Even the airport gives a flavour of this capitalist haven, an enclave in which rich Westerns can engage in acts possible in any British town on a Saturday night, but accompanied with skyscrapers and year-round sun. I expect there is no where like it in the world.
Carole Cadwalladr explorers the issue of the two Dubais' - the expat paradise balancing against an intolerant, undemocratic regime. Some extracts:
'But then, somehow Dubai manages to be all things to all people. It's capitalism's ultimate expression: the land of opportunity, the most developed city in the Middle East, a free port.'
'There are now 100,000 Brits living and working in Dubai. And last year 1.1m UK tourists visited - despite summer temperatures of 50C plus, it's now the second most popular long-haul destination after Florida. And the ways in which the city is changing are in many ways a reflection of Britain itself.'
'There are now 100,000 Brits living and working in Dubai. And last year 1.1m UK tourists visited - despite summer temperatures of 50C plus, it's now the second most popular long-haul destination after Florida. And the ways in which the city is changing are in many ways a reflection of Britain itself.'
Cadwalladr comments on the fact that it is four days before she hears any Arabic.
For me, Dubai, along with Venice, encapsulates the dilemma of globalisation. Dubai has been dramatically changed by the influx of exterior business and its own self-promotion as a playboy destination. However, with an indigenous population of only 20%, can the UAE really retain its own identity? In the same vein, can Venice survive as a city when its native population is escaping, squeezed out by holiday apartments, hotels and restaurants marketed at the masses of tourists it receives every year?
Or, should we simply accept this as a sign of globalising forces and stop trying to preserve what is quite possibly a false sense of national or cultural identity, and is saying otherwise simply an Orientalist perception? Do we need an 'East', such as that in the UAE, to exist in order to identify our own declining civilisation? Can we deny the riches of capitalism in order to study that which is different from ourselves?
Created by Sultans, built by the poor and enjoyed by the rich, Dubai represents not to so much the development of the Middle East but the desires of the West. It is nothing less than one of the more visual frontlines in the merging of the world.
For me, Dubai, along with Venice, encapsulates the dilemma of globalisation. Dubai has been dramatically changed by the influx of exterior business and its own self-promotion as a playboy destination. However, with an indigenous population of only 20%, can the UAE really retain its own identity? In the same vein, can Venice survive as a city when its native population is escaping, squeezed out by holiday apartments, hotels and restaurants marketed at the masses of tourists it receives every year?
Or, should we simply accept this as a sign of globalising forces and stop trying to preserve what is quite possibly a false sense of national or cultural identity, and is saying otherwise simply an Orientalist perception? Do we need an 'East', such as that in the UAE, to exist in order to identify our own declining civilisation? Can we deny the riches of capitalism in order to study that which is different from ourselves?
Created by Sultans, built by the poor and enjoyed by the rich, Dubai represents not to so much the development of the Middle East but the desires of the West. It is nothing less than one of the more visual frontlines in the merging of the world.
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