Harrison Jacobs

<p>If you were to listen to most travel guides on Dubai, you'd think the desert city materialized out of the air a decade ago.</p>

<p>The city exploded in prosperity after United Arab Emirates discovered oil in 1966,, leading to a development boom that has resulted in the world'stallest building, the <a id="9435010a-4ac1-3977-a6fd-94948a20fcde" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dubai-mall-worlds-second-largest-mall-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest">  second-biggest mall </a> , the most luxurious hotel, and more skyscrapers than any city besides New York and Hong Kong.</p>

<p>But Dubai was settled as a port city in the early 1800s, where it became a center for fishing and pearling, and a crossroads of sea and land trade routes through Asia and the Middle East.</p>

<p>That trading history has left behind a legacy of souks, or open-air marketplaces native to the Middle East and North Africa. These are loud, colorful places where traders from dozens of nationalities hawk their wares, as your senses are attacked from every direction.</p>

<p>Dubai has a lot of them: one for spices, one for perfumes, and another for clothing. But the most extravagant is the gold souk, where people come from all over the world to get a deal on that sweet yellow nugget.</p>

<p>As <a id="8b57d236-6543-317c-a63c-ef5198edc4ef" href="http://wanderwithnada.com">  Nada Badran </a> , a Jordanian who has lived in Dubai for most of her life, told me, the souks are the key to understanding Dubai.</p>

<p>Here's what it was like to visit them:</p>

<p><a id="5172fee0-e67a-39fe-abf1-a9c88c1951a7" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dubai-souks-markets-gold-spices-textiles-2018-12?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest#/#after-a-couple-of-days-in-dubai-i-felt-like-i-was-having-a-hard-time-finding-the-citys-local-culture-so-i-met-up-with-nada-badran-who-hosts-wander-with-nada-on-cnn-arabic-badran-agreed-to-take-me-through-dubais-many-souks-1">  See the rest of the story at Business Insider </a></p>

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<p><strong> SEE ALSO: <span id="cbb897c7-0f4e-3913-a14f-804cae7e3140" itemtype="link" itemscope="itemscope">  I stayed at a hotel on Dubai's massive artificial island shaped like a palm tree and it's more surreal than any photos can show </span> </strong></p>

<p><strong> DON'T MISS: <span id="cbfd78ff-1964-3020-a805-faf80eca8ca7" itemtype="link" itemscope="itemscope">  I visited outlandishly wealthy Dubai, known as the 'city of gold,' and was surprised by how much fun you can have even without billions </span> </strong></p>

After a couple of days in Dubai, I felt like I was having a hard time finding the city's local culture. So I met up with Nada Badran, who hosts "Wander With Nada" on CNN Arabic. Badran agreed to take me through Dubai's many souks.

Dubai's most outrageous open-air market sells only gold and has a $3 million, 141-pound gold ring

<p>From the 1950s until 1994, over 33,000 people lived and worked in Kowloon Walled City, a massive complex of 300 interconnected buildings that took up a city block.</p>

<p>Caught between China and the British-run Hong Kong government, the city was essentially lawless, equally known for its opium dens and organized crime as its dentists' offices.</p>

<p>Photographer <a id="f449f498-f95b-34b6-abac-8f1eebf58f5b" href="http://www.greggirard.com/">  Greg Girard </a> spent years investigating and documenting the strange place before it was demolished.Girard collaborated with Ian Lambot, another photographer, on a book about Kowloon, titled "City of Darkness Revisited," available <a id="295cce5e-e765-3e04-a4d9-0f69229f81e2" href="http://greggirard.bigcartel.com/">  here </a> .</p>

<p>Girard shared a number of photos from the project with us in 2015, and <a id="32b276e1-ce51-3b8f-a5fc-8340bbdb456b" href="http://cityofdarkness.co.uk/">  you can check out the rest at the book's website </a> .</p>

