Shaping Futures

Chetan Kulkarni explains the systems that contributed to the rapid infrastructural development of Dubai between 1999 and 2010

- Chetan Kulkarni

Infrastructure means structures and facilities serving a city, necessary for its economy to function. The systems through which these structures develop involves a complex interaction of the economy, professional practice and future vision of those in power. An equation results between the inhabitants of a place and the connecting infrastructure. This equation represents the relations of the people to the city. In a global context of rapid urbanisation, these systems have been a means to legitimise interventions barely examined before they turn into reality. In the Middle East, this hazy growth was seen in the city of Dubai – one of the two main emirates of the UAE.

In 1972, on the northwest coast of the Arabian Peninsula, an alliance was formed between seven principalities to form the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The ruler, Sheikh Mohammed, had a great vision that Dubai, one of the emirates, would become the first-ever modern Arab metropolis. This vision of development and pace of growth would define its trajectory over the next four decades. Dubai’s cosmopolitan image was promoted widely to lure tourists to experience the best alternatives to metropolitan attractions in other parts of the world.