Introduction
In recent years, Dubai has been receiving much exposure worldwide. The oil rich emirate located on the south side of the Persian Gulf is seeing growth of epic proportions. Dubai was a city reliant on pearling and trade as its major sources of income. The location of the emirate also made it ideal for what is now major shipping port and tourist destination of the Middle East. With the hype that surrounds Dubai’s boom, it seems fit to compare the oil rich emirate to the likes of Toronto.
Yellow regions indicate projects in progress. Source: http://www.unityestates.com/
A more detailed PDF map is available here showing regions that are referenced on this website.
Marshall McLuhan would describe the landscape of Dubai as:
- A technoscape due to its consumerist based society
- A finanscape because of the skyscraper skyline
- An ethnoscape because of an immigrant majority
- A mediascape due to the bombardment of advertising
- An ideoscape because it represents Islamic society in the modern world
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| An example of a mediascape. Photo: Building located near gold souk in Deira |
This website / analysis will look into Beaverstock's classification using Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) information. It will also touch on information Harold Innis and Peter Hall have provided to argue whether or not Dubai will make it into the ranks of a World City. Primary research is used to expose the underlying fabric of an advertised utopia of travel destinations. Secondary research will provide statistics and hard evidence to compare Dubai’s form and function to that of Toronto – a beta world city. Politics, urban planning, international corporate presence, geographic location and communications technology infrastructure will be covered.
Having Dubai already in my word processor’s dictionary is noteworthy.
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| Photo: Burj Al-Arab and Madinah Jumeirah |
