Dubai has successfully reinvented itself as an international city and hub of global industry and tourism, a UAE University study has shown.
The architectural projects Burj Al Arab and Palm Islands have put Dubai on the world map, promoting it as an emirate which offers more than just sand, sea and distant views of oilfields, said the study.
The study, entitled "Assessing the Spatial Impact of Globalisation in Dubai", was conducted by Dr Yasser Elsheshtawy, a scientist from the Department of Architectural Engineering at the UAE University, and will be presented to the fifth Annual Research Conference of the UAE University, on April 25-27 in Al Ain.
Dr Elsheshtawy has been invited by the Harvard Design School to present partial results of this study, which was funded by the Research Affairs of the UAE University.
The study included two case studies on the Burj Al Arab Hotel and the Palm. Critical analysis of the structures offered a model for other traditional Arab cities, he said.
"Dubai is continuing to exert a strong influence on other regional cities," he said and cited recent developments in Cairo like the City Centre which opened in 2002, with a supermarket chain at the edge of the city, making it look like a new Cairo.
The scientist defended Dubai's architectural pattern. "One can detect a variety of conflicts: east and west, modernisation and traditional, Arab and Asian and so on. These conflicts are resolved spatially through a policy which attempts to reconcile through co-existence."
Quoting US-based architect Larry Ziebarth, whose clients included Walt Disney, Universal Studios and Sea World, Dr Elsheshtawy said he had described the architectural style of the two iconic Dubai developments as a "sensitive blend of Islamic tradition with new architectural elements".
The study also noted that there were three million visitors to Dubai which had a population of one million, of which eight per cent were nationals, making it the world's fastest-growing international city.
Gulf News