<h1> Kowloon Walled City was a densely populated, ungoverned settlement in Kowloon, an area north of Hong Kong Island. What began as a Chinese military fort evolved into a squatters village comprising a mass of 300 interconnected high-rise buildings. </h1>

<h1> The city began as a low-rise squatter village during the early 20th century. After World War II, Hong Kong experienced a massive influx of Chinese immigrants. This led to a lack of housing in the city. In response, entrepreneurs and those with "squatters rights" in Kowloon built high rise buildings on the space to capitalize on the housing demand. </h1>

<h1> At its peak, more than 33,000 people lived in the 6.4-acre city. It was considered by many to be the most densely populated place on earth. </h1>

<h1> While located in Hong Kong, the Walled City was legally a Chinese military fort. This put the settlement in legal purgatory as both China and the British-run Hong Kong government ignored it. </h1>

<p>Laws, regulations, and building codes were not enforced.</p>

<p>"There was never any top-down guidance or planning about how the place should be. It grew as an organic response to people's needs," says Girard.</p>

<h1> The only regulation enforced at Kowloon was the height of the building. Because the airport was so close, the building was not allowed to be taller than 13 or 14 stories. </h1>

<h1> The Walled City was controlled by the Chinese mafia, called the Triads, from the 1950s through the 1970s. It gained a reputation as a haven for prostitution, gambling, and drugs.  </h1>

<h1> But by the time Girard explored the city in 1987, it had become considerably safer. "The city normalized, but the reputation stayed until the end. It was a place your parents told you to never go to," says Girard.  </h1>

<h1> The streets and alleyways of the Walled City were narrow. Most were barely wider than six feet and some were so narrow that one had to walk sideways through them. A massive network of passageways in the upper levels also made it possible to travel the distance of the city without walking on a ground level street. </h1>

<h1> The Walled City was not the kind of place that you wanted to wander around, especially at night. Most residents stuck to the roads or alleys that they knew best on their way to work and home.  </h1>

<h1> Mr. Lui, the citys postman, was assigned to Kowloon in 1976. By the time that Girard met him, he was one of the few people who knew all the ins and outs of the city. He wore a hat to protect him from the constant dripping from the ceiling. </h1>

<h1> Because regulations and licenses werent enforced in the city, it was easy to set up a business. Rents, primarily controlled by those with "squatters rights," were low compared to the rest of the city. </h1>

<h1> Many businesses took advantage. Ho Chi Kam ran a hairdressing salon with his wife in the city until 1991. After Ho was forced out of the Walled City, he had to go back to working for others because he could not afford the rent elsewhere.  </h1>

<h1> Doctors, dentists, and other accredited professionals who emigrated from China found that their licenses were not valid in Hong Kong. Many took up offices in the Walled City because laws were not enforced there. </h1>

<h1> The city became known as a place where Hong Kongs working class went to the doctor or dentist. Appointments were cheaper because the doctors and dentists could not practice anywhere else in the city.  </h1>

<h1>  Wong Cheung Mi was one of the many dentists in the Walled City.  </h1>

<h1> The lack of regulations was even more important for the many meat processors in Kowloon. </h1>

<h1> Food was a big part of the Walled City’s culture. Hong Kongers often visited to eat at one of the citys many dog-meat restaurants. Dog-meat stew, traditionally made from six-month-old Chow puppies, was a popular dish in Hong Kong until it was banned by the British. </h1>

<h1> Hui Tuy Choy opened his noodle factory in 1965. He chose the Walled City because the rents were low and you didn’t need a license to open a store. In Hong Kong, shop owners had to get licenses from the labor, health, and fire departments. </h1>

<h1> Kowloon was a major manufacturing center for many businesses in Hong Kong. One of its biggest products was fishballs, which were sold to restaurants around the city. </h1>

<h1> This rubber factory was run entirely by two men. </h1>

<h1> Often, commercial spaces like this grocery store would double as a living room or a space for the children to do homework after the working day was over. </h1>

