Dubai: The short version.

I liked it. I liked the energy. I had a great time there playing tourist and on busman's holiday of looking at development.

But. But, Dubai is doing an absolutely brilliant job of creating itself using the very worst urban model possible: USA 1975. The new part of Dubai is not even remotely a walkable city and gives no promise of being so. (I put it that way because there is so much construction going on that without local knowledge or access to plans it is not totally clear what it will be like.) But none of the real estate advertising I saw, for example, gives any indication that there is more to life than "prestige" and "exclusivity" and "luxury" and nothing to urban charm or walkability etc etc.

Nontheless, because it is a monarchy, Dubai will be able to turn on a dime once the leadeship gets the question of urban sustainability. They clearly know how to do it; they have the model of their traditional Arab cities including Dubai's old town and they have done quite a nice job at the Marina in creating a pleasant pedestrian environment. But overall Dubai is a place for cars. And traffic jams. But once they get the message, they will leave us (at least in Seattle) in the dust in converting to a green spatial economy. One of the ironies.

Comments

[Central Harlem Anonymous]

Dubai is in the middle of constructing a light rail system, actually. It runs along Sheik Zayed road and towards the shopping district. I don't believe it reaches the airport and many buildings still won't be reachable except by car, but it should help a lot.

[David Sucher]

Indeed they are building rapid transit -- some 70 miles of it, I think -- and in fact the line you mention along Sheik Zayed Road is a monorail. The remarkable thing, and I think it goes to my second point about advantages of autocracy when it works right as I believe that the rapid transit was an after-thought. They only realized that they really needed it 4 years ago -- and yet it is well under way (I'll post some photos) with completion of some routes in 2010. We can't do that in Seattle or probably anywhere in the USA.

Nonetheless, rapid transit notwithstanding, Dubai is planned for cars and eventually there will have to be an urban containment line to spur in-fill development.

[S.H.]

It is facinating to see Dubai try and develop a city as quickly as possible and push architecture to the limits. They will be successful at create tourism, but will they attract residents? They population cannot grow that quickly. And if they do allow foreigners to settle in these newly built buildings, it will put pressure on a religious based government to bend to other views and values (drinking, etc). If I was a crazy fundamentalist of Islam, I would certainly look to destroy all 'profanities' and western interests. I just dont see how this city can be filled up quickly without foreigners and how they can uphold their religious laws on foreign people of different backgrounds.

[David Sucher]

If fact Dubai is filled up with foreigners. Something like 80% of the population is non-Emirati — from the CEO of Halliburton to Bengladeshi laborers making $150/month. Hard for me to judge but I think the story is that the native residents of Dubai -- all 2 hundred thousand -- are treated so well economically by their Sheik that they have little interest in politics. And the foreigners are working there for the money and have no interest in getting political, especially as they would quickly be expelled.

And they do allow alcohol right now. See my post of March 15.

But I think your large point is correct: they have and will continue to liberalize because I still believe that economic liberalism ultimately must lead to political liberalism, though it may take quite a bit of time.

As to tourism, yes it is successful now and maybe there are enough people in the world for whom shopping is the favored activity. But much as I like Dubai -- and I really do and look forward to returning -- I wonder about its legs for, at least, people who like to do something and not simply watch. I have some ideas on how the can answer that issue and will blog on it as time goes on.

[JF]

A city needs to grow naturally. If you look at any major city's history, you can see that at any given time it is fully functional. New York's beginnings were limited to downtown Manhattan, but all of the amenities were there to provide opportunities for growth.
Cities begin as babies and grow into adults successfully as a result of constant response to external conditions and forces.
Dubai is attempting to give birth to this adult city directly. I'm forced to question whether it's going to work.