai. The UAE is currently connected through its amazing road networks that not only links the regions but also directly connects each emirate. The movement of goods and cargoes are facilitated by this regional interconnection and through this the UAE’s position is enhanced as a trade gateway for the Gulf region (Clark, 1984).

Road upgrades currently cost the UAE, millions of dollars for their upgrades to keep up with remedy and growth hazardous black spots. It’s not until the mid-1990s that there was any activity in the rail transport, a German delegation led by the transport minister at this time, looking for future opportunities for their own railway industry visited the UAE.A proposal arose from that visit to link Dubai and Fujairah by building a rail system, primarily for the transportation of containers from Fujairah Port to an inland container terminal. This however caused the Free Zone Corporation and Dubai’s Ports customs to commission a feasibility study on rail links to regional areas (Walters, Kadragic & Walters, 2006).

There is an impressive passenger rail network system established today in the UAE that has an industrial network planned. Introduction of the Metro in 2009 has alleviated Dubai roads pressure with over 6 million commuters using the green and red lines and the GCC rail network future development will herald a new regional trade era. The UAE in a short period has achieved what many countries have are still trying to achieve. It can be justifiable that in a nation that is 40 year old should be proud of its accomplishments in air, water and road transport.

Conclusion

With great strides in going from sand dunes and deserts to an infrastructure consisting of ports, roads and airports the UAE transport has been able to maintain being at par with the developments. That in the UAE about 4,030 km of paved highway as of the end of 2003 has been constructed. The key coastal cities, running from the northwestern and border sham, where the Qatar roads meet with the UAE and Saudi Arabia are linked with one principle road. In the development of sustainable transportation policies in UAE there has been a continuous growing effort. The metro project in Dubai is one such effort, which if scheduled for completion in 2009 can help ease and improve the UAE transportation systems.

Reference

Badran, B. A., Turk, J. V., & Walters, T. N. (2003). Sharing the transformation: Public relations and the UAE come of age. The global public relations handbook, 46.Clark, C. (1984) Development Economics: The Early Years’, in G.M. Meier and Dudley Seers (eds), Pioneers in Development, New York, Oxford University Press

Hvidt, M. (2013). Economic diversification in GCC countries: Past record and future trends.

Little, C. (2007). Understanding the economic development of Dubai.Owen, E. R. (2008). One Hundred Years of Middle Eastern Oil.

Walters, T. N., Kadragic, A., & Walters, L. M. (2006). Miracle or mirage: Is development sustainable in the United Arab Emirates. Middle East Review of International Affairs, 10(3), 77-91.