<h1> According to Girard, the Walled City had a village culture because of the tight living and working quarters. 90-year-old Law Yu Yi lived with her sons wife in a cramped third-floor apartment. It is typical for women to look after her in-laws. </h1>

<h1> The Walled City had its own micro-climate, according to Girard, due to the massive amounts of tubing, wires, and open gutters snaking through the building. The lower levels were constantly hot, humid, and damp. </h1>

<h1> Because of the smelly, humid conditions down below, the rooftops of Kowloon would turn into a communal hangout during the afternoons and evenings. People would hang out, do laundry or homework, or practice instruments. </h1>

<h1> "It was like a strange, urban garden. There was tons of household refuse. It was a bit of an eyesore, but compared to the area below, the air was light and breezy. It was nice to come up there after living and working on the lower floors," says Girard. </h1>

<h1> Despite a reduced crime rate, neither the British nor the Chinese found the city tolerable. In 1987, the two governments agreed to tear down the city. </h1>

<p>After evicting the 33,000 residents over the next five years, demolition began in 1993. Residents were given monetary compensation, but many protested that it was not enough.</p>

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Slightly north of Hong Kong Island there once stood one of the most densely populated places on earth.

Inside Hong Kong's lawless 'walled city' — the most crowded place on Earth for 40 years

<p>Dubai is jam-packed with things that designed to be the biggest and most extravagant of the world — the tallest building, the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dubai-mall-worlds-second-largest-mall-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest" id="9435010a-4ac1-3977-a6fd-94948a20fcde">  second-biggest mall </a> , the most luxurious hotel, and so on.</p>

<p>Perhaps no other project in the budding city more epitomizes this quest for absurd grandeur than the Palm Islands, an archipelago of artificial islands that extend off the Dubai coastline like the lair of a movie super-villain who just happens to really like the tropics.</p>

<p>When reading about Dubai over the years, the Palm Islands were inevitably one of the first things I learned about. They are so ridiculous an endeavor, so stereotypically what one might expect people with limitless money to do, that it defies comprehension. But they are there, and they are real, as I discovered on a recent trip to Dubai.</p>

<p>Due to an oversupply of hotels in Dubai right now, rooms at five-star hotels can be had for very cheap. So, on a recent trip, I booked a room for $180 at Dukes Dubai, a swanky beachfront hotel on Palm Jumeirah, the first completed palm island of three planned and the largest artificial island in the world. Construction began on the the other two, Palm Jebel Ali and Palm Deira, over a decade ago but is now on hold.</p>

<p><strong> Read More: </strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dubai-luxury-hotels-are-affordable-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest" id="4f286fd9-9adc-3a5c-a1c2-76d9051a1915">  If you've ever wanted to visit Dubai, there's likely never been a better time than right now. Here's why. </a></p>

<p>I'll be honest: I'm not usually impressed by things made big and extravagant for the sake of it. But, there's something impossible to deny about the hubris behind the Palm Jumeirah and, when you see it in person, it sticks with you, for better or for worse.</p>

<p>Most of the images of I've seen of the island are taken aerially or from space, so as show off the incredible detail of the palm-like structure. Those views don't do justice to the scale of the enterprise. </p>

<p>It hit me when I looked out of the window from my room at Dukes Dubai, which sits on the trunk of the island. Here's what it looked like:</p>

<p>In person and up close, you can still see the palm tree-structure. It is jarring how unnatural it looks. The first time I saw it, I did a double take.</p>

<p>Construction on the Palm Jumeirah began in 2001. It was constructed through a process of dredging up 3,257,212,970.389 cubic feet of sand from the Persian Gulf and then spraying it into place, adding nearly 50 miles to Dubai's coastline. GPS satellites were used to ensure the accuracy of the where the sand was sprayed to create the palm tree shape.</p>

