Dubai: Behind an Urban Spectacle

by Yasser Elsheshtawy

Overview

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’.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415444613
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	07/22/2009
Series:	Planning, History and Environment Series
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.60(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Yasser Elsheshtawy is Associate Professor of Architecture at the UAE University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.

Table of Contents

Preface 1. The Emerging Urbanity of Dubai 2. Arab Cities and Globalization 3. The Other Dubai: A Photo Essay 4. The Illusive History of Dubai 5. The Transformation of Dubai or Towards the Age of Megastructures 6. Spectacular Architecture and Urbanism 7. The Spectacular and the Everyday: Dubai’s Retail Landscape 8. Transient City: Dubai’s Forgotten Urban Spaces 9. Global Dubai or Dubaization

Editorial Reviews

"Subtly engaging with wider literatures on globalisation, consumption, migration, geography, urban planning and architecture, the book makes a hugely welcome contribution to a subject field otherwise dominated by political and economic analyses and to the interdisciplinary field of urban studies." - Urban Studies

From the Publisher