Uploaded on 2017-03-16 by Joeri Bijster

This image I clicked while visiting a construction site in Qatar. The location is the new city of Lusail, currently being developed kilomters north of Doha. The city is located on the coast and will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The picture shows the construction site of a pedestrian bridge featuring different materials, the main ones being stainless steel (the cables and steel deck) and concrete (the structure of the bridge itself). A globalized economy in building construction is very obvious if you look into any of construction projects in the Gulf States (all of which are major), as these countries - including Qatar - hardly have any natural resources other than crude oil. The same is true in this example, as I know that the country of origin of the stainless steel cables is Germany, and that of the stainless steel deck is Spain. Also the concrete is imported although I do not know from which area. Note that it is not only the flow of materials which is very CO2 and energy intensive in this example, but also the flow of people, with specialists coming from the USA and Europe and labour imported from India and Pakistan.