Reaching ever upward
Qatar gives visitors an idea of what modern development looks like
DOHA, Qatar -- Soaring glass towers and construction cranes crowd the hazy skyline, while the sound of jackhammers and heavy machinery rumble in the distance.
"When I first came to this country, this was all flat," said Updesh Kapur, motioning toward rows of sparkling skyscrapers poking up from the Persian Gulf. "None of this was here."
(Lori Rackl/Sun-Times)
I heard this refrain a lot during a recent visit to Doha, the capital of Qatar.
Kapur moved from England to this Middle Eastern capital to take a job with Qatar Airways four years ago, but he talks like someone who's witnessed a lifetime's worth of changes. And in four short years, he has.
Doha, like better-known Dubai and Abu Dhabi before it, is the latest star of Extreme Makeover: Persian Gulf Edition. The entire city is a construction zone. It's as if developers sprinkled Miracle-Gro on this dusty desert outpost, and tall buildings sprouted overnight. Man-made islands have surfaced from the sea, serving as platforms for fancy apartments and the stunning new Museum of Islamic Art.
Covered from head to toe in black gowns, Qatari women -- who weren't allowed to drive until 1995 -- now shop for blue jeans and designer handbags and sip Starbucks lattes in the Villaggio mall. The shopping center looks like the Venetian in Las Vegas, right down to the indoor canal with gondoliers.
A W hotel -- the first in the Middle East -- opened here earlier this month. Later this year, Qatar's capital will host its first Tribeca Film Festival.
In only four years, the country's unofficial population -- the vast majority of whom live in Doha -- has doubled to 1.5 million. Many of these people are migrant workers, toiling round-the-clock and enabling the face of this Gulf city to change at breakneck speed.
The global financial crisis has ground development to a halt in many other countries, but the construction boom in this oil- and natural-gas-rich nation soldiers on. A $10 billion airport is scheduled to open in 2011. The number of hotel rooms in Doha is expected to more than double, for a total of 10,000, by the end of next year.
A recent drop in oil prices and the world's economic woes undoubtedly will slow down development some, but the only force strong enough to stop the Caterpillar trucks and bulldozers is the midday summer sun, which can easily crank up temperatures into the triple digits.
People in Doha insist they're not trying to become the next Dubai, with its indoor ski hill and Disneyland-in-the-desert vibe. They want to be taken more seriously. They want to be the financial, cultural, educational and sports center of the Middle East, and they might just have the money -- and will -- to pull it off.
Slightly smaller than Connecticut, Qatar (pronounced CUT-ter) is one of the richest nations per capita on the planet. It's the proud owner of the third-largest natural gas reserves behind Russia and Iran.
Qatar's emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, took control of the country from his father in a 1995 bloodless coup. Under his regime, this peninsular nation that shares a border with conservative Saudi Arabia has trended more liberal.
You'll still see plenty of Muslim men dressed in the traditional white dishdasha and women in black abayas, but they're wearing diamond cuff links and toting Louis Vuitton purses.
The emir has a plan for Qatar that goes far beyond being the Pearl Hub of the Middle East. It calls for being a bigger player on the international stage, and not just in the world of finance.
Doha was one of the top contenders for the 2016 Olympics before being eliminated last year thanks to those stifling summer temperatures. This land that's held camel races for centuries also has the world's largest multipurpose indoor sports dome, one of the venues for the Asian Games held here in 2006. In January, some of the biggest names in golf and tennis turned up for big-purse tournaments in Doha. In February, it was cyclists' turn, with the Tour of Qatar road race.
Mountains of money have been spent beefing up the city's cultural scene, too. The most high-profile example is what I.M Pei has said will be his last major project, the Museum of Islamic Art. In the education arena, Doha has become the Boston of the Persian Gulf. Six U.S. universities -- including Northwestern -- have campuses in "Education City," a compound that includes a children's TV channel produced by the Arabic news network Al Jazeera, which is headquartered in Doha.
In Qatar, foreigners aren't just welcomed, they're the norm. Expats are everywhere, with native Qataris making up roughly 15 percent of the population. Arabic is the official language, but English is widely spoken.
"Venice is now in Qatar," reads a giant billboard for the ongoing Pearl development, a 985-acre man-made island whose plans call for multiple marinas, luxury hotels and residences, upscale shops and pristine beaches -- all designed in that ever-popular Venetian style. The $2.5 billion project is supposed to wrap up in 2011.
Don't expect the dust in Doha to settle before then.
I'm reminded of this at 3 a.m., when I'm woken by some commotion outside my hotel, Movenpick Tower & Suites. I pull back the curtains to see what's making the noise.
It's another backhoe, sinking its teeth deep into the ground.