BIG IS BACK IN DUBAI: Only three years after a humbling fiscal collapse, Dubai is rediscovering its old habits. Case in point: A proposed Taj Mahal replica four times bigger than the original.
ECHOS OF BOOM TIMES: Similar super-charged ambition reshaped Dubai beginning in the 1990s, leaving a legacy that included the world’s tallest skyscraper, a villa-studded island shaped like a palm and malls packed with top retailers.
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FOLLOWED BY THE BUST: But it also helped drive the emirate over the edge. The global financial crisis hit Dubai hard. As credit dried up, Dubai government had to scale back and needed a $10 billion bailout from oil-rich neighbor Abu Dhabi in 2009. Some are questioning whether the pre-bust creed of bigger-is-better makes sense in a more cautious world.
