Dubai: Behind an Urban Spectacle

by Yasser Elsheshtawy

Yasser Elsheshtawy explores Dubai’s history from its beginnings as a small fishing village to its place on the world stage today, using historical narratives, travel descriptions, novels and fictional accounts by local writers to bring colour to his history of the city’s urban development. With the help of case studies and surveys this book explores the economic and political forces driving Dubai’s urban growth, its changing urbanity and its place within the global city network. Uniquely, it looks beyond the glamour of Dubai’s mega-projects, and provides an in-depth exploration of a select set of spaces which reveal the city’s ‘inner life’.

Genres: Urbanism

304 pages, Paperback

First published July 18, 2009

Reviews

[Shayaalh · Rating 4 out of 5]

part of my course material but I must say it was incredibly intriguing and informative. things i did not know about Dubai, and made me view Dubai under a completely different light.

[Anneli Xie · Rating 4 out of 5]

for HIST 367. illuminating read about the juxtaposition between Dubai's exported image of glamour, affluence, and entertainment vs. the lived reality of the city's migrant residents.