<p>It is undeniably a monumental feat of engineering and modern technology.</p>

<p>Hotels line the trunk of the palm tree, while villas and homes sit on the sixteen fronds of the island. The first homes were handed over in 2006 and, at this point, the island is packed with hotels, apartment buildings, and construction. Nakheel, the government-owned developer behind the project, expects <a href="https://adventure.howstuffworks.com/dubai-palm1.htm" id="ef61a463-c36c-3369-ae80-b1e5bde354b0">  120,000 residents and workers and 20,000 tourists </a> on the island when it's all said and done.</p>

<p>All of that comes at an environmental price. Despite Nakheel's attempts to mitigate environmental damage, some researchers believe the construction of the islands has had drastic changes on local marine flora and fauna, coastal erosion, and wave patterns. Greenpeace <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/palmislandsimpact/environmental-impacts" id="4b2fb0cd-65fc-3ed7-a00a-b4a0758c3cd3">  called the islands a “visual scar </a> ,” clouding the once clear Arabian gulf with silt and burying coral reefs. In 2006, the World Wildlife Fund declared that the U.A.E. 's ecological footprint was the “highest in the world.”</p>

<p>In 2009, the New York Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/world/middleeast/12dubai.html?_r=1&amp;hp" id="ec187c2c-a303-3ba7-a2c0-1c8f7ab2607c">  reported that NASA satellites </a> had found that the Palm Jumeirah island was sinking at a rate of 0.20 inches per year, a claim <a href="http://www.arabianbusiness.com/575669-nakheel-palm-jumeirah-not-sinking" id="79f6039a-8045-3194-a29d-3ed409d02136">  that Nakheel denies is true </a> . The Environment Agency Abu Dhabi found that <a href="https://www.thenational.ae/uae/environment/climate-change-and-rising-seas-could-spell-disaster-for-uae-s-coastal-cities-1.671922" id="f6688512-ff66-3765-afef-a5be60b20b4a">  under its most severe climate change scenario </a> , nearly all of Dubai, including the Palm Islands, would be underwater due to rising sea levels.</p>

<p>But all of that is in the future. For now, Dubai is focused on its <a href="https://www.thenational.ae/uae/dubai-plans-to-be-world-s-most-popular-tourist-destination-by-2025-1.776970" id="2fdcc784-cc2a-3deb-aa2f-61b3af519695">  aim to be the most popular tourist destination </a> in the world by 2025.</p>

<p>Already, it is the fourth-most visited city in the world, with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/most-visited-cities-in-the-world-2018-9?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest" id="91e0df2f-8128-36a2-a730-e8bcb3f9a287">  a projected 16.7 million visitors </a> this year, <a href="https://newsroom.mastercard.com/press-releases/big-cities-big-business-bangkok-london-and-paris-lead-the-way-in-mastercards-2018-global-destination-cities-index/" id="a2bce9e7-6ecf-37e8-ac47-d8d6231361c3">  according to Mastercard's Global Destination Cities Index </a> .</p>

<p>The Palm Jumeirah is a big part of the strategy to get there. One look at the structure, which is loaded with beachfront hotels from major brands like Atlantis, St. Regis, Sofitel, Langham, W, and Waldorf-Astoria makes clear why.</p>

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<p><strong> SEE ALSO: <span id="4f286fd9-9adc-3a5c-a1c2-76d9051a1915" itemtype="link" itemscope="itemscope">  If you've ever wanted to visit Dubai, there's likely never been a better time than right now. Here's why. </span> </strong></p>

<p><strong> DON'T MISS: <span id="d68f5497-b767-3d84-af8e-179f9c3ec808" itemtype="link" itemscope="itemscope">  Dubai has more than 65 malls in a city of 3 million people, and it's not because they're obsessed with shopping </span> </strong></p>

I stayed at a hotel on Dubai's massive artificial island shaped like a palm tree and it's more surreal than any photos can show

<p>Visiting Dubai can often feel like hopping into a time machine to the future. The city emerges out of the desert seemingly from nowhere, with each gleaming skyscraper, landmark, and new building looking more futuristic than the last.</p>

