Dubai is being used as a model city at an ongoing conference on urban planning and design challenges at Harvard University in the United States.
Papers presented on the first day highlighted the attention paid by specialists to adopt Dubai as a case study due to the swift development of the city.
Participants lauded the manner in which the city's 200 nationalities coexist, as well as Dubai's emergence as a key international city that has prospered in trade, economy and tourism.
Opening the conference, Peter Rowe, Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD), said Dubai's selection for this year's conference was made in view of the development that has taken place in all areas.
"This annual event is a great opportunity for the university's GSD students to study international experiences related to the great traditions and history of every city. After Shanghai, Singapore and other cities in the Middle East, here comes the turn of Dubai - the city of gold, golf, horse and camel races and shopping festival," said Rowe.
Dubai evoked interest among a lot of intellectuals "and we have got a lot of queries on how this part of the world has grown so tremendously.
"The conference is a real opportunity to discuss and exchange view points on the real question: what will be Dubai's position in the future," he said.
"The past is over and now we have to examine what the city's plans and projects are. "Dubai, in my view, plays a very important role in the global arena. In this era, we need a connecting link between the Middle East and the West and I hope Dubai, with its potential, can meet this demand."
The opening session was attended by Dr. Faruq Al Baz, Arabian Space Scientist and Boston University Vice Chanc-ellor, as well as experts in construction and planning.
Hafsa Al Olema, Deputy Director of the Dubai Executive Office, spoke on the history of Dubai, its development and turning points in building the city such as the introduction of electricity, telecommunications, co-mmerce, the setting up of Jebel Ali Free Zone, Port Rashid, Jebel Ali Port, and Dubai International Airport.
She said the projects like Emaar, Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City, Dubai Financial District, Dubai Health City and Arabian Springs would help promote business-friendly environment for the future. She noted that the conference would help create a better understanding of the city planning models Dubai has adopted.
Hashim Sarkis, Professor of Architectural Studies in the Islamic Communities at the Harvard GSD, said Dubai not only represents the Arab world and the region, but is a model for the whole world for how the economic development is related to urban development and architectural growth.
"Dubai's success has become a source of competition and it even evokes envy among other cities of the region," he said. He added that projects like Dubai Internet City, Jebel Ali Free Zone, the international airport, and the shopping festival enjoyed special successes. It is due to this that Dubai is called a city that comprises many cities.
The first day of the conference discussed six papers on Dubai's development, urban history, future plans and the mixture of the city's characteristics.
In a paper 'Dubai in Global Era', Dr. Andrew Hess from the Fletcher School of Tufts University, spoke of how people led a simple life in the past, the relation between technology and commercial development in Dubai, and the need to merge the city's traditions with modernity.
Dr. Hamid Hattal, Head of Planning and Comprehensive Studies Unit at the municipality's Planning and Surveying Department, spoke on 'population growth and its relation with the social, economic and urban development in Dubai'.
The paper dealt with social conditions by focusing on population structure, demographic features, migration standards, trends and results, and housing status.
"Dubai has witnessed record growth in population during the past 18 years, which saw the doubling of the population four times during the period from 1975 to 1998.
"Foreign migration, coupled with the return of UAE citizens from abroad, is the main reason behind this high growth rate. In addition, there was the natural growth in the population which represents a below average figure of the normal population growth rates," said Dr. Hattal.
He noted that the average annual population growth rate is 6.4 per cent. There is also a big disparity between the national and expatriate populations as a result of the economic boom that attracted a large number of foreigners during this period.
The paper also discussed the urban and rural population density noting that while the urban population density increased abruptly, it was stable in rural areas. The paper pointed out that Dubai's average family consists of 4.02 persons and 66.5 of the emirate's population is male.
This proportion is much higher among expatriates because they leave their families back home.
The paper also dealt with economic indicators that have direct relation with the population growth such as manpower and its characteristics; gross domestic product; relation between investments and workforce movement; relation between the per capita share of GDP, economic growth rate and urban development rate; and income, spending and saving patterns.
The impact of the projected population growth on economic and urban growth over the periods of 2005-2010-2015, its objective and role in drawing up future economic and urban development policies and programmes were also highlighted.
In another paper 'Dream Images of the Global: Dubai as an Ethnographic Site in the Global Economy', Ahmed Kanna, a student at Harvard, said Dubai is a city with a difference thanks to its varied population. The city arouses curiosity among all who watch it from close up.
He said the city does use multiple choices of architecture - both traditional and modern - and the business families of Dubai have a special interest in diversifying the city's architectural style.
John Alexander Smith, of the American University of Dubai, presented a paper on the Urban History of Dubai, while Deeba Haider of the New York-based PricewaterhouseCoopers, talked about 'The Adolescence of Dubai: A City in Search of its Identity'.
Gulf News
