Anyway, I worked in Dubai for a short contract about 3 years ago - although I had initial thoughts of "Wow this frikkin place is amazing & I'm gonna stay here forever" ..... they quickly waned as I considered :-

1) The place is so god damn hot for most of the year ....
2) Back then (shortly after 911) I saw the area as a perfect target for CONTINUOUS Terrorism - unstable neighbours, massive divide between rich & poor, jekyl & hyde culture clash, burgeoning perception of becoming westerners playground, unscrupulous and biased legal system, LOTS of "smart money" pouring in looking to Profit then Piss Off, etc etc
3) The "real" economy was made of thin air - once Oil revenues have depleted they reckon that being a Tourist/Conference/Shopping mecca will keep them flouting ..... maybe it will ..... for a while ...... but not permanently ...... and if there is a global recession Dubai is a sitting duck ......
4) Lack of any real "indigenous" industrial infra-structure/research/development ..... all overly service related .....
5) This may be slightly racist, but from what I saw the Arab work ethic is virtually non-existent - possibly due to years of a lax tax regime and of course billions just pouring out of the ground .....

IMHO, Dubai is without question riding the present economic bubble to the most dangerous extreme ...... with possibly the loudest bang when things eventually burst