In Dubai, a Little Lyon in the Desert?
Travel Blog • Joanna Kakissis • 01.29.08 | 7:07 AM ET
Photo by Ah, what love (and oil money) can do. They’re fueling the so-called “Lyon-Dubai City” project, which aims to create a mini version of France’s third-largest city in the desert of the United Arab Emirates.
The Central Park-sized Little Lyon is the baby of Dubai entrepreneur Buti Saeed al-Ghandi, who has hired a team to plan for a university, small versions of Lyon’s main museums, homes, offices, cafes, hotels, restaurants and perhaps even a church, writes Elaine Sciolino in The New York Times. The planners are even studying ways to cool the outdoor areas in mini-Lyon so people don’t pass out during dust storms and 105-degree heat.
Mr. Ghandi, who says the real Lyon’s magic helped him reignite his love for his wife on a trip there last year, is dreaming big on this project and his team insists the result won’t be Vegas or Disneyland gauche.