Almost half of the respondents in a new poll say the global financial crisis has been good for the region, allowing its infrastructure to play catch-up to population growth.Forty-six percent of respondents to a poll on Maktoob Business said the slowdown in the UAE has forced people to reassess what is important and given city planners the opportunity to rethink their plans for sustainable gain.
While the GCC had initially hoped it had decoupled enough from the U.S. to be isolated from the global financial crisis, the global slowdown has hit energy exports hard.
As a result the region's economies have seen a cut back on a large number of projects in order to be able to balance budgets, protect credit ratings and just to be able to meet payments, further weakening the deteriorating economic environment.
One consequence felt by everyone has been unemployment, which has risen across the region, explaining why a further one-fifth of respondents told Maktoob Business that while a slow down could be good for the health of the economy long-term, short term it was all very painful.
"Too many people have lost their jobs," they told Maktoob Business.
Worst hit in the GCC has been the emirate of Dubai, with EFG Hermes in March estimating a population decline of 17 percent over the course of the year. UAE authorities have refuted the estimate.
One in five respondents said the biggest fear was that once thriving economies would ever be able to recapture their economic mojo.
A further 16 percent are no longer worried, but have admitted defeat. "The roller coaster ride is over," they said. "The last 10 years won't be repeated."