Seeking to cement its position as a Middle East center for transport and tourism, Dubai has unveiled several grandiose construction projects that bear some of the hallmarks of the debt-laden boom years that nearly brought the emirate to its knees, reported The Wall Street Journal. Last month, Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum ordered the construction of a new city development named after himself, a project that could cost $10 billion, according to some estimates. It envisages 100 hotels, the world's largest shopping mall, parks, art galleries and exhibition centers. Soon after, he announced plans for a $2.7 billion leisure complex of five theme parks. Dubai also is pushing its candidacy to host the World Expo in 2020, the first time a city in the Middle East would host this event, which would involve the construction of an exhibition center on the outskirts of the emirate. While Dubai is enjoying an economic recovery fueled by a surge in key areas such as trade, tourism and transport, it still has to repay roughly $100 billion of debt from the previous property boom, which ended in 2008. The plans raise questions about how the ambitious construction will be financed and whether it will lead to more oversupply in a still-fragile property market. "Dubai was built with unbridled vision, and the recently announced aspirations will be tempered by lender appetite, competition for finance in other regional markets and increased levels of diligence by more experienced investors," said Rizwan Shah, managing director, corporate finance at Deloitte Middle East. "Funding sources and structures for Dubai will need to be different than those that were used precrisis," Mr. Shah said. During the boom years between 2004 and 2007, various Dubai-related entities expanded too quickly on cheap debt provided by both local and regional lenders. Once the global crisis set in, property prices in the emirate plunged as much as 60%, leaving banks with a debt hangover they still are wrestling with. When Dubai developer Nakheel was unable to pay back a $4.1 billion Islamic bond in 2009, Dubai had to turn to its oil-rich neighbor Abu Dhabi for a $10 billion loan to stay afloat. Some are starting to worry that Dubai is repeating the mistakes of the past by stoking another property boom. "Have we learned? We all say we have, but a lot of people are doing the same thing that they were doing three to four years ago," said Peter Jodlowski, chief financial officer at the Emirates Investment Authority, one of country's wealth funds, at a recent financial conference. "So in five years' time, we'll all be asking: How did that happen?" He and other attendees at the conference were discussing corporate governance in the region and the role banks had played during the buildup to the crisis.

Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced plans to build a new multi-billion dollar project called Mohammed Bin Rashid City. The new city project will be built by Dubai Holding and Emaar Properties in what is being described as the biggest real estate joint venture in the region. No value has been given for the project but plans include building the world's biggest shopping mall, more than 100 hotels, golf courses, a hub for the arts and centers to develop small businesses. The development will be located between Sheikh Zayed Road, Emirates Road and Al Khail Road. It will include the "Mohammed bin Rashid Gardens" project, which was first announced in 2008. The original master plan suggested the gardens would be 74.3 million square meters, and would cost US$ 60 billion to construct. It is not clear whether the original plan is being utilized, or a new revised plan would be adopted. The release said the park would be 30 percent larger than Hyde Park in London, which is 1.4 million square meters. The project will also include the Mall of the World. It is anticipated the mall will have the capacity to handle 80 million visitors a year. The project will comprise four key components. The first component will focus on family tourism, and will include a giant park and a family entertainment center set up in collaboration with Universal Studios and hotel facilities. The second component, focusing on retail, will feature the largest shopping mall in the world called Mall of the World. Dubai already boasts the largest mall in the world, Emaar's The Dubai Mall. A third component will include the largest area for arts galleries in Middle East and North Africa while the fourth component will see the development of facilities to provide "an integrated environment for entrepreneurship and innovation in the region". The new city will also include residential areas built on green building standards in terms of energy consumption, waste treatment and conservation of natural environment. It will also feature a number of golf courses under well-known international names.

The most important feature of economic policy of China is the competent national approach to the development of the country's economy and constant concern about the competitiveness of country's goods in the global economy market. China's resent decision to set up a mega-city in the south-east of the country is the continuation and the evidence of this policy. Metropolis will include 9 cities (the largest is Guangzhou-11. 7mln. population) with total population of almost 48 million and approximately 41.440 square kilometers area (16000 sq. miles) that is geographically 26 times larger than Greater London, or twice the size of Wales. The government intends to merge these cities into a single "urban area" and plans 150 infrastructure projects at a cost of more than $ 300 billions over the next six years to combine the transport, electricity, communications and water systems of these cities. During these years additional 29 new rail lines, totaling 5000 km (3100 miles), will be added, cutting rail journeys around the urban area to a maximum of one hour between different cities. According to planners, phone bills could also fall by 85 per cent and hospitals and schools will be improved. A similar project is also carried out between Beijing and Tianjin- the two very important cities in China. This super-urban area with a population of 260 million people and GDP annual growth rate of nearly 30% is known as the Bohai Economic Rim. 285 companies form Fortune Global 500 has already opened their representative offices in Bohai region. High-speed railway between the cities is already under construction and total investments in infrastructure projects over the next five tears will total trillion dollars. By the end of the decade, China plans to move ever greater numbers into its cities, creating some city zones with 50 million to 100 million people and "small" city clusters of 10 million to 25 million.