Dubai choked by traffic as it becomes victim of its own popularity

Dubai is starting to buckle under the strain of its own popularity as record tourist visits and increasing numbers of new residents leads to problems in the city-state.

There have been record-breaking real estate transactions and its state-owned airline Emirates is booking record earnings.

As a result, traffic feels worse than ever on Dubai’s roads and the price of housing continues to spike even with new real estate projects being announced almost daily.

Congestion has got so bad that it’s driving even prominent Emiratis to break their customary silence on public affairs.

House prices

Under Dubai’s current plans, the city aims to have 5.8 million residents by 2040, adding more than half its current estimated population in just 15 years. Since 1980, its population has already soared from around 255,000 to around 3.8 million.

Real estate lit the fire in Dubai’s growth in 2002, when the desert sheikdom began allowing foreigners to own property. After sharp falls during both the 2008-2009 financial crisis and Dubai’s brief coronavirus lockdown, prices have been soaring.

Today, average prices per square foot are at all-time highs, according to Property Monitor. Rental prices increased as much as 20 per cent in key neighbourhoods last year, with further rises likely this year, with some residents moving to communities further out in the desert, the real estate firm Engel & Völkers said.

Even before the boom, some people who worked in Dubai chose to live in the neighboring emirate of Sharjah, some 12 miles north of the city’s downtown, or further away.

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Some one million commuters from other emirates jam the 12-lane Sheikh Zayed Road that runs through the centre of the city and other highways every day, as studies suggest that as many as four out of five employees drive to work alone.

That traffic has only intensified with Dubai’s new arrivals.

While the rest of the world saw as much as a 4 per cent increase in the number of registered vehicles in the last two years, the city’s Road and Transportation Authority says there’s been a 10 per cent increase in the number of vehicles.

And while the city keeps building new flyovers and other road improvements, more cars are…