The Executive Summary
Dubai, like many other countries within the Middle East, is well known for oil production. Oil, being the rare commodity that it is, has enabled economies of countries where it is produce to blossom to envious levels. Most countries in the Middle East like Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have recorded huge and tremendous growths in their economies due to the availability of the oil deposits that they have.
The same is true with the United Arab Emirates. But, due to the growing concerns of diversification, it has become necessary to invest in other sectors of the economy as well. It is against this backdrop that Dubai has put much infrastructural investments in the real estate (Pacione 2005, p. 259).
As one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates, Dubai has cut a niche to be one of the most desirable destinations in the real estate. The real estate projects are actually growing very fast in this emirate. In fact, it is reported that about a third of all the cranes in the world are involved in building properties in Dubai. Incidentally, according to the Interpol, the Emirate is ranked as one of the safest places to live in the whole world.
This has made investors rush to the Emirate with various development projects. Key, among the projects, includes tourism and real estate development. However, in order to realise the efficient execution of any real estate project, adequate planning and control capabilities must be put in place. The main aim of this paper is to underscore various planning, execution and control problems in a specific real estate project in Dubai. The project under study apparently is the City of Arabia in Dubai (Pérez, 2007, p. 38).
Introduction
The city of Arabia is a multi billion dollar investment in the Dubai suburb at the heart of Dubailand. It is projected to offer residency and homes to more than thirty four thousand households upon completion.
In addition, it contains the world’s largest Mall, the Mall of Arabia together with the Restless Planet, which is an internationally known dinosaur theme-park. This makes it assume the position of key destination within the new Dubai. This is based on the restaurants, shopping malls, clinic, administrative offices and schools that are contained within the city (Cooper 2008, p. 103).
The city of Arabia is majorly divided into four elements which include the Mall of Arabia, the Restless Planet, the Wadi Walk and the Elite Towers. On the other hand, the Wadi walk consists of a water front community with outdoor cafes, stylish apartments and attractive retail outlets while the elite towers is a group of thirty four impressively residential and commercial apartments (Bagaeen 2007, p. 183).
Upon completion, the city of Arabia is planned to have its own monorail system for purposes of reducing the use of cars within the city. Other major planning considerations for the city include thirty thousand, eight hundred residents who will occupy eight thousand two hundred residential units. In addition, there will also be a catchment area that has a total population of 1.87 million people.
Research Aim and Objectives
The aim of conducting this research is to determine the implications of project planning, execution, and control capabilities on project development and progress according to budget, schedule, resource management, and identify opportunities for improvement for water treatment in the city of Dubai. To that end, the following objectives serve the purpose of achieving the aim:
- To competitively identify and contract the best company to design, develop, and install a water treatment system adhering to the CPM chart, cost estimates, and earned value for the project.
- To identify the implications of project success based on initial budget, schedule, challenges and opportunities for improvement, and appropriately manages available resources.
Hypothesis
H0 (Null hypothesis): The capabilities of planning, execution and control capabilities of projects have no implications on real-world project success.
H1 (alternative hypothesis): Project management tools when used by the have positive implications on the planning, execution and control capabilities of projects in a real-world project according to project budget, schedule, and resource management.
A one tailed test will be used since an increase in the value of the alternative hypothesis will have implications on the research.
Literature Review and Discussion
The success of any major undertaking depends on the manner in which planning and the execution of the plan is carried out. Magnificent plans require well laid down procedures, adequate finance and competent teams of personnel for their completions. The planning of the city of Arabia in Dubai presented a lot of planning opportunities to different stakeholders most of whom were multinational companies who were contracted to do the work. One such opportunity involved the Aquateknik plan implementation (Balakrishnan 2008, p. 77).
Apparently, Aquateknik was the company contracted to deal with the water treatment suppliers of the city of Arabia. This company was founded back in the year 1987 and majorly deals with the treatment of water. As an expert in this industry, the company is focused on designing, development, installation and the project of water treatment systems that are individually manufactured. They thus have vast knowledge and experiences in this trade.
In the planning and execution of the city of Arabia, the Aquateknik Company was contracted to build camp sites, swimming pools, amusement parks, hotels and water parks within the city. Other areas where their focus was required were the aquariums, zoological gardens and animal parks. In addition the services of treating the industrial water, building natural lakes, rivers and canal system were firmly under them.
Besides, the company was also contracted to build fountains, water art and mirror basins. It is evident from the above scope of work that huge resource and manpower allocation was required for the success of the projects. But of greater importance was planning on the best and practical means of managing all these (Ramos 2010, p. 124).
Although the consultancy and construction of different components of the projects will not be an easy task, the Wadi Walk area as an Arabian Venice presents a formidable challenge. This is because it will require the construction of a canal that floats gently throughout the city of Arabia.
Considering the fact that the current supply of water to the residential areas is dependent on the taxis, there is destined to be a lot of opposition from the taxi operators who might interpret this as being thrown out of business. This is tantamount to generate real and actual planning challenges for the company. However, the taxi operators should be assured of alternative sources of livelihoods once the project is in place (Oxford Business Group 2008, p. 373).
Recommendations
Based on the massive work portfolio that will be involved in the planning, design and development of the city of Arabia, it is highly recommended that only companies with enough credibility and capability of delivery on the plans should be contracted. This can be achieved by letting many companies to different areas of operation instead of leaving the whole work to a single contractor.
Through this, high competency and good quality of work will be achieved due to the adequate division of labor and expertise. However, most importantly, the different contracted companies must share their design plans so as not to overlap the works of others or leave job gaps in anticipation of handling by a different company.
Conclusion
The city of Arabia has presented an ideal planning opportunity to the design and development firms of the world. They will showcase their talents and capabilities for the same in attaining the best of standard. Of great importance, however, will be the formulation and adherence to credible planning tools and strategies.
References
Bagaeen, S 2007, ‘Brand Dubai: The Instant City; or the Instantly Recognizable City’, International Planning Studies, vol. 12, no. 2 , pp. 173-197.
Balakrishnan, MS 2008, ‘Dubai – a star in the east: A case study in strategic destination branding’, Journal of Place Management and Development, vol 1 no. 1, pp. 62 – 91.
Cooper, P 2008, Opportunity Dubai: Making a Fortune in the Middle East, Harriman House Limited, Petersfield.
Oxford Business Group 2008, The Report: Dubai 2008, Oxford Business Group, London.
Pacione, M 2005, ‘Industrial solid waste disposal in Dubai, UAE: A study in economic geography’, Cities, vol. 22, no. 3 , pp. 255–265.
Pérez, L 2007, United Arab Emirates: 2007 Article IV Consultation – Staff Report; Staff Statement; Public Information Notice on the Executive Board Discussion; and Statement by the Executive Director for the United Arab Emirates, International Monetary Fund, Washington, D.C..
Ramos, SJ 2010, Dubai Amplified: The Engineering of a Port Geography, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd, Burlington.