<p>Dubai's decade-old metro system is no different. The bullet-shaped stations lie above ground like golden space pods and the trains race through the center of the city, weaving past skyscraper after skyscraper.</p>

<p>It's not just the shape and aesthetic that make the metro futuristic, but the underlying technology as well.</p>

<p>All of Dubai's <a id="16afb20a-3962-3710-a243-c76bc1c13f0e" href="https://www.khaleejtimes.com/news/transport/A-passage-to-future-All-you-need-to-know-about-Dubai-Metro">  49-station, 46-mile metro </a> is completely automated and driverless, making it the third-largest such system in the world, after systems in Singapore and Vancouver. The city's Red Line, which runs like an artery through the heart of Dubai, is still the <a id="a3ae1160-3bf0-3d5e-ab1d-cc0d5409ec84" href="http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/longest-driverless-metro-line">  longest single driverless metro line </a> in the world.</p>

<p>And it's getting larger. The city is <a id="25820855-dba8-3770-adbe-adde30239a91" href="http://www.dubaimetro.eu/route-2020/">  currently constructing a third line </a> — called Route 2020 — that will connect the southwestern Dubai with the site of the World Expo, which Dubai is hosting in 2020. The city is also <a id="a2c849d0-7132-36c1-a703-24e3f1db995f" href="https://www.meed.com/exclusive-dubai-sets-july-deadline-metro-bids/">  constructing extensions </a> to the existing Red and Green lines.</p>

<p><strong> Read more: </strong> <a id="aa0cfc50-6d4e-375d-ab0d-09a252589330" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-bullet-train-speed-map-photos-tour-2018-5?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest">  I rode China's superfast bullet train that could go from New York to Chicago in 4.5 hours — and it blew me away </a></p>

<p>The practical result is that the automated metro has quickly turned local travel — previously a battle through traffic-choked highways in a car-reliant city — into a seamless, fast, and incredibly reliable travel experience. So long as you are traveling within the city, it's far more convenient than driving, as I found on a recent trip to Dubai.</p>

<p>While Dubai is far from the only city with a fully automated metro, most of the other similar systems lie in Asia and Europe. In the US, automated trains are currently limited to airports and a few very limited lines in Miami, Detroit, and West Virginia.</p>

<p>The best of the US's metro systems is likely still the New York City subway, but even <a id="66e7fa89-0be7-3716-ab74-649a06823eb8" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nyc-subway-37-billion-plan-for-repair-unveiled-2018-5?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest">  that system is crumbling </a> .</p>

<p>Traveling on Dubai's metro is an entirely different experience, as I learned when I recently rode the Red Line to downtown:</p>

<p><a id="de3348c3-cac5-33ca-a749-e3792dce4dd4" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dubai-automated-driverless-metro-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest#/#dubai-is-far-from-the-first-city-to-introduce-an-automated-driverless-metro-the-first-one-built-was-in-kobe-japan-in-1981-but-it-has-since-been-introduced-in-42-cities-around-the-world-and-the-technology-is-considered-to-produce-the-most-punctual-and-cost-efficient-systems-1">  See the rest of the story at Business Insider </a></p>

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Dubai is far from the first city to introduce an automated, driverless metro. The first one built was in Kobe, Japan in 1981, but it has since been introduced in 42 cities around the world and the technology is considered to produce the most punctual a...

Dubai has the world's largest, completely automated, driverless metro line — and it shows how far behind the US really is

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Harrison Jacobs

Articles written by the author

Dubai's most outrageous open-air market sells only gold and has a $3 million, 141-pound gold ring

Inside Hong Kong's lawless 'walled city' — the most crowded place on Earth for 40 years

I stayed at a hotel on Dubai's massive artificial island shaped like a palm tree and it's more surreal than any photos can show

Dubai has the world's largest, completely automated, driverless metro line — and it shows how far behind the US really is