Burj Khalifa: Sewage

Welcome back to my second entry! Now that I have introduced Dubai and its significance in UPE, I will now talk about the Burj Khalifa (and its sewage problem).

Source

Sewage at the Burj Khalifa

The tallest building in the world at 828 meters tall may look like the epitome of wealth and luxury, but this outer façade is not entirely reflective of what happens on the inside of the skyscraper. In reality, its internal sewage system is not connected to the city’s advanced main sewer system. The reasoning behind this falls under the odd construction authorised by the government. This is a key flow to consider as in UPE, waste and its handlings showcase the wider context of cleanliness given that it is a socio-ecological hybrid. It is important to note that the generation of revenue is especially important to the government as the city does not have a form of taxation, and thus heavily relies on its tourism industry. Therefore, the skyscraper is highly attractive to tourists that is great for revenue, which is what the government mainly focused on in its construction. Internal handlings like sewage that did not bring in revenue fell to cheaper and inept methods of extraction. As a result, the Burj Khalifa relies on its sewage to be transported out daily via trucks that move this sewage into overcrowded sewage plants just outside of the city. Sewage is an integral part of UPE, especially in the case of Dubai as it symbolises how poor political decisions and government planning have had significant effects on the ecology and urban landscape of Dubai. In this, we can draw on the paradox of modernity, as highlighted by the uneven service experiences and provisions in this building.

“build first, think about details after“

Source

Although this is a system that works, it has a lot of implications on society. This method of transport for such a colossal amount of waste daily generates a considerable amount of traffic as trucks line up for up to 16 hours. As a result, there have been cases in which sewage has been illegally dumped into desert storm drains. This has substantial consequences as this sewage ends up being washed up on beaches which increases beach-goers risks to diseases such as E.coli and typhoid. This seems to be counter-intuitive as the city depends so highly on its tourists that utilise their beaches, yet they end up suffering from this flow. In this, the flow of sewage is somewhat odd as it is an environmental and public health hazard.

This says a lot about how near-sighted delegations by the government are initially set up to benefit the wealthy and inevitably lead to uneven impacts. The flow of sewage rarely comes into contact with the affluent inhabitants, whilst it passes through and causes damage to ecosystems and the wellbeing of the truck drivers and tourists. We know that in UPE, there is never a perfect circular flow of metabolism despite city efforts to try and attain this, but in the case of Dubai, the longstanding fragility of the flow of sewage indicates a lack of effort to properly invest in this flow. It also calls for a more equitable form of decision making by those in power to facilitate the flows of urban nature and its surroundings, as highlighted in UPE.

What has been done to combat this?

Some efforts have been made to expand the sewage system into the building. Although, this expansion has only recently started construction in 2019, and will not see proper usage until 2025. There have been social movements in the form of petitions to alleviate this problem, but they have had very little turn out which highlights the uneven voices within the city.

Concluding Thoughts

The construction of this building by the government was intended as a symbol of affluence to draw in tourists and revenue for the advancement of the development of the city. Though, when decisions have been made that benefit a select few in society and the flows within these infrastructures are left as an afterthought, this leaves everyone else and the environment having to face many adversities at its expense. This truly highlights the behavioural norms of those in power in Dubai.