Dubai

Brief information

Dubai grew from a 19th-century fishing village into a deep-water port and one of the main trade and financial centers of the Middle East. An important detail: oil accelerated the city’s development, but by 2018 it contributed less than one percent of the emirate’s GDP. So the city is better understood not as an oil showcase, but as a place where the port, trade, tourism, real estate, and financial services gradually replaced its old dependence on raw materials.

The connection with its trading past is visible in the layout of the old districts. In the early 20th century, a market of about 350 shops operated on the Deira side of the coast, while Bastakiya in Bur Dubai developed as a quarter of wealthy merchants from Persia. Against the backdrop of skyscrapers, this helps one notice that Dubai’s rapid growth began not with height, but with the shore, the port, and trade.

What to notice first

It makes sense to compare several forms, because Dubai often presents its history through striking silhouettes. The Burj Khalifa is described as a stalagmite-shaped skyscraper: its verticality emphasizes the city’s new scale. Nearby is the Dubai Fountain, where jets rise up to 150 meters, and this height is now read in relation to the tower rather than on its own. The Burj Al Arab uses another easily understood form: a sail, linking the image of a luxury hotel with a maritime city.

Another focus is the comparison of old and new. In Bastakiya, the buildings from the late 19th to early 20th century are important, as is the quarter’s origin, connected with merchants from Persia. The Dubai Frame makes this comparison literal: it is positioned so that recognizable landmarks of modern Dubai open up on one side, and the older parts of the city on the other. After that, the city is easier to view as a montage of different functions: a port market, a merchant quarter, and demonstrative contemporary architecture.